JOHNSTON COUNY, OK - It is a structure that has stood the test of time. And while wind and floods have not broken it, the Norton Bridge near Mannsville, in Johnston County, may have finally met its match. Robin Beal reports.

"Don't nobody get nervous. You got nothing to fear."

But try telling that to the man behind the wheel of this skylight Wednesday night, driving it across the Norton Bridge. The pictures prove it's something to be nervous about.

"This could be one of the big moments in your life. Don't make it your last."

"We could have had a fatality here very easy."

The near century-old bridge was first made famous in the 1973 movie Dillinger, filmed partially right here in Johnston County. The bridge and the surrounding area were featured in a shootout scene.

Today it is famous once more. But this time for slightly less glamorous reasons.

"They tried a shortcut, rather than putting it on a pickup and driving it around. You know they're right across the river, less than a half a mile apart. But it's about ten or twelve miles around and somebody tried a shortcut and didn't make it."

Officials say workers at a nearby drilling rig leased the skylight from an Ardmore heavy equipment company the day before. They say it is next to new and definitely heavy.

"The estimated weight on this one was around 35,000 pounds. The bridge weight limit is three tons. So that's quite a difference."

"So that's about 29,000 pounds too much."

"Yeah. Yeah."

The county was concerned about the recently increased oil rig presence in the area and even put up signs, warning people of the three ton weight limit. Those signs apparently un-noticed or ignored for convenience. The end result, an expensive piece of equipment dangling over the Washita River and a piece of the community's history -- the Norton Bridge -- officially condemned.

Now, inconvenient for everybody.

"The road is being shut off at State Highway 1 about a mile and a half east of Ravia , where Greasy Bend Road starts. It’s closed from there, all the way through to Mannsville."