ALDOT evaluating damage to Upper River Road overpass at I-65 overpass

Damage caused Monday to the Upper River Road overpass at Interstate 65 is being evaluated by the Alabama Department of Transportation, but the agency said it’s too early to know the extent of repairs that will be needed.

At approximately 12:48 p.m. on Monday, an excavator being transported by a 2020 Mack Pinnacle 64T tractor-trailer being driven by Christopher W. Douglas, 40, of Trinity, struck the concrete overpass at Upper River Road, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The Alabama Department of Transportation said they responded to the scene after receiving reports that a southbound vehicle had struck the underside of the bridge, littering I-65 with chunks of concrete and causing traffic backups.

An initial inspection by a bridge engineer showed damage to the concrete on all six girders — the long horizontal beams that support the bridge deck. ALDOT said the steel rebar appeared intact in all of the girders except one.

The most heavily damaged girder is the outside girder on the north side of the bridge, which supports Upper River Road’s westbound shoulder and is not part of the load path for the travel lanes, according to ALDOT. As a result, the westbound shoulder was closed.

“It’s too soon to speculate about any closures that might be necessary for repair, or a timeline for that,” said ALDOT North Region spokesman Seth Burkett. “They will need to look at it further.”

ALDOT said crews removed all loose concrete from the underside of the bridge and trimmed any exposed rebar, allowing the southbound lanes of I-65 to reopen before 8 p.m. Monday. The agency’s Emergency Bridge Inspection Team is expected to continue evaluating the bridge later this week to determine the extent of repairs needed.

Should significant repairs be necessary, the impact on traffic could be dramatic. According to ALDOT, Upper River Road near the overpass had a daily traffic count of 4,682 vehicles in 2023, the latest data available. I-65 near the overpass had a traffic count of 54,370 vehicles per day.

Burkett said the clearance between the road and the overpass is 15 feet, 11 inches, an inch less than the standard clearance of 16 feet.

“For that reason, the bridge has warning signs posted indicating the clearance,” Burkett said. “The signs are on either side of the roadway approaching the bridge.”

He said the legal limit for vehicle height is 13 feet, 6 inches, measured from the ground to the top of the transported load.

“Anything taller would require a permit and ALDOT-approved route,” Burkett said.

Burkett said ALDOT plans to raise the Upper River Road overpass and one other overpass when I-65 is resurfaced, which he said will begin this summer.