Semi driver says GPS sent him over a historic bridge, collapsing it
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A historic bridge in eastern North Dakota collapsed after a trucker tried to drive his big rig over it.
Michael Dodds was headed to Jamestown Monday with a load of navy beans when he attempted to drive his 40-ton tractor-trailer across an 18-foot wide steel truss bridge built in 1906.
The tractor made it, the trailer didn't.
The Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office says the bridge was rated for only 14 tons and collapsed into the Goose River near the town of Northwood.
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Dodds was not hurt. Deputies handed him a $11,400 citation.
Shane Olson, the truck's owner, told MPR News that Dodds was apparently following bad GPS directions.
"I can't make a good explanation as to why we were on that road to begin with," Olson said. "We should have never been there."
Olson said he's not firing the driver.
The sheriff's office says the bridge — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — could cost as much as a million dollars to replace.
