


A large barge struck a bridge in Oklahoma on Saturday, forcing state troopers to close the road for two hours.
No injuries were reported, according to The Associated Press.
The bridge, which carries U.S. 59 across the Arkansas River near Sallislaw, in the eastern part of the Sooner State, was reopened after it was inspected.
It is not known what caused the barge to hit the bridge.
According to KFSM-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a fisherman notified law enforcement about the incident about 1:30 p.m.
“The initial hit was very loud. It sounded like gunshots going off, which was another scary thing,” Dayton Holland, who was out fishing with her father and boyfriend, told KSFM-TV.
“We never heard anything. And when the barge hit, they broke apart from each other, somewhat downriver and somewhat towards the bank.”
Holland added that she was “so thankful” the impact did not break the bridge and cause it to collapse.
Around two hours later, at 3:25 pm, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said US-59.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation said, “Engineers inspected the structure and found it safe to reopen,” in an email to the AP.
News of the bridge’s closure arrived less than a week after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed and fell into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morning after a massive container ship crashed into it.
Six men were presumed dead less than 24 hours after the Scott Key Bridge’s collapse.
The six were among eight men who were working on the Key Bridge when it fell into the water.
Of the two who survived, one was hospitalized.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.