Pelican Island Bridge reopens 3 days after barge crash

Pelican Island Bridge is set to reopen to pedestrians and vehicles tonight just three days after it was mistakenly hit by a barge, challenging the bridge’s structural integrity and releasing as many as 2,000 gallons of oil into the surrounding waters.

• Fuel barge crashes into Galveston bridge, spilling oil and causing ‘major disruption’ in road, water traffic
• What’s leaking in the Gulf? Oil identified in fuel leak following Pelican Island Bridge barge crash

The announcement was made by the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management on X (formerly Twitter), who said that the bridge would be open “no later than 9 p.m. [Saturday night].”

Early estimates stated that up to 2,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into water when the barge carrying fuel broke free from a tugboat and struck the bridge in Galveston.

A short time later, the City of Galveston confirmed on Facebook that the bridge had officially reopened—this time, with specific weight limits.