Historic Ind. bridge reopens after two years | Aggregate, Excavation, Dump Truck Company

Photo credit: Orange County Indiana Law Enforcement

After two years of reconstruction work, the historic Paoli Bridge in Indiana is once again open to traffic, WDRB.com reports.

The bridge, which was built in the 1800s, collapsed on Christmas Day 2015 when a semi truck carrying 35 tons of bottled water, nearly six times the weight limit of the bridge, tried to cross and got stuck.

The bridge sat in a state of disrepair for more than a year while the insurance details were worked out. The trucking company’s insurance ended up paying approximately $700,000 for the repairs, and the woman driving the truck, Mary Lambright, was found guilty of destroying the bridge. She was sentenced to jail time and had her license revoked for 180 days.

On January 3, 2018, a crowd waited as the barriers were moved to allow traffic to cross the newly opened bridge, which was renamed the Sol Strauss and James M. Tucker Memorial Bridge.