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Bridge closed near Bismarck after accident

A bridge was damaged near Bismarck on Tuesday when the top of the coil tubing unit being hauled by a 2013 semi-truck struck the 80th Street NE overpass. The bridge supports sustained severe damage and a hole punctured in the bridge deck, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

According to the Patrol, the driver of the semi, Sebastian Kneitl of Sylvan Lake, Alberta, was not injured.

Kneitl’s 2013 Kenworth was permitted to haul a coil tubing unit from McKenzie to Mandaree but he made a wrong turn off 236th Street near McKenzie and headed west on I-94 toward Bismarck. He went off the permitted route and the load was later measured higher than the company requested permitted. The company was Copper Tip Energy of Williston.

After the coil tubing unit struck the bridge, Kneitl continued driving west and was later located back in McKenzie after Copper Tip Energy contacted the Highway Patrol.

The north and south bound lanes crossing the 80th Street NE bridge had to be closed on Tuesday until the North Dakota Department of Transportation had inspected and repaired the damage. The duration of the closure is unknown. The crash is still under investigation.

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