18-wheeler goes over bridge in southeast Travis County, shuts down SH 130 for hours

Investigators are still trying to figure out what exactly happened.

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - On a rainy Wednesday morning, the Travis County Sheriff's Office said an accident between a car and a tractor-trailer sent one to the hospital and caused a fuel leak on the road. Traffic was shut down for hours while crews helped clear the scene.

“I just saw a tractor-trailer over a bridge, with the rear axle ripped out from underneath it and nothing left of the tractor hardly,” said Chris Kerley with AusTex Towing and Recovery.

Kerley lifted the tractor-trailer out of the ditch it was caught in. It was no walk in the park.

“We used our 50-ton rotator, it has five winches on it. We had to use four at one time on this one, picked the trailer up, pulled the tractor out, then picked up all the debris afterwards,” he said.

Kerley has been in the wrecker business since 1992, and he said he rarely sees accidents like these, only once or twice a year.

Investigators are still trying to figure out what exactly happened. Travis County Fire Rescue said the car collided with the semi at some point, sending the tractor-trailer down into the ditch.

Meanwhile, Kerley hopes drivers can heed warnings, especially in wet weather on a fast-paced toll road like 130.

“When you have to turn your windshield wipers on slow down,” said Kerley.