A Sun Oil mini-tanker carrying 1,000 gallons of propane flipped over in the Commodore Barry's westbound lane just before 12:30 p.m. Within moments the Port Authority and Chester Public Safety officials shut the bridge down in both directions and got all the marooned vehicles off.
The propane tank was not compromised but the diesel fuel tank was ruptured spilling about 50 gallons of fuel onto the highway.
With a hot undercarriage and motor the potential was there for an explosion so full safety measures were taken.
"Could be considerably dangerous considering that the vessel had been on the road and the undercarriage was relatively warm. So it could have been very dangerous fortunately we got on top of it quick enough and there were no further problems," said Chester Fire Commissioner James Johnson.
The surrounding adjacent Chester neighborhoods were not evacuated but thousands of vehicles were kept off the Commodore Barry and detoured on both sides of the river for most of Tuesday afternoon.
About 3 hours after the accident the truck was up righted and removed from the scene.
Roughly 40,000 vehicles use the Commodore Barry Bridge in a 24 hour period that means about 8,000 motorists were inconvenienced Tuesday.
The driver of the tanker is being treated for minor injuries. The accident is under investigation.
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