Tractor-trailer gets jammed under Northampton railroad bridge

NORTHAMPTON — Some locals have referred to it as the “truck-eating bridge.” And on Tuesday night, it ate again.

A tractor-trailer traveling southwest on Bridge Street hit the railroad bridge and got stuck underneath at around 9:15 p.m. The front of the trailer was heavily damaged, and one of the steel girders on the bridge was bent, as was the bridge’s artwork.

Northampton police officer Adam Van Buskirk said that there was no structural damage to the bridge. The driver, whom police did not identify, was charged with failing to obey the signs warning of the bridge’s 11-foot clearance.

Police closed off both lanes of traffic on Bridge Street following the crash, which left fiberglass from the trailer’s insulation scattered across the road.

“All the sudden we hear a ‘bam,’” said Marquel Torres, who was at The Majestic bar down the street when the crash occurred. He and friends left the bar to see where the sound came from, expecting that two cars had collided, he added. “The truck was wedged under the bridge.”

The trailer was removed from under the bridge at around 10:45 p.m.