Image via Hidalgo County Fire Rescue
A truck hauling an excavator in Hidalgo County, New Mexico on Interstate 10 hit an overpass, badly damaging the bridge. While that’s going to be expensive, the excavator itself doesn’t look to have faired any better in the aftermath.
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Details about how the crash happened haven’t been made available by authorities, but someone obviously goofed up and didn’t realize the piece of heavy machinery wouldn’t clear the overpass.
In one of the photos of the damage taken by Hidalgo County Fire Rescue, a sign clearly states the overpass has 16 feet and 9 inches of clearance. Truckers are supposed to know exactly how tall their trailer or whatever they’re hauling on a flatbed is so accidents like this don’t happen.
And yet, accidents like this do happen. They’re not frequent, but they’re not unheard of.
From the looks of the damage to the overpass, if we had to guess we’d say the excavator didn’t clear it by only a few inches, maybe even just an inch. It’s amazing how being just a little bit off resulted in serious damage to the structure and the machine.
What’s even crazier is the overpass is on the taller side for clearances. It’s not like the thing is the infamous 11 foot 8 inch “Can Opener” bridge in Durham, North Carolina.
There’s no word on how long the overpass will be shut down. State engineers are apparently working on a solution, but we wonder if it’s bad enough the overpass might have to be torn down and rebuilt. Obviously, we’re nowhere near qualified enough to make that assessment.
In the meantime, traffic is being diverted around the hazard by taking the exit ramp and entering the interstate again using the entry ramp. That’s slowing traffic down in the area.
And to think all this was caused by the excavator not clearing the overpass by what looks to be only a few inches.
Images via Hidalgo County Fire Rescue
