Driver ticketed after tractor-trailer accident on I-787 causes major delays

UPDATED 12:49 p.m.

A truck driver has been ticketed after State Police say the tractor trailer he was driving Thursday morning tipped over on the I-787, causing massive traffic delays.

According to police, Shawn Sylvester of Hannacroix, NY, was driving a tractor trailer owned by K.I.T. Transportation down the entrance ramp on to I-787 from State Route 7 eastbound at around 4:15 a.m. when the trailer began to tip to the left.

The flatbed trailer was carrying a pre-cast concrete culvert weighing approximately 30,000 pounds. As the trailer tipped, the load shifted, broke through four nylon straps, and fell from the trailer on to the interstate.

The impact gouged out part of the pavement, police said.

No passing vehicles were actually struck by the culvert, though one did sustain some damage when it drove over pieces of debris.

State transportation crews and a towing company were called in to removed the damaged culvert. It took several hours for the crews to break up the 13-feet by 7-feet culvert and load the resulting debris into other trucks.

The accident caused substantial delays for morning rush hour traffic; lanes were re-opened by 9:30 a.m.

Sylverster was ticketed for unsafe speed and improper load securement.

Commerical vehicle enforcement troopers placed the tractor-trailer out of service after finding the rear axles of the trailer were nearly broken off of the trailer's frame by the force of the near-rollover.