Esmond Street Bridge Collapse
At about 1 p.m. on the afternoon of August 3, 1977, a 10-wheel cement-mixer truck was crossing the Esmond Street Bridge when the structure suddenly gave way and collapsed into the Woonasquatucket River. The lone driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.
The bridge had a three-ton load limit which had been in effect since November of 1975, but it was later learned that the truck, was carrying seven-and-a-half tons of concrete.
The collapse severed gas and water lines, and firefighters stood by hosing down the area until the gas could be shut off.
The bridge was one of three the town was looking to replace due to their age. The other two were located on Whipple Avenue and Stillwater Road. The Whipple Avenue Bridge was built in 1948, and the other two dated to the 1890s.