Officials investigate why semi hit bridge

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Crews re-opened I-65 northbound and I-70 eastbound at Virginia Avenue Sunday night.

The Indianapolis Department of Transportation shut down the section of highway Friday afternoon after an oversize vehicle crashed into the bridge, damaging one of its steel beams.

INDOT bridge engineers determined the damage was sufficient enough to require steel reinforcements be added to the underside of the structure.

"We had a team design the reinforcing steel plates using steel that was available by a private contractor,” said INDOT spokesperson Will Wingfield. “Then cut and drilled it to dimension and delivered it to the site.  Then another contractor installs the plates.”

Indiana State Police say the driver of the truck improperly loaded some equipment onto the flat bed. That made the vehicle’s height too tall for the bridge. 

Wingfield says Indiana requires trucking companies to apply for a special permit for all trucks taller than 13 ½ feet. 

"INDOT has posted signage leading up to load bridges to notify drivers they can choose an alternate route that would accommodate their load,” Wingfield said.

Under Federal regulations, all public bridges must be inspected once every 2 years. According to a national bridge database, there are 1,468 public bridges in Marion County. Of those, 108 are considered "structurally deficient" and 203 are considered "Functionally Obsolete."

"Functionally obsolete means a bridge was built at a time that doesn't meet the standards today," Wingfield said. “Indiana's bridges, on the whole are better than many of our neighboring states."

INDOT says because of money made available from the leasing of the Indiana Toll Road, the state is spending more money that it ever has when it comes to improving or replacing the bridges.