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Driver Charged After Truck Hits Underpass

Posted on: Saturday, 21 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Reading Eagle, Pa.

Jan. 21--Eastbound motorists encountered single-lane conditions Friday on Route 12 near the Route 183 underpass after a recycling truck struck the underside of the bridge.

Shortly before noon, the truck owned by Waste Management, Gilbertsville, struck the bridge that carries Route 183 over the highway, also known as the Warren Street Bypass, causing minor damage to a support beam, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said.

Reading police charged the truck driver, Edwin R. Lozada, 34, Reading, with failure to secure his load.

Police said Lozada forgot to lower the truck's container after picking up recyclables at Jamestown Village Apartments on Lackawanna Street.

An alarm that would have warned the driver the container was up did not work, police said.

Also, another driver attempted to radio Lozada to tell him the container was not lowered, but Lozada's truck radio was not operating either, police said.

One eastbound lane of the highway was closed to allow a PennDOT crew to inspect the bridge.

Two-lane travel was restored at 4:30 p.m. after inspectors determined the bridge was structurally sound, said Ronald J. Young Jr., a Penn-DOT spokesman.

The beam that was struck is on the opposite side of the bridge from where a different beam was damaged in August 2001 when it was hit by a crane being hauled on an eastbound tractor-trailer.

The damage from that accident weakened the support beams for the sidewalk, forcing PennDOT to remove the sidewalk and the beams.

Until the sidewalk was replaced in the fall, pedestrians had to cross the bridge via a makeshift walkway, protected by concrete dividers.

Young said the beam that was struck Friday supports the opposite sidewalk.

While PennDOT engineers still need to determine if any significant repairs are needed, the damage appears minor and the sidewalk is safe for pedestrians, he said.

"There doesn't appear to be any significant damage to the bridge," Young said.

Lozada was not injured in the crash.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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