CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating after a tug boat and barge crashed into a bridge.
It happened early Saturday morning and the Centerville Turnpike Bridge has been stuck in the open position since then.
It’s a big headache for drivers who now have to take a detour; and it’s an even bigger headache for local business owners who say they’re losing money from a lack of traffic.
“It is stuck again! Hit by a barge -- barged into, if you will,” area resident Ashley Palkovic said, noting this isn’t the first time the Centerville Turnpike Bridge got stuck in the open position.
“It’s a repeated problem," Palkovic said. "It seems like the Centerville bridge is just causing all these problems over and over again.”
It happened just before 5 a.m. Saturday. Coast Guard Captain Jennifer Stockwell says her team, alongside the NTSB, is investigating what exactly caused the tug and barge to collide with the bridge.
“As the bridge was in the process of opening, that’s when a tug and barge hit the bridge," Stockwell said. “We’re going to look at the causes of the casualty, and see as of the Coast Guard if we can do anything to prevent this sort of incident from occurring, not only here again, but across the nation.”
Stockwell says the damage is “substantial.” Palkovic says that’s not good news for businesses.
Palkovic lives nearby and works at Vintage Vibe just down the street from the bridge.
She says whenever the bridge is stuck and drivers are forced to take a detour, business slows down.
"Whenever this bridge shuts down, we do see a lack of customers coming in,” Palkovic said. “It’s a point of contention on this road definitely for the business. It’s very hard for us to get any business when we lose the cars that are going past here.”
Engineers and inspectors were on scene, all day inspecting the damage.
As for when the bridge will reopen, a spokesperson for the city said it’s too early to nail down a timeline as engineers are still looking at the extent of the damage.
“I can imagine that a barge hitting a bridge would put a dent in things,” Palkovic said.