Excavator in Transport Hits Bridge So Hard the Arm Punches Through the Road Above

Excavators in transport just cannot help but hit a bridge every once in a while. It’s a tale as old as time, a song as old as rhyme. We published practically this same story earlier in the year, but the incident that happened Wednesday in Osage County, Kansas, is unique thanks to one detail: The excavator’s arm punctured clear through the deck of the bridge.

I’m not saying this is the first time that’s ever happened in history, but I’ve certainly never seen it before. How fast was the big rig going for the equipment to plow that far? How strong is the arm on that excavator? How weak is the bridge?

The poor Caterpillar 323 never stood a chance. Of course, it helps that this specific excavator model weighs at least 55,000 pounds. There was a lot of inertia, to say the least. Local news outlet KVOE reports that the driver was sent to a nearby hospital in Topeka for minor injuries, and it’s a wonder that he didn’t go flying through the windshield.

The South Morrill Road Bridge on U.S. Highway 75 will be closed for who knows how long as a result of the collision. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will this bridge be rebuilt in as little time. I don’t imagine this route about 10 miles west of Melvern, Kansas, is all that highly trafficked compared to busy interstates elsewhere in the country, though with traffic reduced to a single lane near the crash site, it’ll cause a slowdown for drivers nonetheless.

Thankfully, o other vehicles were involved in the incident.

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