Canada: dump truck slams into bridge, partially demolishing it

In Canada, the driver of a dump truck that slammed into a pedestrian bridge, partially collapsing it on to road below, may have to pay for his mistake.

Highway 132 in a suburb of Montreal was closed overnight while a demolition crew hastily tore down the remaining section of walkway over the road.

Police are questioning the driver of the snow-removal dump truck who reportedly was travelling down the highway with his dumper raised, hitting the bridge which was built in 1979 and had recently undergone a US$2.5 million renovation.

The provincial transport minister said he will be asking questions about who pays for the damages, saying in an interview there was nothing structurally wrong with the bridge and it was not meant to withstand vehicles slamming into it.

No one was seriously injured in the incident but the truck driver and the driver of a passing car that couldn’t avoid the rubble were taken to hospital and treated for shock, according to a report by the <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000oLinkExternalCanadian Broadcasting CorporationVisit longueuil pedestrian overpass who will foot the bill to replace it Pagefalsehttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/longueuil-pedestrian-overpass-who-will-foot-the-bill-to-replace-it-1.2952967falsefalse%>.

But the Montreal incident comes only two weeks after a similar but fatal accident in another part of the province of Quebec.

He said a similar accident involving a raised payload occurred a few weeks ago at an overpass in the Gatineau area, near the Canadian capital Ottawa. The truck driver wasn't wearing his seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. The bridge remained open but the roads were briefly closed following the incident.