AUBURN – Sometimes, a cop’s estimate of damage from an accident is pretty good.

In August, state Trooper Tim Marks estimated damage to the Hackett Road bridge over the Maine Turnpike at between $300,000 and $400,000.

A 15-ton excavator being hauled behind a dump truck on a flatbed trailer slammed into the overpass, resulting in “the worst bridge strike I’ve ever seen,” Marks said in August.

On Tuesday, Dan Paradee, the turnpike’s spokesman, said the bridge repair job will cost $425,000. Work is ongoing.

R.L. Gustus and Son’s insurance company is paying for the work, Paradee said. Gustus and Son, an excavation company in Sabattus, owns the truck, trailer and digging equipment.

The truck was driven by Gustus employee Richard L’Heureux of Lewiston.

The arm of the excavator hit the bridge as the truck and trailer passed underneath. The force of the strike was enough to topple the machine from the trailer. It crashed to the ground, flipped and came to rest in the middle of a northbound lane.

Officials estimated that it would take months for the bridge to be fully repaired. It was stripped down to a single girder earlier this week by contractors doing the repair work.

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