By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Part of a semi-truck’s too-tall load struck the Chamber Way overpass in Chehalis today, leaving one car damaged from falling chunks of the bridge and leading to a three-vehicle collision.
Troopers were called about 11:40 a.m. to the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 at the exit 79 interchange after the boom of an excavator being hauled by a Rochester truck driver hit the overpass’s “stringers”, the Washington State Patrol reported.
A Centralia driver traveling behind the truck escaped injury from the falling debris, but his Chrysler Sebring sustained an estimated $1,000 damage, according to the state patrol.
Less than 15 minutes later, two cars in the inside lane stopped because of debris on the roadway and a Chevrolet Suburban moved into their lane, rear ending one of them which shoved it into the other one, according to the patrol.
The state patrol reported the Suburban was totaled and its driver, Jeri K. Boone, 48, of Chehalis, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with a sore neck.
A Buick Century involved in the collision was also totaled. A Dodge Intrepid sustained about $750 damage, according to the patrol.
The driver of the semi-truck, Jody S. Alger, 42, of Rochester, was to be cited for over height damage, the state patrol reported.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter