PLAINWELL, MICHIGAN — A commercial truck carrying hundreds of logs struck the 110th Avenue bridge over northbound US-131 in Allegan County at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6, scattering logs onto the roadway and prompting a closure of part of US-131 and 110th Avenue for a portion of the morning. A second truck then struck the spilled logs. No injuries were reported.
The Michigan Department of Transportation is not taking the incident lightly — and says it is part of a troubling pattern. Bridges at 140th, 144th, and 146th avenues were all struck by vehicles in 2025. The 110th Avenue bridge has a clearance of 14 feet, 3 inches.
“The fact that these high load hits keep happening is mind-blowing,” said MDOT spokesperson John Richard. “It’s just pure negligence on the part of the truck driver.”
The Permit Process Exists for a Reason
Richard said commercial truckers hauling oversized loads are required to go through a permit process that includes knowing the height of every bridge on their route as well as the exact height and weight of their load. The system is designed to prevent exactly this kind of incident.
“If the load is 15 feet high, well, this bridge that has a clearance of 14-foot-3 might be a problem,” Richard said. “So, you’re not going to go that way. You’re going to go another way. That’s the whole point of the permit process.”
The Financial Impact
Richard said repeated bridge strikes are making MDOT’s existing funding crisis worse. The department programs infrastructure projects years in advance, and unexpected repairs from bridge strikes divert resources away from structures already scheduled for replacement or rehabilitation.
“We have projects that are programmed five years out. So, we know what’s coming for stuff that needs to be replaced, needs to be rehabbed, improved, patched, whatever. So anything like this — a high load hit — is just going to be an additional expense that’s going to further make the funding crisis worse,” Richard said.
Details about how the crash occurred remain under investigation. MDOT said it will continue working with law enforcement and commercial trucking companies to improve road safety.
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