RICHMOND

Route 24 in Richmond was closed more than three hours after a box truck hit the train trestle Friday, leaving debris in the roadway that was cleaned up by Richmond Fire Department.

Sgt. Adam Garland of the Richmond Police Department said Dale Laney, 46, of Skowhegan, was driving a single-axle box truck north on Route 24 and wasn’t paying attention when he hit the train trestle. The truck made it all the way under the trestle, which peeled the top of the truck off, Garland said. The impact shifted the entire trestle about 8 inches, Garland said. The incident was reported at 10:30 a.m.

Garland initially closed the road because of debris in the road, which consisted of insulation and metal from the top of the truck which the Richmond Fire Department removed. Richmond and Bowdoinham fire departments provided traffic control.

Maine Department of Transportation workers removed metal debris lodged in the underside of the trestle. When an MDOT crew showed up, the foreman determined the road needed to be closed for safety reasons due to the damage to the bridge. Garland said MDOT bridge engineers were called. The trestle was secured, but Garland said MDOT plans to close this section of Route 24 Monday to fix the trestle. The only reason the trestle didn’t collapse, Garland said MDOT told him, was because the railroad ties held it up.

Ferry Road provides a convenient detour about twothirds of a mile long around the trestle, which was in use during the road closure today.

Temple said the truck driven by Laney is owned by Kris Wade Trucking of South Portland and leased by North- Center Foodservice of Augusta. The truck had just made a delivery to Annabella’s Bakery and Cafe on Front Street and was carrying frozen food, Garland said. A Maine State Police commercial unit assisted Garland with inspecting the truck, which was not found to have any violations. The truck was tagged by the commercial unit trooper as inoperable. The truck was towed from the scene and another truck was on its way to transfer the cargo.

The driver was not charged, Garland said.

The trestle bridge, which has a low 11.5-foot clearance, has been clipped by a number of trucks in recent months, including by a small boom truck in February and another box truck in December 2011. Garland said it sustained more damage today than as a result of those recent incidents.

According to The Times Record archives, in 2007 a tractor-trailer carrying insulation was lodged under the trestle. It was hit in January 2005 by a mattress truck, by a lobster delivery truck in September 2005 and in August 2006 another truck got stuck under the bridge.

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