An semi-tractor trailer carrying treated waste overturned Monday afternoon on the Capital Beltway’s Inner Loop, clogging rush hour traffic for hours.
The Duffield Hauling truck was delivering what was described as “dewatered byproducts” from the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority’s Blue Plains treatment plant in Southeast Washington to Virginia for fertilizer, when it overturned at 2:45 p.m., blocking all three lanes headed over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and spilling the byproducts all over the road, according to Michele Quander-Collins, a WASA spokeswoman. The driver’s injuries were non-life-threatening.
By 5 p.m., the truck was righted and removed from the roadway, but the southbound Interstate 295 ramp to Interstate 495 was still closed, according to Patrick Robinson, a highway operations technician for Maryland’s State Highway Traffic Center.
Backups were reported miles away at Andrews Air Force Base at 5 p.m. and the Outer Loop was backing up to Eisenhower Avenue due to rubber-necking, according to traffic reports.
The byproduct mixture was being blended with topsoil and removed from the road, said Michelle Holland, a spokeswoman for the Wilson Bridge Project, who added, “the traffic is already backed up by rush hour, so it will just get worse.”
