Texas’s Most Dangerous Bridges for 18-Wheeler Strikes

If you’ve spent any time in Texas, you’ve probably read about an incident where an entire highway was shut down because someone in a big rig hit the overpass while driving under it.  Texas has some of the busiest freight corridors in the country, and a handful of its overpasses have become infamous for the sheer number of times an oversized truck has tried to squeeze underneath — and failed.

Here’s a look at some of the state’s worst offenders, why they keep getting hit, and what’s being done about it.

Houston Avenue Bridge — I-10 Katy Freeway, Houston

The bridge on I-10 at Houston Avenue has registered more truck strikes than any other bridge in the Houston area. It is no surprise that Interstate 10 makes the list of the most dangerous roads in Houston. The Houston Avenue overpass crosses the eastbound lanes of I-10 near downtown Houston, and its clearance sits at just 14 feet 3 inches — more than four feet below the modern freight standard of roughly 16.5 to 18.5 feet. Built in 1965, long before those clearance standards existed, it’s become a magnet for over-height trucks.

TxDOT logged 23 reported strikes in 2023 and 46 in 2024 alone, and by October 2025 the bridge had reportedly been hit 72 times that year. In 2014, infrared height detectors were installed; however, the hits kept piling up years later.

TxDOT has repeatedly said the root cause isn’t a mystery: many oversized loads travel without the required permits, or drivers ignore their approved detour routes to save time. The agency has installed oversized-load detection systems in both directions with flashing warning signs meant to steer trucks off before they reach the bridge, and every strike triggers a mandatory inspection.

A long-term fix is finally in motion. The bridge sits inside the footprint of TxDOT’s White Oak Bayou Project, which will raise I-10 above the floodplain in that stretch and route the highway over Houston Avenue instead of under it — eliminating the low clearance altogether. This is estimated to start in 2027.

11th Street Bridge — I-35, Downtown Austin

Downtown Austin’s I-35 corridor is under a multi-billion-dollar makeover (TxDOT’s Capital Express Central project), and amid all that construction, the 11th Street overpass has become a repeat target for over-height and oversized-load accidents by trucks passing downtown.

Incidents here tend to follow a pattern: a flatbed truck carrying a mismeasured load that is too tall clips the underside of the bridge or gets fully wedged beneath it, shutting down the interstate’s main lanes during evening rush hour. In one case, a truck’s load got stuck badly enough that it took crews nearly six hours to free it and clear the resulting traffic jam. TxDOT has installed early-warning sensors and flashing signage near 11th Street and other downtown crossings specifically to catch over-height vehicles before they reach the bridges, but strikes keep happening as construction reshapes traffic patterns through the area.

Nearby bridges along the same stretch — including crossings at 12th Street, Cesar Chavez, Braker Lane, and the Grand Avenue bridge up in Round Rock — have their own histories of truck strikes, making the entire I-35 corridor through Central Texas one of the state’s more dangerous freight bottlenecks.

Historic Highway 67 Bridge — Somervell County

Not every bridge on this list is a modern concrete overpass. The historic iron-girder bridge carrying U.S. 67 over the Brazos River between Cleburne and Glen Rose has stood for roughly 70 years and has a posted clearance of 15 feet.

That wasn’t enough to stop a large dump truck from driving underneath it with its bed raised. The truck’s raised bed caught on the iron overhead framework, and crews spent hours freeing the vehicle. The Texas Department of Public Safety cited the driver for operating an over-height vehicle, and it was never entirely clear whether the truck malfunctioned or whether it was simple driver error that caused the dump truck accident. The impact cracked the historic ironwork badly enough that the bridge was closed indefinitely while engineers assessed the damage — a serious blow for a rural crossing that thousands of vehicles rely on daily, with detours pointed toward Highways 377 and 174 in the meantime.

Loop 288 Bridges — I-35, Denton

Denton’s Loop 288 corridor, which wraps around the north, east, and southeast sides of the city and feeds directly into I-35, has seen a string of dramatic strikes involving construction and heavy equipment haulers.

In one incident, a truck merging from North Loop 288 onto the southbound I-35E service road struck the underside of the Loop 288 bridge, damaging the structure badly enough that TxDOT had to close a shoulder while inspectors assessed it. In another incident, a truck hauling an excavator that exceeded the posted height restriction struck the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Pedestrian Bridge on Loop 288, damaging traffic signal lights and hitting three of the bridge’s support beams — the driver reportedly stopped, inspected the damage, adjusted the load, and left the scene, only to be identified later from dash-cam footage and arrested. Dump trucks with elevated beds and heavy equipment carriers with raised buckets are a recurring cause of impact along this corridor, echoing the same failure mode seen at the Somervell County bridge.

