Semi driver who caused bridge collapse to pay $135 fine

The bridge in Paoli, Indiana, was 135 years old.

A semitrailer trying to cross an historic iron bridge in the southern in town of Paoli on Christmas Day – with a load six times the posted six-ton weight limit – collapsed the span into a creek.

Paoli Police told Lambright her vehicle and trailer weighed 30 tons.

Then she figured she could pull the rig into the big parking lot on South Gospel Street and swing it around without backing up.

As she attempted to cross, the weight of the truck caused the bridge to collapse.

Quick lesson on weight conversions, here: One ton, in America, is the equivalent of 2,000 pounds.

The bridge had a 6-ton limit.

When asked by police why she crossed the bridge carrying 30 tons, she admitted to not knowing how many pounds that was.

As the truck entered the bridge, the trailer’s top collided with the structure and began to rip the top off, but Lambright continued to drive.

Lambert and a 17-year-old passenger escaped the collapse unharmed. Still, she attempted to cross it in a tractor trailer with 43,000 pounds of water bottles in tow.

Signs posted on the road before the bridge said no trucks were allowed.

Lambright received her Commercial Drivers License endorsement in May and works for Louisville Logistics.

The truck was hauled to a towing company in Salem and was awaiting Indiana State Police inspection.

The Paoli Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Paoli Fire and Rescue, Paoli Town employees, IU Health, Wilcox Wrecker Service, Hankins Corvette Sales and Kendell Trucking assisted on the scene. Lambright has been cited for a misdemeanor charge of reckless operation of a tractor-trailer, disregarding a traffic control device, and overweight on posted bridge violation.

The bridge was built in 1880, Dubois County Free Press reported.