A box truck slammed into a low bridge on Memorial Drive outbound in Cambridge on Monday, Sept. 28, shearing off its cargo box. The crash snarled rush-hour traffic during the tail end of a nor'easter.

The collision happened around 8:20 a.m. in wet, windy conditions, according to Universal Hub, which published photos from the scene. Massachusetts State Police were arriving as a witness drove past. By about 8:50 a.m., traffic had backed up nearly to the Longfellow Bridge.

The truck's box was completely destroyed. No cargo spilled onto the roadway.

Caroline D., a photographer who documented the scene for Universal Hub, said she did not see the driver as she passed, though she noted she was also driving and could have missed the person. The truck was later pulled from beneath the bridge and towed.

State Police have not released information about the driver's identity, the truck's owner or whether anyone was injured.

Nor'easter backdrop

The crash came as a nor'easter that hit southeastern Massachusetts on Friday, Sept. 25, was winding down. The Boston Herald reported that National Weather Service meteorologist Torry Dooley said Monday the storm had "lost a lot of its steam" but that wind gusts were still expected in the 20 to 30 mph range.

The Blue Hill Observatory in Milton recorded 7.82 inches of rain by midday Sunday, Sept. 27. Wind gusts over the weekend ranged between 40 and 60 mph across eastern Massachusetts. The biggest gust at Logan Airport reached 53 mph Saturday night, Sept. 26, according to the Herald.

Low-clearance history

Memorial Drive is one of several Boston-area parkways with bridge clearances as low as nine feet, restricted to passenger cars only. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and State Police issue annual warnings about oversized vehicles on these roads.

The collisions are so common that local media coined the term "storrowing" for them, after Storrow Drive, where such strikes happen most often.

In a Sept. 1 advisory ahead of Greater Boston's college move-in season, State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble warned that over-height vehicles on these parkways can cause serious damage, injuries and major traffic disruptions. DCR has installed high-visibility "CARS ONLY" signs at entrances to these roads, hung at roughly the same height as the lowest bridges.

State Police had not released an incident report for the crash as of the afternoon of Sept. 28.