UPDATED at 2:30 p.m. Monday with more detail from Union Pacific
A boom lift being towed on a trailer struck a railroad bridge at Seventh and Gratiot streets Monday morning.
The tracks and the overpass are Union Pacific’s, said Mark Davis, a spokesman for the railroad company. The bridge was closed after the crash so inspectors can determine if it is structurally sound. That process could take all day, Davis said.
The bridge clearance is marked 13 feet 5 inches. The boom lift, on a trailer towed by a truck, smashed into the bridge about 8 a.m. No injuries were reported.
“There is enough damage to the structure that we are not going to operate trains over it,” Davis said in an email.
The line stretches from Union Pacific’s main line to the company’s Lesperance Yard, near First Street.
Davis said it’s unclear how long the bridge will be closed. He said the team of bridge inspectors might not complete their damage assessment until Monday evening and then they would have a timetable for repairs.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/truck-cargo-hits-railroad-bridge-in-st-louis/article_d8fcb742-a441-5459-a68c-7ee0036f5a29.html