By Eric D. Lawrence, Robert Allen and Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press staff writers

Michigan

The freeway reopened Friday.

This is the second fatality involving a worker from TLC Waste Disposal Services.

An autopsy was conducted today on the truck driver killed when his truck knocked a pedestrian bridge onto the Southfield Freeway Friday but more investigation of the incident is needed before authorities will be able to determine his cause and manner of death, according to a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

The truck driver, Stanford Doll, 54, of Almont, was positively identified by his sister, according to spokeswoman Mary Mazur.

The Southfield Freeway reopened Friday evening after the spectacular crash that morning that killed Doll, destroyed the bridge and forced authorities to reroute traffic on the busy thoroughfare for most of the day.

But questions remain about why the incident happened.

Diane Cross, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said it's too soon after the crash to say whether the bridge at Cathedral Street in Detroit, near Joy Road, will be rebuilt. The bridge was used frequently by students at the nearby Cody High School campus. The bridge is about two blocks from the school.

According to police, the boom on Doll's truck was extended too high to go under the bridge and pulled the overpass down.

A Michigan State Police spokesman said Doll likely would have lived if he had been wearing a seat belt.

A message seeking comment was left today for Doll's family.

No one is believed to have been on the bridge at the time of the crash about 6 a.m.

Doll's truck was passing northbound through the underpass, and the load was lifting without him realizing it, according to a firefighter on the scene. The load collided with the pedestrian bridge, pulling it down onto the freeway, the firefighter said.

Cross said bridges are not built to withstand crashes of this nature, but she was adamant that the bridge did not collapse.

"It absolutely did not collapse on its own. It was pulled down onto the freeway," she said. "No bridge can hold up to that. It's not a failing in the bridge in any way."

The bridge, with steel beams and concrete piers, was last inspected in May and rated as fair to good, meaning it was "still in good shape," Cross said. She said the bridge still had "many years" left of use and was not due to be replaced until 2017.

Crews worked much of the day to remove debris from the freeway. Machinery was brought in to remove concrete dust and to do emergency patchwork after a portion of the freeway was damaged. The looping walkways used to access the bridge were demolished.

"We didn't want to leave those standing. We didn't think it would be safe," Cross said.

The freeway's northbound lanes reopened about 6:15 p.m. Friday, and its southbound lanes reopened about 10 p.m. Friday, Cross said, noting that "we are in incredibly good shape, considering what that was."

A message seeking comment was left for TLC Waste Disposal Services, the Romulus-based company whose name was listed on the truck.

It was the second fatality involving a worker for the company this month. Calvin Goree, 51, of Canton was electrocuted Sept. 3 in Clinton Township when a portion of the truck he was operating struck a power line as he was dumping scrap metal, police said.

The earlier incident is under investigation by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but spokeswoman Tanya Baker said the agency does not investigate traffic fatalities.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was among the motorists stranded when the pedestrian bridge fell.

At the Cody High School campus, Johnathon Matthews, a principal, said students arrived safely Friday morning. Cross noted that students are able to cross the freeway at West Chicago and Joy Road.

After the crash, the bridge lay bent and twisted across both the northbound and southbound lanes. The truck came to a stop about 30 yards past the bridge. The truck's roof remained intact, but the windshield was shattered in some places, and the steering wheel was sharply bent.

Large pieces of metal that appeared to have been part of the trailer could be seen below the bridge and between the truck and the bridge.

Nicole Westbrook, 43, of Detroit was driving home from work when she got stuck in the traffic on the service road. She stood on the sidewalk looking at the debris shortly before 7 a.m.

It looks "like something out of a movie: 'Transformers,' " she said. "It's just unbelievable that a truck did that. And I just pray that ... everyone who was traveling behind that truck is OK."

Staff writers Brent Snavely and Lori Higgins contributed to this report. Contact Robert Allen: rallen@freepress.com or Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com.