Drivers dodge falling chunks of concrete from Atlanta bridge

ATLANTA — Drivers told Channel 2 Action News they had to dodge falling chunks of concrete from a bridge on Interstate 20  near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on Friday.

Georgia Department of Transportation  leaders are aware of the situation and said the bridge is structurally safe. However, driver Jeremy Brown doesn’t think so.

“I was driving down 20 West, apparently a huge chunk of concrete was rolling across the road,” Brown said.

At first Brown thought the large pieces of concrete scattered on the interstate were something fluffy. But it was too late when he realized it wasn’t.

“It looked like it was some form of foam so I tried to get around it because there was cars all around it and it tore up the bottom of my car,” Brown.

His brand-new car was in such bad shape, he had to call a tow truck. Brown told Channel 2's Erica Byfield, the falling debris banged up two other cars too. He said he’s concerned.

“I’m definitely worried about the condition of it. I want to know if they’ll do something about it,” Brown said.

Byfield called the DOT and within a matter of hours an inspector arrived to check out the bridge.

“What fell onto the road are the sections of what we call copping, they are chunks of concrete that hold up under the bridge. They do not affect the bridge structurally.” This isn’t unheard of, it’s not something that we prefer to happen, but it’s common in the bridge world,” GDOT’s Natalie Dale said.

She said that falling debris is a concern and that a work crew will be out there early next week to give it another look and repairs the following week if needed. There are certain sections of the bridge they want to check to see how serious the problem is.

WSBTV