Fayetteville, Arkansas outlet 40/29 News reported on Oct. 15 that maintenance crews had to go check on a bridge about an hour away from the city after a bus that was more than three times the weight limit drove across it. The bridge, built in 1949 and called Beaver Bridge, is wooden and has one lane—perfect for a giant bus to stage the most clenching video of the week.
Sharing a road with people, many of whom do a lot of dangerous things while driving, is kind of like going running: You have to try not to think about it too hard, because if you do, you’ll see no logic in torturing yourself that way.
Just imagine driving down this bridge, minding your business and taking in the scenery, only to look in the mirror and see a giant bus making the very structure that’s holding you up sag like a wet T-shirt. There’s no logic in that, is there?
The Arkansas Department of Transportation Twitter account posted that the weight limit on the bridge is 10 tons and that this bus weighed a casual 35 tons, making the bridge look like a bunch of piano keys when those of us not talented enough to actually play the piano slide our fingers across them for fun.
People who live nearby told 40/29 News that they see large vehicles take Beaver Bridge regularly, even though the Arkansas DOT told the outlet that the state highway police are supposed to enforce bridge weight limits. The bridge was closed as of Tuesday, with the DOT saying the following via 40/29 News:
“The bridge has required temporary closures since early October due to scheduled routine maintenance. ARDOT engineers decided to take a closer look at the bridge after receiving results of a special bridge inspection. Until the review is complete, the bridge will remain closed,” the department announced Tuesday.
Historic places and monuments are (mostly) cool, but maybe not to drive on—especially when vehicles risk dumping us all in the water by blowing bridges’ weight limits out of it.
[h/t CarScoops]