40-Ton Truck Damages Boardwalk

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A 40-ton truck that took an illegal ride on the Boardwalk may have caused up to $200,000 in damages, said city officials.

“I just hope the trucking company has insurance,” City Engineer Bill Rafferty said about the Feb. 9 incident.

Angela Caldwell was operating the 18-wheeler, owned by DBC Enterprises of Battle Creek, Mich., in delivering a load of oranges to a produce market when she apparently lost her way. Caldwell ended up driving up a ramp onto the 60-foot-wide walkway.

The tractor-trailer, which weighed about 40 tons, crushed more than 150 of the 2-by-4-inch yellow pine planks that made up the Boardwalk, officials said.

“If the joists are damaged, you have to rip out the deck planks to expose the joists and replace them. Talk about pick-and-shovel work,” Rafferty said.

Caldwell of Kingsport, Tenn., was charged with careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and operating a motor vehicle on the Boardwalk without a permit. She was jailed briefly before being released on $1,000 bail.

Lynn Naylor, safety coordinator for DBC Enterprises, declined comment on the incident and about Caldwell’s employment record.