Hanging on Ice: High-Risk Bridge Rescue

By George L. Nitti 

It was very early morning on December 2 when the call came in—a tractor trailer had jack-knifed on an icy bridge in Southside,  West Virginia and was hanging over the edge.

The rig had been traveling in near-zero temperatures when it hit a slick patch of roadway. The driver lost control, the trailer swung, and the entire combination folded into a jackknife before slamming into the bridge rail. From there, it didn’t stop. The truck slid roughly 200 yards along the icy span, grinding against the barrier until it came to rest in a terrifying position—partially suspended over a drop of approximately 75 feet.

Within minutes, emergency responders were faced with a serious scene: a fully loaded tractor trailer, unstable footing on ice, and a driver trapped in the cab.

High Road Towing and Truck Repair out of Bidwell, Ohio, was dispatched on rotation. The distance from their facility was roughly 20 miles. By the time crews arrived, multiple fire departments were already on site. In total, between fire companies, law enforcement, hazmat, and recovery personnel, nearly a dozen agencies would eventually be involved.

High Road brought in heavy equipment immediately: a 50-ton NRC rotator mounted on a 2011 Western Star and a 35-ton Jerr-Dan with SRS on a 2014 Kenworth T880. But before any lifting could happen, the situation demanded stabilization of the hanging truck cab.  

The driver was alert and oriented. With the cab in a precarious position and the trailer’s weight still shifting on ice, the team worked carefully with the help of the driver, to thread a stabilization strap through the truck’s windows as crews secured the vehicle to prevent any further movement.

Conditions were frigid. The temperature hovered around 20 degrees, while the ice surrounding the recovery scene was treacherous. A thin layer of snow covered the bridge surface, masking the slick conditions underneath. Every step taken by personnel near the edge carried risk. One slip could have meant going over the bridge rail and falling into the ravine below.

“It was five and a half hours just stabilizing that hanging chassis and getting the driver out,” said Tim Brabham, owner of High Road.

Once the driver was safely removed, the focus shifted to the freight and the vehicle itself. The trailer carried approximately 44,000 pounds of cargo—bricks, banded but not on pallets—which had shifted heavily to one side during the incident. 

Before the truck could be recovered, crews had to correct the internal load distribution. Only after the cargo was stabilized did they begin separating the trailer from the tractor. With the trailer finally pulled clear and moved out of the immediate work zone, enough space was created to address the remaining truck section.

Then came the lift.

Using the rotator in conjunction with the SRS 35, crews carefully raised the tractor unit from its angled, exposed position. Slowly, inch by inch, the truck was brought back over the bridge rail and returned to level ground. From there, it was loaded onto a low-profile Landoll 835 trailer for transport out of the scene.

But the job wasn’t over.

A significant fuel spill had occurred beneath the bridge and into a nearby creek. Hazmat crews responded immediately, and cleanup operations stretched well beyond the initial recovery window. In fact, environmental remediation continued for days afterward, with final clearance taking weeks to complete.

In total, the on-scene recovery operation lasted approximately 12 hours before the roadway could be fully reopened. Around 30 operators and support personnel were involved across recovery, fire, and environmental response teams.

For High Road Towing and the many agencies involved, the job illustrated the high-risk nature of towing operations when weather, terrain, and timing collide.

Brabham said, “Be prepared for anything, but always remember,  Safety comes first,” and further noted that “situational awareness” was critical, especially on icy structures where a single misstep could have turned a recovery into a tragedy.