Savannah man airlifted to hospital after hitting bridge at Dudley exit

A Savannah man was airlifted to a hospital Tuesday morning after the 18-wheeler he was driving struck the Ga. 338 bridge on Interstate 16.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, Harold Frazier was driving a 2026 International for SYCS Trucking Co. in the right lane of I-16 West around 8:55 a.m. For an unknown reason, the driver failed to maintain the lane and traveled off the road to the right and onto the north shoulder of I-16 West.

After leaving the road, the vehicle went west for approximately 144 feet before striking the guardrail. The vehicle continued striking the guardrail with its front and undercarriage for about 104 feet before hitting the bridge pier with its front right.

After impact with the bridge, the vehicle rotated in a clockwise motion. While rotating, the trailer was detached from the vehicle while the cab of the vehicle was ripped in half because of the hard impact with the bridge pier.

The driver’s side of the cab was detached from the rest of the vehicle and continued traveling west as it slid down the road for approximately 125 feet before coming to an uncontrolled final stop on the north shoulder of the I-16 West. 

The trailer traveled west for approximately 81 feet before coming to an uncontrolled final rest in the right westbound lane. The passenger side of the vehicle rotated in a clockwise motion and stopped facing north against the bridge pier. 

Laurens County Fire Chief Josh McCard said firefighters extricated the man from the vehicle. Frazier was airlifted to a hospital, and his condition was not known as of Tuesday afternoon.

Traffic was backed up on I-16 for at least a mile as officials from Georgia Department of Transportation worked on the bridge and deputies from the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office directed traffic to travel up the exit ramp and either straight to get back on the interstate or left or right onto Ga. 338.

GDOT’s anticipated end time for construction work was 7 p.m. Tuesday.