Why This Keeps Happening

Several recurring reasons explain why these bridges keep getting hit. These include:

• Permit violations and shortcuts. TxDOT has repeatedly pointed to drivers operating without proper oversized-load permits, or ignoring designated truck routes for a faster path, as the leading cause.
• Old infrastructure, new trucks. Many of these bridges were built decades before today’s freight height standards existed, so what was once a perfectly normal clearance is now a hazard for modern trailers, construction equipment, and oversized loads. I-10 in Houston has several outdated bridges near downtown.
• Raised beds and booms. Several of the worst incidents—the Somervell County bridge, the Denton pedestrian bridge, and similar strikes elsewhere—involved dump truck beds or equipment booms left in the “up” position while the vehicle was moving.
• Construction-zone confusion. Ever notice I-35 seems like it is always under construction? Detours and shifting lane patterns make it easier for drivers, even professional ones, to end up somewhere they shouldn’t be.

TxDOT’s main tools for fighting back are infrared and laser height detectors tied to flashing warning signs, and mandatory bridge inspections after every reported strike. But none of these tools are a good substitute for drivers using common sense and following permit requirements and routes. Houston accepts it can’t stop bad driver decisions and is planning a full redesign to eliminate the threat of older low bridges. Talk to a Houston oversized load truck accident lawyer if you or your family suffers injuries due to a truck driver hitting a bridge with his load. These wrecks are always due to someone’s negligence.

Sources:

Houston Avenue Bridge (I-10, Houston)

1. Hawkins, Briahn. “Large truck hits Houston Ave bridge over Katy Freeway (again).” FOX 26 Houston, January 14, 2026.
2. Spurs, Terrian. “Houston Avenue Bridge hit by oversized truck over Katy Freeway (yes, again).” FOX 26 Houston, January 22, 2026.
3. Rivas, Elissa. “The end of trucks hitting Houston Avenue bridge? TxDOT has plan that will also solve I-10 flooding.” ABC13 Houston, August 16, 2024.
4. Hawkins, Briahn. “Another strike on Houston Avenue bridge shuts down Katy Freeway.” FOX 26 Houston, August 14, 2026.
5. KHOU 11. “Eastbound lanes of Katy Freeway closed at I-10.” (Author and publication date not available on the page.)
6. Equipment World. “Houston Avenue bridge is most struck bridge in Houston, TX.” July 23, 2018. (No individual byline listed.)
7. Spurs, Terrian. “Houston Avenue bridge at I-10 closed after hit by 18-wheeler.” FOX 26 Houston, May 7, 2025.
8. Taylor, Brittany. “Houston Avenue bridge on Katy Freeway struck for 72nd time this year.” KPRC/Click2Houston, October 5, 2025.

11th Street Bridge (I-35, Austin) and nearby I-35 crossings

9. Wong, Donny. “Truck gets wedged under overpass in downtown Austin.” FOX 7 Austin, March 25, 2026.
10. Mitchell, Matt. “Semi Slams 11th Street Bridge, Snarls I-35 Rush Hour Downtown.” Hoodline, March 25, 2026.
11. Gonzalez, Stephanie, and Tara Brolley. “18-wheeler lodges under 11th Street bridge on I-35 in Downtown Austin, causing delays.” CBS Austin, March 24, 2026.
12. KXAN Austin. “Southbound lanes on I-35 and Braker now open after semi-truck crashes into bridge.” (via Yahoo News; author not listed; incident reported March 3, 2026.)
13. Rivera, Jessica, and FOX 7 Austin Digital Team. “Portion of I-35 shut down after semi collides with bridge” (Grand Avenue Bridge, Round Rock). FOX 7 Austin, June 17, 2023.
14. “Cesar Chavez Bridge over-height warning system coverage.” (Topic page; no single author or date.)

Historic Highway 67 Bridge (Somervell County)

15. “Historic Highway 67 Bridge closed indefinitely after dump truck accident.” (Author and publication date not available on the page.)
16. CBS DFW / CBS News Texas. “Truck Crashes Into Bridge On Highway 67.” May 10, 2017. (No individual byline; staff report.)

Loop 288 Bridges (I-35, Denton)

17. “Texas State Highway Loop 288.” (Collaboratively edited; no single author; page last revised 2025.)
18. “Underside of North Denton bridge damaged after semi truck hits it.” (Author and publication date not available on the page.)
19. Colombo, Brooke. “Truck driver arrested after striking MLK Jr. bridge on Loop 288.” Denton Record-Chronicle, October 4, 2024.