Melbourne's morning rush hour was disrupted by an unusual incident involving a truck and an excavator. Within a few hours, the truck managed to hit two overpasses, causing significant delays and chaos for commuters.
The first incident occurred around 12:45 pm on Wednesday when the truck, carrying a 50-tonne excavator, struck a bridge under St Kilda Road in Southbank. The impact scattered concrete and left one of the excavator's buckets embedded in the tunnel. A witness, Andrew, described the scene as chaotic, with concrete everywhere and a bucket knocked clean off.
This incident caused two eastbound lanes to close, and a large part of the truck's load fell onto the road. The driver then continued a few kilometres down the road, only to hit another bridge a few hours later.
At 4:15 pm, the truck struck a rail overpass on Batman Avenue near South Yarra. This double whammy brought parts of Melbourne's train network to a standstill, affecting commuters on the Sandringham, Frankston, Cranbourne, and Pakenham lines. Delays of up to 20 minutes were experienced while Metro Trains assessed the damage and cleared the scene.
VicTraffic reported that the outbound entries to the CityLink/Monash Freeway, which were closed after the second bridge incident, have since been reopened. The driver is currently speaking to police and is expected to receive infringement notices. Fortunately, no one was injured in the two incidents.
This incident highlights the challenges faced by Melbourne commuters, who often have to navigate unexpected disruptions during their daily travel. It also raises questions about the safety measures in place for such large vehicles on the roads and bridges.
