Bridge over State Road 50 reopens in just two weeks

RIDGE MANOR WEST — Two weeks after a truck ripped a gaping hole into an overpass on Interstate 75, quick construction work has brought the bridge back to normal for the busy holiday travel week.

The bridge over State Road 50 is now structurally sound, and all lanes are open for traffic, said Kris Carson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation.

Repair crews replaced the concrete-reinforced beams on the bridge as well as the concrete road deck above them. One southbound lane of I-75 had been closed during the work, and eastbound traffic on SR 50 was diverted at times to one of the westbound lanes.

The mishap, in which driver William Lindsay of Brooksville was not charged, happened Dec. 9 in the eastbound lanes of SR 50. The Florida Highway Patrol, which investigated, said an empty trailer bed on Lindsay's 1991 Mack truck suddenly rose and smashed two concrete beams supporting the overpass.

The FHP concluded its report without explaining why the trailer rose into the air. The overpass reopened on Dec. 17.

Carson said Lindsay's employer, W. Clyde Daniel Construction of Brooksville, must reimburse the subcontractor, Infrastructure Corporation of America, which carried out the work for the state. The cost was estimated at a half-million dollars.