A tractor-trailer truck carrying explosives stopped traffic in both directions on Wednesday after it ran into the inside metal guardrail.  The truck was traveling west on Interstate 40 when it crashed near exit 138.

The vehicle, owned by Dyno Nobel, was in route to the Hickory rock quarry with boxes of blasting caps and deck cord and barrels of ammonium nitrate mixed with diesel fuel when the driver lost control and crashed into the guardrail about 8:50 a.m., according to Claremont Assistant Fire Chief Brian Helms.

Blasting caps and deck cord are two different types of fuses used to set off explosives.

He said the deck cord is an explosive by itself.  If the truck had rolled over or another vehicle had rear-ended it, Helms said it would have been a potentially lethal situation.

“The situation we had was dangerous to a point, but it was pretty self-contained,” Helms said.

The accident also spilled about eight gallons of motor oil on the interstate along with a few gallons of diesel fuel.

One lane on each side of I-40 was closed for two hours for safety reasons, Helms said Both sides of the interstate were shut down completely for 45 minutes while the explosives were loaded onto a separate truck owned by Dyno Nobel.

“That stuff can be dangerous,” Helms said.  “A lot of people don’t know that stuff is on the roads, but it travels the road every day.”

Both lanes of I-40 eastbound and westbound were reopened about 10:30 a.m. after the truck was cleared off the interstate.  The driver of the truck was not injured in the accident, Helms said.