A newly released report outlines a fateful miscalculation and other errors that led to a crane striking the Talmadge Memorial Bridge as it was being pushed by a tugboat up the Savannah River last summer.
The incident shut down the roadway connecting Savannah and Jasper County for about three hours, diverting thousands of vehicles midday on Aug. 1. No injuries were reported, according to the U.S. Coast Guard incident report, and officials initially estimated the crash caused $450,000 worth of damage to the bridge. A tugboat named Lona Myrick had departed Fig Island earlier that day and would pass under the bridge as it headed upriver to the U.S. Sugar Savannah Refinery. The boat was pushing a construction barge loaded with equipment, including a track crane, according to the report.
The crane’s arm was raised to hold up one of the barge’s spuds, which can moor the barge to a particular area of the riverbed when lowered. The crane arm struck the center portion of the Talmadge Bridge around 1:15 p.m., the report says, sending the crane collapsing on top of the barge and partially into the river…