SAVANNA, Ill. — Editor's note: The above video is from April 24.
Update - 4/25, 1:48 p.m.: The Savanna Police Department has confirmed more information about the barge collision at the Savanna-Sabula Bridge.
According to Chief of Police Jeff Doran, at about 10:45 a.m., the company operating the barge alerted Savanna Fire to the fact that a number of barges had broken loose from their tow and were free-floating down the river.
With the high and fast-moving state of the river at the time, the barges had already made it to the bridge by the time first responders arrived.
Officials say that 9 total barges had broken loose; a group of 6, a pair of 2, and a single separate barge. Many of the barges drifted into the slough wetlands near the bridge.
Three employees were stuck on one of the barges and were rescued by a Savanna Fire boat.
The set of 2 detached barges floated to the Iowa side of the river, and the single barge struck the bridge, began taking on water, and drifted into the Illinois-side sloughs.
Officials say that there was no environmental impact, as the barge was carrying grain.
A towboat from a local grain company took to the river to round up some of the barges.
The bridge was shut down for about 3 hours to assess the damage and was reopened before 2 p.m.
Previous: The Savanna-Sabula Bridge over the Mississippi River was closed for about three hours Sunday, April 24 after a barge struck the bridge.
According to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, at about 11:36 a.m. Sunday, authorities closed the Savanna-Sabula Bridge, also known as the Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge, on both sides.
At 2:35 p.m., the sheriff's office released an update letting the public know that the bridge had been reopened.
The Savanna Police Department later confirmed that the closure was due to a barge hitting the bridge.
A video submitted to News 8 by Carey Podolski shows what appears to be a part of the barge striking the bridge, as well as a section that had broken loose and floated away.
A series of videos provided by Craig LaShelle shows a much closer view of the incident, where the barge is seen floating very close to the bridge's pillars.
A loud sound can be heard at the beginning of this clip as the barge floats towards a pillar.
Another clip shows a green barge section scraping against a pillar.
A pair of additional clips showed a tug boat gathering sections of the barge after the incident.
Any information about potential injuries or damage is unavailable. Authorities are not releasing any more information about the incident until Monday.
This is a developing story. WQAD will provide updates once new information becomes available.