Local trucking company hauling oversized load involved in Nashville bridge wreck

A Lily area trucking company may face legal troubles following a wreck involving one of its trucks that damaged an overpass bridge in Nashville, Tennessee Friday.

According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), the tractor trailer belonging to D&G Equipment Movers, was hauling construction water truck north on I-65 at the intersection with I-40 when the crash occurred.

The water truck rose above the maximum height clearance under the overpass and ripped into the support beams of the bridge carrying traffic from I-40, damaging five of them.

“The truck was not properly permitted to be on any middle Tennessee area roadways,” TDOT officials stated.

Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officials said the truck, which was traveling from Arkansas, did not have the required permits to be in the area.

“He would not have been routed this way in the first place,” THP officials said noting that TDOT officials know the clearance heights of all overpasses and would have realized the load would not clear that overpass.

The driver received several misdemeanor citations, charging him with operating a vehicle that is over-height and over-width, and pulling a double trailer without the proper endorsement on his driver’s license, according to THP officials. The company was cited for unspecified violations.

According to The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, an escort vehicle was leading the truck, but the pole used to ensure adequate clearance for the load under overpasses along the route did not indicate a problem with the affected bridge.

The crash shut down the roadway for more than 20 hours as TDOT crews worked to clear the scene and stabilize the overpass, which reopened Saturday.

Permanent repairs are expected to take several months and cost approximately $4 million.

TDOT officials stated that the agency would be pursuing reimbursement for the cost of repairs from the company and its insurance provider.

When contacted Monday, company officials declined to comment on the incident.