MINOT, N.D. -- A large tank that was being transported on a trailer struck an overpass Thursday morning in Minot, according to authorities.
The driver of a pickup traveling east on U.S. Highway 2 was pulling a flatbed trailer when the tank hit the 16th Street bridge near the Dakota Square Mall, said Bob Allen, assistant district engineer with the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s Minot District.
“There was very minor damage to the bridge, nothing of great concern,” he said.
The empty tank, which may have weighed a few tons, was lying on its side before it reached the underpass. When it struck the bridge, the tank “came off the trailer” and “collapsed,” Allen said.
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“The tank was higher than the bridge. I assume the driver couldn’t have had a permit,” he said.
The bridge is a little over 16 feet high, with the legal limit up to 14 feet. Allen said due to the tank’s height, the Highway Patrol would not have issued a permit to the driver.
He said the driver was planning to drag the tank to the side of the roadway.
“It’s not the first time a tank has hit that bridge,” Allen said.
