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BURLINGTON — A truck hauling an excavator struck and damaged the overpass at milepost 231 Thursday afternoon, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The right lane of northbound Interstate 5 at Highway 11 (Chuckanut Drive) was closed for a while, but had reopened by 4:30 p.m. However, damage to the bridge has resulted in restrictions, and more lane closures are expected early Friday, transportation officials said.

No traffic is allowed on the north side of the overpass. Flaggers will alternate traffic through the one open lane on the south side of the overpass. Also, no vehicles over 25,000 pounds are allowed.

Three of the six bridge girders, which are support beams for the bridge, had concrete and rebar damage.

Bridge engineers will return early Friday to determine what needs to be done. If possible, the girders will be repaired, but at worst, they may have to be replaced. It's too soon to estimate repair costs, according to the DOT.

“There are a lot of variables right now, and we just don’t know what the answers are to those variables until we do more testing,” said Maintenance Superintendent Ron Morton.

The right northbound lane of I-5 will be closed at 6:30 a.m. Friday during the engineers' inspections.

The Chuckanut Drive overpass stands 15’3” tall over I-5. According to Washington State Patrol, the excavator was more than 17 feet high.