AUSTIN (KXAN) — The lower deck of northbound I-35 is back open to traffic Wednesday after a crash caused large pieces of the upper deck to fall on the highway below Tuesday evening, shutting down the lower deck for hours.

TxDOT confirmed that a vehicle crashed into a bridge rail near East 32nd Street, causing chunks of concrete to fall onto I-35 around 7:30 p.m. No cars were hit by the falling debris.

It took TxDOT crews and engineers about 3.5 hours to make sure the lower deck was still safe for traffic. They reopened the highway around 11 p.m.

(KXAN/Tom Miller)

TxDOT spokeswoman Diann Hodges said the agency is in the process of coordinating repairs.

KXAN has requested information from TxDOT on the accident location, including a condition status and whether that section of I-35 has been inspected recently.

The upper deck of I-35 remained open throughout the incident.