State sees increase of overpass accidents

An I-75 crash on Monday was the state’s 15th overpass accident since June 2007.

CINCINNATI (AP) — More commercial trucks traveling on Ohio highways are hitting overpasses, backing up motorists for miles and costing the state three times the usual amount for emergency repairs.

A crash Monday on Interstate 75 near Dayton marked the 15th time a vehicle hit and damaged an overpass since June 2007, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The agency has spent $1.9 million in the past year on emergency repairs — up from a recent average of about $600,000 a year, said spokesman Scott Varner.

The increase in overpass accidents means officials have used most of a surplus carried over from past repair budgets, Varner said.

When possible, the state tries to recover its costs through insurance providers or truck operating companies.

It’s unclear why bridge accidents are on the rise. Increased truck traffic and a desire to economize fuel by carrying larger loads might play a role in some cases, government and industry representatives suggest.

Many involve semitrailers, but the types of accidents have varied. That leaves authorities without a solid explanation for the increase, and they’re not ready to say whether it’s a trend.

“I think that’s the difficulty for us,” Varner said. “Is it a growing problem, or was it just the past 12 months? We may not know for another six months.”

Trucks and their cargo can be no higher than 13.5 feet without a special permit in Ohio, where overpasses generally have a clearance of about 16 feet.

Doug Hecox, a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, said he has not heard of concerns about increased damages to bridges in other states. He added that states bear responsibility for licensing drivers and posting clearance warnings.

In at least nine of the 15 Ohio cases, a truck’s trailer or its load struck the underside of an overpass. In two of those, which were both fatal crashes in northeast Ohio, the hoists on trash haulers were not fully lowered.

Three were collisions between truck loads and the underside of the Stop Eight Road overpass on Interstate 75 near Dayton.

Following Monday’s accident at the nearby Timber Lane overpass, transportation officials near Dayton installed extra warning signs at the bridge, which met the minimum height of 14.5 feet prior to the hit but measured two inches lower after its beams were bent. Extra warning signs also were added to the Stop Eight bridge, which already had a warning posted, transportation spokeswoman Denise Heitkamp said.

Other crashes resulted in damage to bridge supports. In May, a railroad locomotive broke away from a tractor-trailer and slammed into three columns supporting an Interstate 74 overpass near Cincinnati. Crews are still repairing the damage.

Some causes, such as equipment malfunctions, can’t be prevented by drivers. But officials aim to eliminate human error as a factor through millions of dollars in trucker safety education annually, said Larry Davis, president of the Ohio Trucking Association.

Even then, mistakes happen. When a lifting device is left up, for example, “Somebody’s not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said. “And what do you do about that?”

In at least a half-dozen of the accidents, drivers received citations and could face fines.

The groups agree: Truck operators must be aware of their load heights and weights and show extra caution with equipment that could accidentally be left up or rise in transit.

By 2020, Ohio transportation officials project a 50 percent increase in the amount of freight moving across highways in the stretch of states from Ohio to Minnesota. And that, Davis said, means the government and the industry must talk more about how to safely move freight and avoid accidents.

Drivers feel the cost in minutes and hours lost sitting in traffic.

Like most of the crashes around busy roadways, Monday’s at the Timber Lane overpass near the Dayton International Airport triggered a massive jam and could leave traffic disrupted for weeks during repairs.

Roberta Jackson, who lives nearby, said the indefinite closure of that bridge adds time and frustration to her daily errands.

“It causes a lot of inconvenience,” said Jackson, 74, who said the drive to her great-granddaughter’s school down the street has turned into a neighborhood tour. “I’m on one side [of the overpass], and the school is on the other, which means I have to take the long way around to get her to the school.”