City staff and residents alike are thankful a collision that took down a pedestrian overpass over a busy city street Wednesday didn’t end up killing anyone.
At about 11 a.m., a dump truck heading east on Beaverbrook Drive from Eastlake Road smashed into a pedestrian overpass.
The driver had been in the process of lowering the truck’s box, according to firefighters, but didn’t lower it in time to avoid hitting the overpass.
“It caught the span that crosses the road from pier to pier, and it basically pulverized that and destroyed it. It knocked it right off and then it collapsed onto the ground,” Brian Carter, city manager of public works operation, told the NOW.
The driver, driving a truck owned by a Surrey sand and gravel company, escaped with minor injuries despite part of the bridge collapsing onto the cab of his truck.
He was handed a $368 ticket for driving without due care and attention, a violation that also comes with six driver penalty points.
Beaverbrook is often used as a cut-through street and usually sees a steady stream of traffic during the day. The pedestrian bridge connects two residential areas, with townhouse complexes and playgrounds on either side.
“We’re just grateful that no one was on there yesterday and no cars were passing by when that happened,” Carter said.
Area resident Jock Stark, walking by what was left of the bridge with his two-year-old daughter Adalynn Thursday, called the incident “shocking.”
“It would have been pretty scary if somebody was either on top of it or underneath,” he said.
Despite the reinforced-concrete span’s collapse, Carter said it was his understanding the structure had performed the way it was supposed to.
“The clearance was there,” he said. “Typically, you don’t have a truck box up in the air driving along. There’s usually safety features on trucks that are typically in place, like warning lights.”
The site has been checked over by engineers to make sure it was safe to keep the surviving piers and abutments in place, according to Carter.
A more detailed assessment will determine whether they can be salvaged or whether the bridge will need a total rebuild, he said, and any necessary safety improvements will be considered during that process.
Carter said he couldn’t estimate when the overpass might be rebuilt, but he expects local residents will want the span to be replaced.
