US: Truck leaves hole in bridge before crashing into river in Maine

The driver of a dump truck learned the hard way that it’s best not to tempt fate on a covered bridge originally built before the Civil War.

The loaded vehicle crashed into the Presumpscot River on Friday afternoon, leaving a hole in the planks in the shape of the truck.

The driver suffered minor injuries, police said, but the same couldn’t be said for Babb’s Bridge, which was originally built in 1840 and rebuilt in 1976 after a fire. The best-case scenario is the bridge will be closed for a few months, officials said.

The weight limit on the bridge was 3 tons (2,700 kilograms), and the dump truck carrying crushed stone was “multiple times that,” said Paul Merrill, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Transportation.

The truck was crossing from Gorham into Windham when it plummeted into the water. The Gorham Police Department said the mishap remains under investigation. The driver didn’t respond to messages from The Associated Press.