18-wheeler spills marble on I-85, closing all lanes

A fiery 18-wheeler crash on I-85 near the Durham-Granville county line shut down north and southbound lanes on the bridge over Falls Lake after the 18-wheeler lost a load of tens of thousands of pounds of marble.
Posted 5/22/2025, 8:45:00 AM Updated 5/22/2025, 5:58:05 PM

Breaking news

All lanes of traffic are clear after a tractor trailer

spilled thousands of pounds of marble on I-85

Ali Clubar joins us live from Durham County and Ali

traffic is once again moving after it was at a

standstill for more than 4 hours

Yes that mess is now cleared

We're seeing behind me far in the distance Falls Lake

now completely Falls Lake Bridge now completely open

Traffic finally back to normal

Now take a look at this video from WRAL breaking

news tracker

We were up close to that mess with thousands of

pounds of marble all over the bridge

What

Heavy machinery cleaned up marble on Falls Lake Bridge for

hours

This all started around 10 a.m. when an 18 wheeler

heading southbound on I-85 blew a tire and hit a

guard rail

The cab caught on fire and it spilled its load

on

North and southbound lanes

The hefty cleanup made officers shut down the bridge

Traffic in both directions was stuck at a standstill

Highway patrol says a suspected drunk driver also caused a

4 vehicle pileup on the northbound side

Luckily there were only minor injuries

As for the 18 wheeler driver he did not get

hurt at all

Now we are still speaking with highway patrol officers

We've been speaking to them throughout the morning

This is an active investigation for both crashes

We're going to keep you updated throughout the morning reporting

in Durham County Ali WA news