Crews are hoping to get a Mississippi River bridge back open by noon today after a semi crashed through the guardrails last night. The accident happened just before 9:30 last night at the Savana/Sabula bridge. The driver of the semi, 45-year-old Abram Blatz of Morris, Manitoba, Canada was northbound on the causeway when he reached for an item in his cab and lost control.
The semi rolled two to three times, landing on its top with the cab hanging off the bridge and partially submerged in the river. The trailer blocked Highway 64. Emergency crews rescued Blatz by boat and took him to a Clinton hospital.
There was 100-thousand dollar damage to the truck. He also lost about 20 tons of peat moss, valued at 50-thousand dollars and there was a 100 foot section of guardrail that was damage. The D-N-R and HAZMAT crews worked to contain a small amount of diesel fuel that spilled into the river. A crane was used to lift the truck out of the river.