robin brown

The News Journal

Department of Transportation experts have inspected an overpass near Christiana, allowing northbound Del. 1 and the I-95 flyover to it to reopen.

The reopening avoided a potential Wednesday morning rush hour nightmare in one of Delaware's heaviest-traffic areas.

The highway's northbound lanes and the I-95 flyover near Christiana Mall were closed for about seven hours Tuesday, after equipment being hauled by a tractor-trailer hit the underside of one of the interstate's overpasses, Delaware State Police Sgt. Paul G. Shavack said.

The crash occurred about 2:15 p.m., he said.

DelDOT spokesman Jim Westhoff told The News Journal shortly before 10:30 p.m. that the roads were reopened after the inspection.

No injuries were reported in the crash, which threw debris onto a car behind the truck in traffic, Shavack said.

Otho V. Sprawls, 38, of Batesville, Texas was driving the 2013 Freightliner on northbound Del. 1, hauling a large modular power substation, made of aluminum, on a flatbed trailer, he said.

The substation hit the under-structure of the I-95 overpass, scattering debris onto the road, Shavack said.

Falling debris hit a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta driven by James A. Botts, 79, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who had a 77-year-old woman riding with him, Shavack said. The truck driver and car occupants all were properly restrained at the time of the crash, he said.

No charges were filed by Tuesday night, but Shavack said the crash remains under investigation.

Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware. Lucia Blackwell contributed to this story.