COBURN GORE — A man from Strong was injured Thursday when the tractor-trailer he was driving on Route 27 struck a guardrail and a bridge abutment, spilling a load of paper into a stream, a state official said.

Scott Theriault, 47, was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington with minor injuries, according to a statement from Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The truck, owned by TT Dunphy Inc. of North Anson, was demolished, he said.

Theriault was driving north near Chain of Ponds Township at about 6 a.m. when he lost control of the rig on a curve. The tractor struck a guardrail and overturned and the trailer struck a bridge abutment, splitting it in half. The trailer and many large bundles of paper ended up in a stream, McCausland wrote.

Maine State Trooper Andrew Hardy, Maine Department of Transportation bridge inspectors and Maine Department of Protection personnel were at the scene, McCausland wrote.

The bundles of paper were removed from the stream and a nearby logger used his equipment to move the overturned truck from the road, the statement said. 

Commercial traffic was stopped for about an hour until an inspector could clear access over the bridge.


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