OTTUMWA —
A accident earlier this week on Highway 34 did not destroy the overpass.
“It did some very minor damage to the outside of the [cement] casting,” said Steve Edgington, Ottumwa Public Works superintendent.
A transport vehicle and accompanying escort cars were pulling a large stainless steel tank on Tuesday. As they passed under East Main Street, the top of the tank jammed under the bridge, temporarily trapping it and the truck under the bridge.
The escort car out front has a measuring stick deployed like a giant antenna. It’s the same height as the truck and cargo.
“The lady with the stick went under the bridge, and she said it didn’t hit,” Edgington said. “The [truck] should have fit.”
Asked if it could have been that the back end of the long, flat truck had been on an incline (thus changing the height of the cargo), Edgington said the city wasn’t sure what caused the problem.
“I believe that’s actually the DOT’s bridge,” he said.
An Iowa Department of Transportation officer was on the scene investigating the accident Tuesday.
Edgington said the city has inspected the bridge and determined it remains safe to drive over and under. Any further inspection would be done by the state, he said.
He did reveal, however, the method used to pull the truck and cargo out from under the bridge.
“They lowered it [by letting] the air out of the tires.”
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