A historic bridge in the town of Paoli in Indiana has collapsed. The accident occurred on Friday when an overloaded truck (that was being driven with a trailer) was driven on the bridge. The truck and trailer got stuck, and the old iron bridge completely collapsed under the weight of the truck.
Mary Lambright, 23, who was driving the truck, has been arrested for the incident. At the time of the accident a cousin of Lambright was in the passenger seat of the truck. Lambright was working for a company called "Louisville Logistics" and was driving a 2015 model Volvo truck. It appears that she obtained her Commercial Driver's License roughly 8 months ago, according to The Inquisitr.
It appears that Lambright was trying to reach the parking lot of the Wal-mart located nearby, but she missed the exit to that location. She therefore started trying to use other roads in the neighborhood to reach the Wal-mart parking lot. This was also not the first time that she had used this bridge - she had driven on this bridge before in her own car, according to The Spreadit.
There were two clear warning signs ahead of the bridge. The first one - that said "No Large Trucks" - made it very clear that large trucks were not to move on the bridge. The second sign - that said "Restricted Weight Bridge 6 Tons" - made it very clear that no vehicle weighing more than 6 tons was to move on the bridge.
Lambright ignored and infringed both of these warnings. Regarding the second sign, it turned out that Lambright's truck was carrying packaged drinking water weighing nearly 43,000 pounds, or 21.5 tons of weight. Lambright claimed that she did not realize that her truck was carrying a weight well in excess of the 6 tons weight limitation that is allowed on this bridge.
The Cleveland Bridge and Road Company first built the bridge in 1880. The bridge is located at South Gospel Street and is built across Lick Creek, according to DB Techno.
