Semi truck smacks into bridge height crash bar hours after installation

A semi truck smacked into a bridge height crash bar in Louisiana on Tuesday just hours after it was installed. 

The crash happened on January 27th at the Interstate 10 overpass bridge near Westlake, Florida. 

According to 7 KPLC, the fourth set of bridge height crash beams was installed less than five hours before a semi truck bypassed all warning signs outlining the bridge’s low height and crashed into the beam. The force of the crash into the bridge height crash bar peeled back part of the semi truck’s trailer. 

“There’s multiple signs that are posted leading up to where the detour route is. There’s signals in place. There’s flashing beacons,” said Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development spokesman John Guidroz. 

“I just don’t understand how they cannot see the signs, see the warning label, see everything. Do not go this way. You’re over height,” Westlake Police Chief Chris Wilrye said of the recent series of bridge strike incidents. 

“The drivers that I spoke to recently said they’re watching their map direct them to where they’re going. Like yesterday, a gentleman was trying to get to one of the local refineries. I said, ‘Where are you trying to go?’ ‘Well, my map is taking me this way.’ ‘Well, as you can see, we have the beam right here, so you can’t go this way,’” Wilrye said.

“It’s going to get to a point where one of these trucks is going to bypass the beam, hit it, and hit the bridge, and then the whole bridge is going to be out of whack. So it’s almost to a point now, well, let’s just reroute all trucks off this detour road to another location.”

The problem area is a construction detour expected to continue through at least the end of 2026, but the state is now considering rerouting trucks away from the detour and back onto Interstate 10 where possible. 

“We’re going to be trying to make sure that this doesn’t continue to occur, and it’s something that we are taking very seriously,” Guidroz said.

“We encourage drivers, if they have any concerns about the height of their vehicle, to take the other route that avoids this height restriction altogether,” Guidroz said.

The possibility of rerouting trucks is being discussed according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.