Southbound Bay bridge-tunnel lane reopened after wreck

VIRGINIA BEACH

One southbound lane of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was reopened at about 3:30 p.m. after a tractor-trailer clipped the rear of a maintenance truck and crashed, coming to rest atop a roadside barrier , an official said.

The crash occurred about 2 p.m. and had forced authorities to shut down the southbound lanes of the 17.6-mile span, said Tom Anderson, deputy director of the bridge-tunnel district.

The maintenance truck was stopped as part of a work detail between the two tunnels, and the tractor-trailer’s driver apparently didn’t see it until the last second, Anderson said.

The driver suffered a knee injury and was taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital for treatment, Anderson said.

“He almost went overboard, but didn’t quite,” Anderson said. “It was a pretty close call.”

Officials were cleaning a fuel spill that resulted from the wreck, Anderson said. The diesel leaked from the truck, not from the shipping container it was hauling, he said.