A truck driver has been charged following an incident that caused a bridge collapse in rural Iowa.
According to the Iowa State Patrol, 29 year old truck driver Justin Hippen was charged with violating a weight embargo for an incident that occurred earlier this month.
The incident occurred on May 5 just after 9 a.m in Winneshiek County. Authorities say that Hippen was driving a 30 ton grain truck on Cattle Creek Road when he attempted to cross Daley’s Bridge. Hippen’s truck made it almost all the way across the bridge, which was clearly marked with a 3 ton weight limit, before the structure collapsed. The grain truck wound up stuck on a concrete support.
No one was injured.
ISP said that the damage to the bridge was estimated at $775,000. Hippen’s truck suffered about $1,700 worth of damage during the incident.
The Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office posted images of the mangled bridge on Facebook along with pictures of the struck truck with the simple caption, “This is why the bridge collapsed.”