COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's note: The video above is from previous coverage of the bridge, which can't seem to catch a break.
One of Cobb County's oddest traffic conundrums seems to have no end. Yet again, a driver has hit the clearance beam meant to protect a historic bridge from damage.
It happened on Thursday evening, and closed Concord Road at the Smyrna/Mableton line.
11Alive has reported on several previous incidents of drivers seemingly ignoring low clearance warning signs at the Concord Road Covered Bridge. In April 2019, we reported on a U-Haul van that slammed into the protective beam, making it the 18 vehicle to do so since 2017.
Commissioners voted to install PVC dangling from chains to alert drivers in vehicles taller than 7 feet to use caution.
Months later, a truck reportedly sailed through the warning zone at a "high rate of speed," damaging the pipes themselves -- right after they were installed. The pipes were quickly repaired, with Cobb County Communications Director Ross Cavitt telling 11Alive at the time, "the pipes did their job."
Then, again, in 2020, yet another driver ran into a clearance beam meant to protect the bridge before driving off from the scene before police arrived.
Fast forward to 2024, and the streak of bad luck for the bridge seems to continue. Cobb County officials posted on Facebook after a small school bus hit the protective metal beam. Officials said while the bus had passengers, "we understand everyone is okay." Police were called to the scene and repairs are underway.
According to the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District, the covered bridge was first built as currently constructed at the site in 1891, and is "famous as the only covered bridge remaining in Cobb County, still open to automobile traffic, and traffic counts show it as the busiest covered bridge in the state."
In the post, officials said they've taken several steps to warn drivers of the low clearance to prevent accidents, including urging GPS and mapping apps to add a warning.
Officials assured that the bridge will be fine this time around -- "the beam did it's job" -- but couldn't say why this keeps happening. It's "one of life’s greatest mysteries," the post joked.