By: Matthew Johnson
After making too sharp of a right turn, a logging truck ran into a power pole at 11:55am on Monday, October 5th.
The truck was turning from East College Avenue to North Main Street when its trailer collided with the power pole. When hit, the pole snapped in two, about a foot above the side walk only to be held up by a metal support and cables.
The driver of the truck slowed down and stopped a short distance from the scene after realizing what happened, according to Gardner-Webb student Andy Watts who witnessed the accident.
Watts was traveling to his apartment when he was stopped by a red light. While waiting, he watched as the truck made the turn and realized what was about to happen. His first thought was surrounding citizens walking on the sidewalk. “I started looking for people, waiting for the light to come down,” said Watts.
Noel Manning, associate vice president of Communications and Marketing at Gardner-Webb, also witnessed the incident and heard the sound of the pole snapping. “It sounded like a large crash,” said Manning. He knew then there was an accident. When he looked to see what happened, he saw the truck “pulling the utility pole. It was like it was velcroed to the side.” To his amazement, the cables never snapped and the pole never came crashing to the ground.
AT&T were the responders to repair the broken pole, according to the Shelby Police Lieutenant over Operations, Nathan Phillips. The lane heading toward HWY 74 was closed due to work vehicles and safety precautions while the pole was replaced.
No one was injured during the incident, and there was no severe damage to the truck. Traffic is now permitted through the Boiling Springs intersection.
The police has not filed a complete report on the incident yet. GWU-Today will update as more information becomes available.
