Friday, December 5th, 2008
Raised dump truck bed topples signs
By Janie Southard
Submitted Photo
John Hemp of Sidney took this picture of the overpass signs knocked down by a truck driver on Thursday afternoon.
A dump truck driver who forgot to lower his truck bed and hit an overpass sign on U.S. 33 closed down traffic for four hours on Thursday afternoon.
The accident occurred around noon near the state Route 66 exit.
The driver, whose name was not released this morning, was in the area to help with cleanup from an accident on U.S. 33 on Monday. Icy roads that day caused a semitrailer to jack-knife and take down a guardrail on U.S. 33 near St. Marys. Thursday's cleanup of that accident involved the dump truck bringing in a load of fill dirt.
"When the truck left, the guy forgot to lower the truck bed before he drove off toward the state Route 66 exit," ODOT's Auglaize County Manager Ted Hemleben said this morning. "He hit the 66 traffic sign and broke it off. Then he hit an overhead sign about 75 feet long that spans the highway breaking the truss, which collapsed the sign."
The highway is open to traffic today as ODOT resumes cleanup of the downed signs.
There were no injuries claimed in either highway event.
