I-295 near Enon buckles causing traffic & damage to cars

Posted: Aug 10, 2009 10:49 PM

Updated: Aug 11, 2009 07:43 AM
http://www.nbc12.com/global/story.asp?s=10881240



By Laura Geller - bio | email
Posted by Terry Alexander - email

ENON, VA (WWBT) - You can blame the heat for major backups on 295 today near the Varina-Enon Bridge. Concrete in middle lane buckled, causing the slow down and quite a bit of damage to cars.

"The movies! On the TV! That you see but you don't think it would happen to you. But this is real life," said motorist Doris Dempsey.

Imagine you're driving down the interstate, going 60 miles an hour and all the sudden you see a huge piece of concrete in the lane right in front of you - you're just about to crash into it, and there's nothing you can do.

"All of the sudden you run up on these big boulders and your car is being torn out from under you and you don't know what the hell is going on," said motorist Thomas Carter.

These driver's stories are like quite a few others we heard on 295 Monday as crews worked to fix a gaping hole in the road. The damage to several of their cars is extensive - not just flat tires but things like cracked radiators, oil pans and axles. After the frightening experience, they want answers.

But VDOT says because the buckling is weather related and for the most part cannot be prevented, drivers have to go through their own insurance to recoup any damages.

"We haven't had any sort of precipitation over the last couple of weeks, you have this extreme dry heat and it goes up to 100 degrees so it's just a freak accident and we don't know when or where that's gonna happen," said VDOT Spokesperson Taya Jarmin

If you drive I-95 everyday and are now wondering if something like this could happen on your commute, VDOT tells us it's not as likely. That's because this road is paved. Roads like 295 and 288 are made of concrete and are more prone to damage when the temperature changes.