Truck removed from Greene bridge
A truck hauling fresh water to an EQT well site in Morgan Township collapsed a portion of the historic Pollocks Mill Bridge Sunday.
Pieces of a damaged section of the Pollocks Mill Bridge in Jefferson fall away as an overweight tanker truck is extracted from it Monday.
Wade’s Towing of Waynesburg completes a recovery operation for a tanker truck that collapsed a portion of the Pollocks Mill Bridge in Morgan Township Monday.
JEFFERSON – The operation to remove a water tanker truck from the collapsed portion of historic Pollocks Mill Bridge, which spans Ten Mile Creek between Morgan and Jefferson townships, was a success Monday afternoon.
It was achieved by the use of a 65-ton Peterbilt Rotator tow truck and a 45-ton Peterbilt Slider tow truck operated in tandem by Wade’s Towing of Waynesburg.
The removal required a temporary gas shut off by People’s Natural Gas Company to a line that crossed the bridge and supplies gas to about 4,500 residents, a gas company spokesman said.
Jefferson-Morgan School District re-routed a minibus that uses the road.
Widmer Engineering Inc. of Beaver Falls was on scene to assess damages to the 162-foot bridge.
Greene County Chief Clerk Jeffrey Marshall said inspectors from Widmer determine if the bridge can be repaired. If it can, the county will seek damages from Buccaneer Enterprises Inc. of Buckhannon, W.Va., owners of the truck, for reimbursement of repair costs, Marshall said. Steel beams were welded to the ends of the bridge Monday afternoon as a safety precaution to prevent anyone from entering it.
The driver of the truck, Jason Wayne Strawderman, 38, of Beverly, W.Va., said Sunday night that his GPS led him to the 136-year-old bridge and he did not see any weight restriction signs for the bridge.
Strawderman said the truck, bound for the Nicoloff, EQT well site on Pollocks Mill Road, was loaded with fresh water. Buccaneer is a subcontractor of EQT.
From the direction the truck was traveling, it was on both Goslin and Adamik roads before turning onto Pollocks Mill Road. Goslin and Adamik Roads have posted 10-ton weight restrictions on them. At the end of Pollocks Mill Road, where the truck entered to reach the bridge, is a 4-ton weight restriction sign which was visible Sunday evening.
State police have not yet determined the overall weight of the truck. However, a representative of Buccaneer Enterprises told a trooper the water tank itself holds a maximum of 4,200 gallons, though a company representative does not believe the truck was filled to capacity.
State police said they will weight the truck and calculate the overall weight. The truck was driven from the scene after its removal from the bridge to be inspected by state police.
Strawderman told the trooper he applied his brakes when the truck compromised the bridge, climbed out and across the structure to reach a release valve on the truck, dumping its contents into Ten Mile Creek.
He said this was in an attempt to lighten the truck and keep it from collapsing the structure further. The truck tank has “fresh water” written on the side. There were no visible signs of chemical contamination in the water below or near the bridge early Sunday evening into late Monday afternoon.
A spill containment unit from United Welding Service of Parkersburg, W.Va., was on scene in the event of a puncture to the truck’s diesel fuel tank when it was pulled from the bridge.
Prior to the attempt at crossing the bridge, Strawderman was being followed by a second tanker truck when he entered the railroad overpass in front of the bridge.
Trevor Kniha, 16, of Waynesburg was behind the two trucks on his way to a nearby residence along Pollocks Mill Road. Kniha said the first truck “barely cleared the overpass” and the next truck came up to it, stopped and backed up.
“I was wondering what the truck was going to do,” Kniha said. After it backed into a turnaround area, Kniha drove ahead. “I pulled up to come across the bridge and saw the bridge was messed up, so I turned around and went the other way.”
This was the second bridge collapse in Greene County in recent years. In April 2008, the bridge on Simpson Chapel Road in Morris Township carrying a 3-ton weight limit collapsed when a truck loaded with 35 tons of gravel attempted to cross it. The county sued the driver and Jenkins Trucking, Inc. of Smithfield for $1,190,000 to replace the 50-foot long, 116-year old bridge.
The county maintained the bridge was clearly posted with a weight restriction of 3 tons. A jury later awarded the county slightly less than $300,000, taking into consideration depreciation related to the age of the structure, according to Marshall.
In 1990, the wooden decking to the Pollocks Mill Bridge, along with the steel floor beams, were replaced. Two years ago, Widmer Engineering temporarily closed the bridge to replace some of the wooden decking that had deteriorated. Also known as County Bridge No. 22, it was built in 1878 by Massillon Iron Bridge Co. Its construction is in the style known as a Whipple truss bridge. It has long been considered eligible for the National Historic Registry for its age and design, one of the few remaining in the state of its kind.
Members of the Clarksville and Jefferson Volunteer fire departments were on scene Sunday evening to assist. Jefferson volunteer firemen also provided support in the recovery of the truck Monday.