A truck and a FedEx trailer fell victim Wednesday evening (Nov. 20, 2024) to the low-clearance bridge near the intersection of Pierre Street and Sioux Avenue in Pierre.
Information from the Pierre Police Department says officers were called to the train viaduct for a traffic crash around 7pm CT. Thomas Zachman of St. Paul, MN, was traveling northbound on Pierre Street in a 2018 Freightliner truck pulling two FedEx box trailers. The trailers exceeded the height limit for the bridge and the first trailer struck the bridge causing damage to the trailer. Zachman attempted to back up, causing damage to the truck box as well. Zachman was cited for failure to obey a traffic signal.
Police officers had to shut down northbound traffic on Pierre Street for under an hour, while crews worked to remove the truck and trailers.
As usual, there was no apparent damage to the train bridge.
Getting hit is nothing new for the bridge underpass with an 11-foot, 3-inch clearance along a major roadway in Pierre. The route takes traffic north or south through the middle of town and is no trouble for regular size vehicles. However, the low clearance causes trouble for semis, large RVs and other tall vehicles that don’t use the Truck Route to go through Pierre. Despite signs outside of the Pierre and Fort Pierre city limits displaying the 11’ 3” clearance limit and large yellow signs with flashing yellow lights on both sides of the train viaduct bridge itself, drivers that hit the bridge often say they were following the directions being given to them by GPS.
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