Texas barge collision shuts GIWW section: Correction

Corrects volume of oil carried by barge in fourth paragraph.

Authorities closed a six-mile section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) near Galveston, Texas, because of an oil spill caused by a barge collision with the Pelican Island causeway bridge.

The section between mile markers 351.5 and 357.5 along the waterway closed, according to the US Coast Guard.

A barge broke away from the Philip George tugboat and hit the bridge between Pelican Island and Galveston around 11am ET today. Concrete from the bridge fell onto the barge and triggered an oil leak.

The barge can hold up to 30,000 bl oil, but it was unknown how full the barge was before the crash, Galveston County county judge Mark Henry said.

It was unclear when the waterway would reopen.

An environmental cleanup crew was on the scene along with the US Coast Guard and Texas Department of Transportation to assess the damage.

Multiple state agencies have debated the replacement of the 64-year-old bridge for several years, Henry said.

The rail line alongside the bridge collapsed. Marine traffic does not pass under the bridge.

By Meghan Yoyotte

Intracoastal Waterway at Galveston