Paul Daniel Bowman, 30, of Bluefield has been found guilty of failure to obey a highway sign in connection with the collapse in June of a bridge in the White Gate section of Giles County.

Court records show Bowman was ordered to pay a $500 fine in the case. A felony destruction of property charge was not prosecuted, records show.

About 15 White Gate households were briefly cut off from the outside world June 4 when the Virginia 713 bridge across Big Walker Creek collapsed as Bowman drove a concrete truck from Franklin Ready Cement over the structure.

The 158-foot steel truss and timber deck bridge was built in the early 1900s and was in the process of being replaced. It had a posted weight limit of 8 tons. Bowman's truck was estimated at the time to be carrying about 15 tons of concrete.

Households dependent on the old bridge now use a temporary bridge erected for construction vehicles. Virginia Department of Transportation officials estimate the new bridge will cost $1.1 million and should be completed this fall.

-- Tonia Moxley