Crews Smash “Dead Man's Curve”

Road crews began tearing down a bridge south of downtown Dallas that was damaged when a fuel truck caught fire earlier this month.

The area known as "Dead Man's Curve" at U.S. 175 and State Highway 310 has been shut down since a tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline exploded there Oct. 12.

"Man, I ain't never seen nothing like that, ain't never seen nothing like that before," one resident said.

Engineers said the fire burned the four-lane bridge so badly it has to be razed and rebuilt.

"I think it's a wonderful thing," a neighbor said. "They need to rebuild it."

Demolition on the bridge began Wednesday night.

"We have to do it very carefully," said Kelli Petras, a Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman. "You have to take it apart piece by piece so that we make sure that rest of the bridge remains intact and keeps its structural integrity."

The bridge has been closed since the fiery crash, and the state has set up detours.

But local residents said traffic in the area had been "terrible" since the fire.

One resident said traffic "piles up in here all the time, every day."

Highway officials estimate 75,000 cars travel the intersection every day.

"It is affecting quite a few motorists in the Dallas area," Petras said. "That's why we've made it a priority to fix it as quickly as possible."

TxDOT said it plans to complete the entire project by Dec. 15.