Interstate 680 was shut down at Interstate 80 in Omaha during the morning rush hour Wednesday, making many late for work. The Nebraska Department of Roads tells Channel 6 News a snowblower broke down.

Highway Maintenance Superintendent Jim Laughlin said workers would have been wrapped up in plenty of time for the morning commute. "We're clearing off the snow against bridge rails and we had an equipment malfunction this morning."

That equipment was a 47-foot long, nine-foot wide, 53,000-pound snowblower.

"We only have from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to get as much work done as we can," said Laughlin. But around 5:30 a.m. that gargantuan roads vehicle, on loan from Mullen, Nebraska, lost a shoe that flew backwards, popping a massive tire.

Not towable, Laughlin said the vehicle had to be fixed on the spot, requiring a complete road closure. "When you get this machine rolling, it kind of has to pivot out to load the trucks and we had trucks that were actually hauling the snow away. So, we had to have trucks up next to it. Closing the lanes is about the only thing we can do."

The vehicles go through maintenance checks daily, said Laughlin. “We work on them every day, (but) things just happen when you’re working this many hours, doing this much work. Breakdowns are bound to happen.”

Bill Hronek of Omaha is still frustrated from being deadlocked because of another issue on I-80 Tuesday night. He said he was crossing the river into Omaha when he began to notice a back-up.

"A delay a little bit is okay, but for almost an hour? I turned off my car so I wouldn't run out of gas."

His biggest frustration is that he didn’t see any electronic signs above the roadway in Iowa warning him of the delay just across the state line. He said he reached road crews from his cell phone while stuck in his car.

“All you had to do is tell me to divert,” he told them. “But I felt like a lemming and I’m not a lemming.”

Wednesday, Nebraska Department of Roads manager Gary Forman told Channel 6 News there was snow removal work being done on a bridge at 20th Street. However, he said Iowa was notified to light up its message boards around 10:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the work was set to begin.

Forman said Hronek may have missed a sign or a sign could have malfunctioned. Regardless, he said the major back-up was not due to the snow removal process itself.

Instead, Forman said the tie-up was due to a suspected drunk driver who Omaha Police were arresting. That driver had run into a Nebraska Roads Department vehicle in the area where snow was being cleared.

Drivers are certainly not the only ones frustrated with the snow. Those working to clear it for the state have been putting in 12 to 15-hour work days since before Christmas.

It’s important that they move it off the roadway, Laughlin said. The piles can create dangerous ramps for out-of-control drivers.

Thursday night, road crews will be working to haul snow away from West Dodge Road and Highway 75. The work will go from approximately 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.