Babb’s Bridge reopened Thursday, earlier than expected after a dump truck broke through its wooden roadway in August. Courtesy Maine Department of Transportation

Babb’s Bridge, which carries motorists between Gorham and Windham, reopened Thursday nearly six months after an overweight dump truck broke through its wooden decking in August, officials said.

Repairs began last month, and were initially slated for completion in the spring. But crews finished work on the covered wooden bridge Thursday, Department of Transportation spokesperson Paul Merrill said.

“It’s open!” Merrill said.

The truck, a Ford F750 loaded with gravel, weighed about 36,000 pounds — about six times the posted 3-ton limit. The driver, who sustained minor injuries, was cited for violating the rule.

Babb’s links Gorham’s Hurricane Road with Windham’s Covered Bridge Road and carried about 360 vehicles per day before its recent closure.

Workers from a wrecking company prepare to pull the dump truck that broke through Babb’s Bridge out of the Presumpscot River in August. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

The existing structure was built in 1976 as a replica of the original Babb’s Bridge, which was built in 1840 and burned by arsonists in 1973, according to the department.

“Sadly, the bridge is plagued by vandalism including a 2014 report of vandals cutting holes in the roof,” the department says in its inventory of historic covered bridges.

In 2015, the bridge was closed for weeks after being damaged by a snow plow, the department said.