What part of 8'6" do you suppose truck drivers don't get?

Historic covered bridge eats vehicles by the dozens: “I haven’t seen a truck win yet”.

LONG GROVE, Ill.—June Neumann was in the backroom of her Scandinavian gift shop in this historic village outside Chicago on a recent day when she said she heard an all-too-familiar “woompf-boom-clap” echo through the quiet streets.

“You know what that sound is,” said Ms. Neumann, whose shop, Viking Treasures, is a few doors down from a one-lane covered bridge that is a symbol for the town—and a magnet for inattentive drivers. “I grabbed my phone, ran out and called the sheriff.”

Defying numerous signs and warnings, the driver of a 15-foot box truck had tried to squeeze under the bridge’s metal-and-wood cover with a posted height of 8’6”.

It was the 41st such accident since the bridge reopened in 2020, after the original all-wood covering was demolished by another too-tall box truck that tried to go under two years earlier, according to Christopher Covelli, deputy chief of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. A rental truck that got stuck on the bridge Monday, and drove away after having air let out of its tires, was the 42nd. None of the drivers have been injured, Mr. Covelli said.

Ms. Neumann says the number of vehicles that hit the covering is actually higher including ones that don’t get reported. “We should have a little tick board,” she said. “Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Tons more than that have hit the bridge.”

Village officials say they have no plans to get rid of the handsome, green cover or the one-lane iron bridge. Supporters say it offers a kind of portal to enter a downtown boasting one of the oldest continuously-running taverns in Illinois, a picturesque water wheel and numerous shops.

The bridge appears on the village seal and signs welcoming visitors. Shops such as Covered Bridge Creamery and Broken Bridge Treats salute its appeal. Buffalo Creek Brewing has named brews after the bridge and the mayhem. Bus Wedgie, a dark German lager, celebrated a school bus that got stuck under the bridge the day after it reopened and Bad Move, a honey nut brown ale, hails a rash of jammed-up moving vans.

City leaders say the cover is doing what it was designed to do: keep heavy trucks off the underlying iron bridge that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It’s doing its job,” said Bill Jacob, village president, of the cover, which is longer than the bridge itself and rests on steel pilings driven 20 feet into the ground. “We’re just surprised at the number of trucks that continue to try to get over it.”

Mr. Jacob says the route to the bridge is well-marked with the height restriction, 5-ton weight limit and signs saying “NO TRUCKS OR BUSES.” He, like most in town, blames drivers staring at GPS for the wave of kabooms.

The whole article is entertaining, and there’s no cash wall, so go read it, if you’re looking for amusement. We see this in the railroad underpasses in Greenwich and Old Greenwich, but not in volume even close to this one’s. I wonder how that covered bridge up in Kent fares?