A barge crashed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, causing a partial collapse and oil spill, AP News reported.
A vessel crashed into a bridge pillar on Wednesday, May 15. As a result, oil spilled into the waters near busy shipping channels. The strike also blocked the only road to a small neighbouring island.
Pieces of the bridge connecting Galveston to Pelican Island reportedly fell onto a barge and blocked a section of the waterway. One person fell off the vessel and into the water, but was quickly recovered and was not injured, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Ray Nolen claimed.
Ports along the Texas coast are centres of international trade. However, experts stated that the collision was unlikely to cause major economic disruption because it occurred on a less-used waterway. The island is on the opposite side of Galveston Island’s beaches, which attract millions of tourists each year.
The accident came weeks after a cargo ship crashed into a support column of the Francis Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26. Construction workers died as a result of the impact.
Bridge renovation
The accident occurred after the operator of a tugboat pushing two barges failed to maintain control, said David Flores, a bridge superintendent with the Galveston County Navigation District.
Pelican Island is only a few miles wide and is home to Texas A&M University at Galveston, a large shipyard and industrial plants. Fewer than 200 people were on campus at the time of the collision.
The current was very bad, and the tide was high. He lost it.
In the summer of 2025, the Texas Department of Transportation planned to begin construction of a project to replace the bridge with a new one. The project cost about $194 million. In documents, the agency stated that the bridge “has reached the end of its design lifespan, and needs to be replaced.” The agency stated that it had spent more than $12 million over the past decade to maintain and repair the bridge.
