Semi-Truck Collides With P&W Railroad Bridge On Main Street

A black semi-truck collided with the Providence and Worcester railroad bridge on Main Street at 1:49 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.  The collision left the bed of the truck crumpled and attracted a crowd of bystanders as a towing crew attempted to remove the big rig from the bridge.

Police at the scene said the driver was not injured and that the bridge was still structurally sound.  They were letting pedestrians pass under the bridge.

The road stretching from Monument Square to just past the bridge in Depot Square was closed while tow trucks, police and fire personnel worked to remove the truck from underneath the bridge.

The driver, Bill Rinker, 23, of Pa., was wearing a camouflage jacket and cargo shorts when he stepped out of the cabin of his truck.  

Lt. Brad Scully of the Woonsocket Police Department said the driver came from Privelege Street and then down North Main Street before striking the bridge.  The driver was cited for failure to obey traffic control devices.

"He missed the signs, he missed the lights," said one police officer who was at the scene.  

Two bright yellow signs that read 12' are posted at Monument square on North Main Street., two more are posted right before Railroad Street in front of the bridge and two flashing yellow lights hang on the bridge itself.

"Speed was a factor, I saw him fly by," said Jodi Brunelle who was standing in her shop, J&M Paintball on Main Street, at the time of the accident, "Then the building shook and I said, 'here we go again' and I called [the police] and said 'someone hit the bridge again.'"

"I just heard it open up like a tin can," said Bob, who declined to give his last name.  He was also inside J&M Paintball when the accident occurred.

The actual truck went about 15 feet past the underside of the bridge.  The impact of the bridge on the aluminum and wood trailer of the truck ripped open a 10 foot gash on the top of the trailer.  The truck was filled with 40,000 pounds of cargo, according to Precision Towing General Manager Richard Branch, the man tasked with extracting the truck.

Brunelle noted that truck drivers have hit the bridge many times in the past.

The black truck appears to be owned by Black Dog Trucking LLC of East Haddam Ct. according to the logo painted on the cab of the truck.

To extract the truck a team from Precision towing had to come with multiple tow trucks.  First they ran a chain from both sets of wheels on the trailer and hooked it up to a 40-ton "wrecker" tow truck, to rest the weight.  Then they lowered the landing gear on the trailer to force it closer to the ground and off the bridge.  After this, it was decided by the fire department that the cargo needed to be removed because the truck was leaning heavily to one side, according to Branch.  

The cargo consisted of unknown materials double wrapped in black plastic trash bags and inside 55-gallon drums.  

The cargo was unloaded by hand and placed into another semi-truck from Service Transport Group Inc. of New Castle, Delaware.

After the cargo was unloaded, Branch and his crew placed a flat-top dolly (set of four semi-truck wheels) underneath the broken part of the trailer and hauled the trailer out from underneath the bridge.

Download the movie