Traffic Jammed with Cement: Spill Causes Chaos on I-182 Tri-Cities

Cement Bag Spill on I-182 Closes 2 Lanes in Tri-Cities

Suddenly traffic came to a standstill when bags upon bags of cement were spilled onto I-182 in Tri-Cities yesterday.

Washington State Trooper Reminds to Secure Your Load

Did you know that unsecured loads cause over 300 crashes per year in Washington State? On Wednesday morning (April 26, 2023), Washington State Patrol Trooper Chris C. Thorson posted about a traffic alert in Pasco. He describes tons of cement that had fallen off a truck blocking a large part of I-182 in Tri-Cities between Road 68 and SR-395 at milepost-11.

The cement had broken out of its bags and spread all over two full lanes of traffic. Trooper Thorson called the Washington State Department of Transportation East to clean up the mess while traffic had to be limited to one lane.

Secure Your Load Law in Washington State

The Washington State law RCW 46.61.655 was designed to deal with unsecured loads. It states that "No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any public highway unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction."

Washington State Penalty for Unsecured Load

The automatic fee for an unsecured load is $216. You could also receive penalties up to $5,000 and could be sentenced to up to 1 year in prison if your unsecured load falls off and causes bodily harm to someone. Having an unsecured load is easily prevented if you just do these 5 simple things before you travel.

1- Cover your load. Cover your load with a tarp and then securely fasten the tarp to the vehicle.
2- Tie down your load using rope, netting, straps, or chains directly to your vehicle.
3- Put lighter items lower, put heavy items on top to help keep them in place.
4- Don't overload.
5- Double-check your load again before you leave.