A dump truck with its bed a little too high struck the underside of the Old Oxford Road Bridge Sunday, closing it to traffic for at least a week, and perhaps much longer.

David Spear, the communications director for the Georgia Department of Transportation, said the bridge will be closed “certainly the balance of this week and probably the balance of next week. It may even involve replacing some of the driving surface. Unfortunately, if that happens it could be closed for a sustained period of time.”

GDOT engineers and Newton County officials spent Monday assessing the damage, Spear said.

“Our engineers have been out taking a look at it and they’re going to go back and take another look” soon, he said. “There are some steel beams (under) the driving surface that have been bent. They’re going to need to be repaired. There are several ways we’re discussing to do that right now.”

Newton County officials have erected detour signs around the bridge for now.

“Fortunately, with Almon Road and Turner Lake (Road interchanges nearby), there are lots of ways to detour traffic around that area. But it is going to be an indisposition.”

The damaged overpass is about halfway between the two interchanges. Old Oxford Bridge Road does not allow interstate access.