Andover Looks For Fix For Low Bridge, Tall Fire Engine

ANDOVER, MA — Workers from the town of Andover surveyed the Horn Bridge this week as the officials try to find a solution for its new fire truck, which doesn't fit under the bridge. The truck, which cost the town $1 million, is about 5 inches too tall to clear the bridge, which has a clearance of 11 feet, 6 inches. The survey results will help officials determine if it's feasible to lower the roadway under the bridge so the truck can travel under it.

"We were surveying the bridge," Andover Town Manager Andrew Flanagan said Friday. "There has been no determination as to whether the road will he lowered or not."

Horn Bridge runs over Central Street at the intersection of Andover Street and Red Spring Road. The bridge is a notorious rush-hour traffic bottleneck that's occasionally made worse when a truck gets stuck under it, and sits at a key access point dividing the east and west sides of the town.

"The truck was built to fit under the Horn Bridge," Flanagan said earlier this month. "We are going through a process of post-delivery adjustments with the manufacturer as we prepare to put the truck in service."