A deadly crash Monday on Interstate 78 in Lehigh County was caused when a dump truck hauling a skid steer struck an overpass, Pennsylvania State Police said.
The Mack dump truck, hauling the skid steer on a trailer, was traveling in the right lane of I-78 East when the truck bed struck the Adams Road overpass at about 9:52 a.m. Monday in the Upper Macungie Township section of the highway, state police at the Fogelsville barracks said.
The collision caused the dump truck bed and trailer to detach from truck, and the truck rolled over, trooper said. The truck came to rest on I-78 East near mile marker 48.
Two people inside the truck died. The Lehigh County coroner said one man was pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m. Monday and the second was pronounced dead at 12:23 p.m. The names are being withheld until the next of kin are notified.
Both lanes of I-78 East were closed until 3:45 p.m., and the single I-78 West that was closed reopened at 3:15 p.m., according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
PennDOT bridge inspectors were at the scene Monday evening.
“Once they compile all of their data, the District Bridge Unit will assess the damage and determine if any repairs are immediately necessary,” PennDOT District 5 spokesman Ron Young said. “Based on what they have seen so far, there appears to be minor damage to a steel beam on the underside of the bridge that does not appear to be significant enough to warrant any traffic restrictions on I-78 or Adams Road.”
The crash is reminiscent of a deadly crash 14 years ago on Route 22, when a truck with a steel cargo container struck the Fullerton Avenue overpass.
The steel container broke free of chains securing it to the trailer and it fell into the path of an SUV driven by Michele Lamaze, of Whitehall Township.
Lamaze’s Jeep hit the container and she died at the scene of the Nov. 18, 2008 crash. The truck driver, Robert Kostadinov, pleaded guilty in 2011 to involuntary manslaughter in the crash.
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Sarah Cassi may be reached at [email protected].