Truck that hit I-35 bridge was not licensed for ‘over-height load’

State officials say a tractor-trailer that struck a bridge under construction — setting off a deadly accident Thursday on Interstate 35 in Salado — wasn’t permitted to carry an “over-height load.”

The tractor-trailer, owned by Crowley-based Lares Trucking, was pulling a flatbed carrying a cherry picker on northbound I-35 at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday when it struck the bridge, causing two concrete beams to crash down on the highway and other vehicles. The crash occurred in the middle of a work zone, about 40 miles north of Austin.

Texas Department of Transportation officials said the truck was too tall, and Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Harpin Myers said the investigation is continuing. He said the height and other measurements of the Lares truck, as well as the equipment it was hauling, are still unknown.

But Texas Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Adam Shaivitz said Friday that the truck wasn’t licensed to carry an oversize load.

“Based on a review of our records, as well as the inspection report issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the motor carrier that struck the bridge did not have the legally required permit to carry an over-height load,” Shaivitz said.

Three signs posted in the 2 miles before the bridge say its clearance is 13 feet and 6 inches, which is lower than the bridge’s actual height, Transportation Department spokeswoman Veronica Beyer said.

The crash shut down I-35 and forced traffic onto service roads until it reopened early Friday.

Clark Brandon Davis, 32, of Arlington died when his pickup was crushed in the accident. Three others were injured, and a big rig behind Davis’ pickup was also badly damaged.

The Lares Trucking driver, Valentin Martinez, wouldn’t go into detail about the accident.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Martinez said by phone Friday.

When asked whether his truck was too tall for the bridge, Martinez stayed silent for a few seconds and hung up.

Davis, who was driving on a delivery job, leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter, according to WFAA/Channel 8. His mother, Pam Evans, described him as the “perfect” son and father. He was an extremely hard worker and an all-around good kid, she told WFAA.

Permits for oversize and overweight loads aren’t unusual.

In 2014, the Texas DMV’s Motor Carrier Division issued 836,259 permits — up from 590,980 in 2011 — for everything from cylindrical bales of hay to ready-mixed-concrete trucks. But the overwhelming majority of permits — 532,479 in 2014 — were issued in the general category.

Besides general, permits for height can include cranes, exempt, implement of husbandry, manufactured housing, super-heavy, water well drilling and related, well service unit and multistate western regional.

Construction on the bridge at Farm Road 2484 is part of a multimillion-dollar state project. One of its goals is to widen I-35 from four to six lanes.

The highway department had already torn down the previous two-lane Farm Road 2484 overpass and built what will be the westbound side of a significantly wider bridge.

Construction is well underway on the future eastbound overpass — directly south of the westbound bridge — with huge concrete beams in place above the northbound and southbound lanes of I-35.

Project contractor James Construction Group hadn’t started to install the horizontal concrete decking that will lie on the beams of the bridge that was hit.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Truck that hit I-35 bridge was not licensed for ‘over-height load’."