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Commercial vehicle didn't hit Highway 1 overpass in Burnaby last week: police

RCMP says there was no overpass strike on Highway 1 in Burnaby last Thursday, Jan. 11, despite images shared on social media that showed a commercial vehicle that looked like it had run into the Gilmore overpass.
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The commercial vehicle seen here did not hit the Gilmore overpass along Highway 1 through Burnaby the night of Jan. 11, 2024, RCMP confirm.

Images of a commercial vehicle that looked like it had hit a Burnaby overpass circulated on social media last week, but police say the truck didn't actually hit it.

Photos and at least one video showed a truck and trailer unit with an oversized load of massive, cylindrical objects stopped under the Gilmore overpass on Highway 1 Thursday afternoon, Jan. 11.

People who posted the images surmised the truck had hit the overpass.

Burnaby RCMP didn't get any complaints or reports about the incident, according to Burnaby RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Kalanj, but a video on social media tipped them off to the possible overpass strike.

(The overpass has been hit before, as recently as September, according to a Ministry of Transportation report on commercial vehicle bridge and overpass crashes.)

By the time Burnaby RCMP attended the scene, the truck was gone, but there was "no visible damage to the structure where the vehicle had stopped," according to Kalanj.

He said investigators also spoke to the driver of the truck, and were "able to confirm that the overpass had not been struck."

The investigation has now been concluded, according to Kalanj.

Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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