A Cincinnati Police Department spokeswoman said a construction crew was working on deconstructing the former Hopple Street overpass when it collapsed onto I-75 about 10:30 p.m. Monday, slightly injuring Meyers and killing a construction worker who had been standing on the overpass.
"I thought it was going to go right through my head," Meyers said, his voice excited as he used his hands to demonstrate. "It dropped right in front of me. The whole freeway came down.
"The rumble of the whole thing falling in front of me …" he said, his voice trailing off still in disbelief. "When I saw that bridge I thought I was dead. ... I thought of my daughter (Savannah)."
Meyers said he was about 1 mile away from the bridge when he noticed something — he doesn't remember what — on the side of the expressway. He moved from the right lane to the center lane and then to the left lane to allow another trucker to also merge.
Meyers, who drives for Arkansas-based J B Hunt's Chicago office, thought the cab of his tractor-trailer was under the bridge, but it had collided with falling concrete debris, crushing the front end.
The cab was tilted with the driver's side down against the pavement at more than a 45-degree angle, Meyers estimated. He said emergency workers later told him they were surprised he did not injure or lose his feet in the crash.
Within seconds, steam from a busted radiator filled the cab and the smell of diesel fuel was overwhelming.
Meyers tried to climb out of the mangled cab as a construction worker yelled at him: "You have to get out! You have to get out!"
Meyers yelled back: "Help me!"
The construction worker extended an arm and Meyers climbed up the mangled seats of his semi to escape through the passenger side window.
Meyers looked in disbelief at the scene as the realization he nearly lost his life took root. He thought of his 6-year-old daughter and he just wanted to get home to her. He initially refused to go to a hospital, choosing to stay with his semi because there were photographs of his daughter still inside the truck.
Meyers, who received a knot on his head, eventually relented to being transported to an area hospital once rescuers reassured him that there was nothing he could do at the scene and that would be able to get the photos. He said Wednesday that he is tender and sore, but OK.
"I'm blessed," he said. "I just dropped a load and I was running empty back to Chicago."
If he had been carrying a load, the impact could have caused the load to shift forward, potentially causing serious harm to Meyers.
Westerville, Ohio-based Kokosing Construction was doing the demolition under a nearly $91 million contract for a three-year project meant to improve traffic capacity and safety in a busy stretch of I-75, according to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Police identified the worker killed as Brandon William Carl, 35, of Augusta, Ky. Officials said Carl's body was recovered from rubble with the help of special equipment early Tuesday morning.
Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman told the Cincinnati Enquirer that it was a "routine operation" and that Kokosing is a "very safety conscious contractor" with very good safety record.
Cincinnati police estimate that 200,000 vehicles pass through that area daily. Officials re-opened I-75 about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.
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