Americans have a real issue with restrictions on their roads, whether it’s speed limits that nobody sticks to, height restrictions that all kinds of tall vehicles miss or weight limits that certain bridges can’t sustain. Case in point, a driver in Maine crashed through a historic crossing last month after attempting to drive over in a Ford truck that was 30,000 pounds overweight.
Babb’s Bridge in Maine holds the crown as the state’s oldest covered bridge. The original crossing was built on the site in 1840 and a replica was assembled in the 1970s after the original bridge burned down. Now, another copy may be needed after an enormous truck missed the weight restriction signs and crashed through the deck of the crossing, reports CarScoops.
The driver of a Ford F-750 truck loaded up with crushed gravel reportedly missed the warnings before attempting to cross the span on August 23. The truck was estimated to have weighed about 30,000 lbs over the span’s limit, so when it drove onto the bridge it smashed through the crossing and crashed into the Presumpscot River below, as CarScoops explains:
The incident happened on Friday, August 23, at Babb’s Bridge, which spans the Presumpscot River and connects Gorham and Windham. As one of Maine’s oldest and few remaining covered bridges, Babb’s Bridge has seen a lot—though likely not quite as much as it did that day.
A few seconds after its wheels touched the wooden floor, the truck fell through, plummeting into the river. The driver somehow escaped with only minor injuries, and fortunately, no one else was hurt in the fall. The heavy vehicle was later towed out with the help of a crane, revealing significant damage to its bodywork.
The historic bridge was reportedly rated to only carry vehicles up to 6,000 lbs, reports the Portland Press Herald. As the driver of the enormous truck failed to spot the warning signs highlighting the limit of the bridge, they have now been given a $2,500 citation for attempting to drive the 36,000-pound truck across Babb’s Bridge.
The fine won’t do much to appease the locals who rely on the bridge to cross the Presumpscot River, as PPH warns that the crossing may not be repaired until the new year as a result of the damage. As the site adds:
Bridge engineers assessed the site Monday and determined the bridge will likely be repaired in the spring, said Paul Merrill, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Transportation. But what the department still has to decide is whether it will rebuild the wooden structure as-is, or opt for a modern, sturdier replacement.
Historic preservationists want the state to make the repairs quickly, but historically accurate.
Thankfully, the damage sustained by the bridge was limited to its wooden deck, meaning that the other supporting structures and the bridge’s cover won’t need too much attention. However, because it’s a wooden bridge it will require specialist attention to fix.
It’s been a rough year for bridges around the world after a crossing in Baltimore was hit by a container ship that totally destroyed the structure. Another bridge in Switzerland was accidentally blown up by engineers and a crossing in Scandinavia reportedly collapsed because its designers were too focused on the way it looked.
