Video captured a small truck hitting the historic Robert Parker Coffin Bridge in downtown Long Grove Wednesday afternoon, marking over 60 times that the bridge was hit.
This time, what looks to be a small truck carrying an oversized, vertically stacked load struck the top girders of the bridge at around 1:27 p.m. Wednesday.
Surveillance video posted by nearby Neumann’s Cigars & More in downtown Long Grove showed the truck’s oversized load hitting the top of the bridge before stopping and immediately reversing to free itself.
It didn’t seem to cause any damage to the load of the truck or the bridge.
Neumann’s Cigars said Wednesday afternoon marks the 61st time the bridge has been hit.
The cigar lounge, which has another location in Libertyville, has been keeping tabs on previous bridge hits on its Facebook page.
On October 16, their camera captured a truck’s aerial lift hitting the bridge, which rocked the truck’s back end.
Also on September 26, video showed the top load of a van hitting the bridge.
“There are numerous signs informing drivers of the height restriction and signs prohibiting trucks and busses from using the bridge,” Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli has said previously.
In July, a large box truck became wedged under the bridge and had to have a tow truck remove it.
It was the second time in just three days that the bridge was struck.
At least two other vehicles were also involved in hitting the bridge in June. In those cases, both oversized trucks struck the bridge.
Both incidents were relatively minor but a tow truck was needed to remove one of the trucks, which became wedged under the bridge.
The bridge, formerly known as the Long Grove Covered Bridge, was renamed in September 2022 to the Robert Parker Coffin Bridge after Robert Parker Coffin, who designed the bridge cover.
The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been struck well over 50 times by oversized vehicles since 2018.
In June 2023, a party bus became the 50th vehicle to hit the historic bridge after the vehicle scrapped the bridge’s canopy, causing the bus’ roof air conditioning unit to rip off.
The bus did not remain at the scene despite its roof air conditioning unit being ripped off and falling onto the roadway.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy stopped the bus a quarter-mile away in front of The Chatter Box of Long Grove.