Crime & Safety
13-Car Pileup on Cass Street Bridge Attributed to Ice
Joliet police said two people were taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries due to the Monday night crash.
A 13-car accident on the Cass Street Bridge Monday night, which sent two people to the hospital with minor injuries, is being attributed to icy conditions, Joliet Police Capt. Tab Jensen said.
The crash occurred at about 6:10 p.m. The first car slid to the right on the icy span, struck a second car and then collided with the bridge frame, Jensen said. The second car also struck the bridge, and the cars behind it -- unable to stop either because of ice or timing -- collided in a domino effect, he said.
The two injured people, one in the first car and the other in the fourth car, were taken to Presence St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet for treatment, Jensen said.
Cass Street was not the only bridge to have ice problems. In fact, all of the downtown bridge conditions were so treacherous that the Joliet Public Works Department was forced to close them simultaneously for a short time Monday night in order to salt down the approaches to prevent other accidents.
Joliet Public Works Director Jim Trizna said the steel grid construction of the drawbridges themselves makes it difficult to prevent icing, especially when there's precipitation combined with quickly dropping temperatures -- as was the case Monday.
Bridges will freeze sooner than roadways because they're exposed to the air from both above and below, whereas the ground retain some heat if you're going from warm temperatures to cold in the fall, he said.
The city pays a lot of attention to the bridges and hills in the city, especially when it's known a storm's approaching, Trizna said. The public works department has a special "cocktail" of salt, sticky beet juice and calcium chloride that can be spread before snow starts falling to help de-ice roads and make it easier for plows to push snow off roadways, he said.
As for the bridge closures Monday night, Trizna said the change in temperatures "happened very quickly." When coupled with the water already on the ground, a hazardous situation was created that had to be dealt with immediately to avoid more accidents.
The two injured people, one in the first car and the other in the fourth car, were taken to Presence St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet for treatment, Jensen said.
Cass Street was not the only bridge to have ice problems. In fact, all of the downtown bridge conditions were so treacherous that the Joliet Public Works Department was forced to close them simultaneously for a short time Monday night in order to salt down the approaches to prevent other accidents.
Joliet Public Works Director Jim Trizna said the steel grid construction of the drawbridges themselves makes it difficult to prevent icing, especially when there's precipitation combined with quickly dropping temperatures -- as was the case Monday.
Bridges will freeze sooner than roadways because they're exposed to the air from both above and below, whereas the ground retain some heat if you're going from warm temperatures to cold in the fall, he said.
The city pays a lot of attention to the bridges and hills in the city, especially when it's known a storm's approaching, Trizna said. The public works department has a special "cocktail" of salt, sticky beet juice and calcium chloride that can be spread before snow starts falling to help de-ice roads and make it easier for plows to push snow off roadways, he said.
As for the bridge closures Monday night, Trizna said the change in temperatures "happened very quickly." When coupled with the water already on the ground, a hazardous situation was created that had to be dealt with immediately to avoid more accidents.
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