It happened again! Another truck slams Radnor bridge
RADNOR >> A cement truck slammed into the Amtrak bridge on King of Prussia Road Thursday afternoon, snarling traffic for hours including the evening rush hour in the latest incident of a truck striking the structure.
Radnor police said nobody was injured when the empty cement truck belonging to Delaware Valley Concrete Inc. hit the bridge as it traveled south on King of Prussia Road toward Lancaster Avenue.
The crash happened about 3:40 p.m. and the road was closed through rush hour. Police said the road could be closed until 8 a.m. Friday as they wait for crews to repair power lines that were partially pulled down through the tunnel and a steel beam was dislodged and poses a safety threat.
Two large wreckers were needed to remove the truck, which was wedged horizontally in the entrance of the tunnel. The steel beam kept the truck from hitting the bridge itself and trains were able to continue running.
The bridge has been the scene of numerous accidents in the past few years as trucks using GPS often use the road to avoid backed-up traffic on I-76 coming from King of Prussia. The bridge has been struck more than 40 times since 2008, according to Radnor police.
Warnings leading up to the bridge state the clearance at 10 feet, 10 inches markings on the truck stated its height at 13 feet.
Radnor had been considering spending $100,000 for a detection alarm system that uses lasers to identify trucks that are too tall and alert drivers before they hit the bridge. Radnor officials said that plan is off the table because it would open the township up to liability.
Radnor police are investigating the crash.
“It’s a PennDOT road,” said Radnor Police Superintendent Christopher Flanagan, “but when an accident happens it is our responsibility to clean it up.”