Driver in Thursday overpass accident identified

Authorities have now identified the truck driver responsible for striking the Eighth Street bridge over Interstate 380 Thursday afternoon.

Cedar Rapids oolice said Roger Trenkamp, 63 of Preston, was carrying a backhoe on a lowboy tractor trailer when the backhoe's boom struck the prestressed concrete beams on the overpass bridge. Large chunks of concrete fell onto the interstate roadway below.

Trenkamp works for Wendling Quarries of Dewitt, and was heading to a Wendling site on Edgewood Road SW.

Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said investigators are still determining if any traffic charges should be filed against the driver.  None have been issued so far, but Trenkamp, was cited by the Iowa Department of Transportation for exceeding permitted height and issued a $330 equipment violation ticket.

John Aulper, safety & environmental director for Wendling Quarries, said the company believes a problem developed with the pneumatic controls of the trailer carrying the equipment.  The height of the overpass is 16 feet, four inches.  A DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement officer measured the height of the backhoe on the trailer at 16 feet, five inches. Aulper said that was too high according to DOT regulations.