When crane and bridge meet: Experts weigh in on latest Winnipeg bridge collision – Winnipeg | 24CA News
An accident on a busy Winnipeg highway on Tuesday afternoon echoed the likes of comparable incidents in different provinces.
A truck carrying a crane collided with the Empress Street overpass rail bridge on Portage Avenue. The cause behind the collision stays unclear and whereas nobody was severely injured, site visitors delays induced main inconveniences to motorists.
Just not too long ago town was the centre of a practice derailment at one other overpass on McPhillips Street. The accident on April 21 didn’t injure anybody however did trigger additional site visitors delays.
In commenting in regards to the accident on Portage, Aaron Dolyniuk, govt director with the Manitoba Trucking Association, stated such issues could be attributable to human error.
He stated the driving force ought to’ve recognized higher — {that a} truck with a load that tall shouldn’t have gone down that highway.
“The truck has to operate under a special operating permit, which regulates where it can go and what bridges it will fit under,” stated Dolyniuk.
“Any driver that operates an open deck truck in Manitoba legally has to measure and list the width and height of that load on their daily trip inspection.”
The Empress bridge didn’t maintain any structural injury, in keeping with CP Rail. Dolyniuk stated that the driving force could be chargeable for any damages incurred.
Civil engineering skilled and professor on the University of Manitoba, Ahmed Shalaby, stated the bridge would have been checked extensively. Characterizing it as an ageing infrastructure, he stated the bridge would want common consideration.
The life expectancy of such a bridge, he famous, is about 75 years.
“Normally, the inspections are done every year. They may not be detailed inspections, but there are inspections every year,” stated Shalaby. “When they identify areas of concern, there could be more inspections done.”
Read extra:
B.C. trucking firm concerned in a number of freeway overpass strikes denies security issues
Winnipeg’s transportation administration centre processes and manages site visitors incidents. In an emailed assertion on May 3, public works coordinator Ken Allen stated the centre works with the police service to coordinate highway closures within the occasion of a collision.
“(The centre) monitors all signalized intersections across the city and can remotely respond in real-time to traffic signal malfunctions and unexpected traffic incidents to improve traffic flow,” stated Shalaby.
In an analogous incident, a truck carrying canola seeds slammed into an overpass in Quebec in 2018. In British Columbia, such incidents aren’t unusual. Fifteen overpass hits have been reported between December 2021 and March 2023 within the province.
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