Southbound lanes of Knight Street were closed after a commercial truck drove into an overpass in Richmond, BC on Friday.
A statement from RCMP said the truck reached the Cambie Road overpass south of the Knight Street Bridge at approximately 7:15 a.m. PT. Road closures continue while officials confirm if the overpass is stable.
“We don’t have schedules at the moment, but we understand travelers. We strongly recommend a diversion,” RCMP said.
The city of Richmond said the freeway falls under provincial jurisdiction, but city teams are reviewing the overpass.
“City officials are working to conduct a structural survey of the bridge to ensure it is safe for traffic. This will continue throughout the day and we hope to be able to reopen the overpass as soon as possible,” the City of Richmond said in a statement.
In the morning the bed of the truck was still leaning against the overpass. RCMP said they could not comment on whether the taxi became detached from the bed in the accident or if it had been towed.
Cpl. Dennis Hwang initially said the driver was cooperating with investigators.
But in a press release issued by Richmond RCMP at 3:30 p.m. PT, Hwang said the driver of the utility vehicle was not cooperating with them.
“It was determined that a utility vehicle was towing a dump truck in a raised position and failed to negotiate the overpass,” Hwang said.
“The utility vehicle was some distance away when it was separated from the trailer unit.”
RCMP said no injuries were reported and the Richmond Road Safety Unit has taken over the investigation.
The RSU will work with the British Columbia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to conduct engineering and structural assessments of the Knight Street bridge deck, the Cambie Road flyover and other nearby areas.
The collision is one of many incidents of trucks driving on overpasses in the last year.
A series of overpass collisions in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley last summer led to truckers raising safety concerns in the area.
Last July, an accident at the Highway 1 overpass in Langley, BC, was the eighth incident of overweight trucks crashing into bridges, the province’s Department of Transportation reported.
The BC Trucking Association said driver error contributes to overpass collisions but said the province needs to do more to improve highway infrastructure.
