(La Porte County, IN) - A stretch of state highway in La Porte County is back open after a trailer on a semi-truck hauling cargo collapsed late yesterday afternoon, leaving Indiana 39 between U.S. 6 and Young Road closed for about four hours, as per the sheriff's office.

 

After 4:30 p.m., officers were called following a trailer, hauling more than 45,000 pounds of topsoil and manure, buckling at the Canadian National Railroad crossing in the Union Mills area.

 

Capt. Derek Allen said the driver, with the middle of the trailer dragging the pavement, was able to pull forward to get it off the crossing.

 

Initially, Allen said, one lane was closed, but later both lanes were closed to allow for the load to be removed from the trailer, which had its rear wheels raised in the air. It was then removed from the highway.  Indiana 39 reopened before 10 p.m., with no injuries reported over the course of the incident.

 

The driver, Gregory Noerr, 54, told investigators he just received 15 pallets of bagged topsoil and one pallet of compost manure from Markman Peat Corporation at the nearby Kingsbury Industrial Park. 

 

The police report also notes that Noerr told investigators he believed how his trailer was loaded was the primary reason for the collapse.

 

Allen said that no official cause has been determined.