A 35-ton bus managed to cross the historic Beaver Bridge in Arkansas that had a 10-ton weight limit. The bus driver may be pumping his chest at his perceived achievement, but it really was more a case of outright recklessness that could have turned a lot worse had the bridge not collapsed. The bridge had been closed for inspection after the fact but has since been reopened. Kudos to the engineers of this bridge.

The world is still full of idiots. The bus driver is a classic example of this. Not only did he compromise his life and the lives of his passengers by driving a 35-ton bus across the Beaver Bridge — it had a 10-ton limit! — but he did so despite multiple warnings in his surroundings of the structure’s weight limit.

Video of the crossing has since gone viral, and while he did manage to get the bus across the bridge safely, he did so by causing incredible stress on the whole structure. Other cars in the area were honking at the driver, trying to get his attention before his dangerous pass, but either he didn’t hear the honks, or he just didn’t pay attention to them because he kept on driving the bus across the bridge without any hesitation.

The bridge has since been closed for inspection as a crew from the Arkansas Department of Transportation performed a number of thorough inspections to see if the structure’s integrity had been compromised by the reckless crossing of the overweight bus. Fortunately, Danny Straessle, the spokesman for the state’s DOT, told local news that the crew found no apparent signs of damage to the historic Beaver Bridge.

Speaking of the bridge, it’s apparently a historic one in the state of Arkansas. Affectionately called the “Little Golden Gate Bridge of Arkansas,” the Beaver Bridge was built in 1949 with Table Rock Lake. According to the National Register Information System, the Beaver Bridge is the only suspension bridge that’s open to traffic in Arkansas, having also been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

For a fleeting moment, it seemed like all it took for the bridge to collapse was a 35-ton bus driven by a reckless driver who should have known better than to cross it in the first place. Hopefully, he gets the punishment he deserves.

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