Drivers received quite a scare Monday when a chunk of concrete fell from an overpass over Highway 40.
The chunk fell onto the hood of an SUV from a protective guard rail at the Henri Bourassa Blvd. overpass.
“When we got there, one vehicle had received some pieces from the overpass. As for other vehicles… they had some damage... Nobody was injured, thankfully,” said Surete du Quebec officer Benoit Richard.
The damage to two or three other vehicles included punctured tires or dents from debris after driving over the fragments on the highway, police said.
The incident closed down westbound lanes of the highway from Highway 13 to the Hymus exit for three hours. The service road remained open.
Later Monday evening Transports Quebec closed the highway again for a more detailed inspection, the results of which have yet to be released.
Transport Quebec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun said the overpass is normally inspected once per year, and that until Monday's incident the bridge had been considered safe..
"Also Transport Quebec decided to make a series of inspections throughout this week throughout the province on similar infrastructures that have the same design to make sure everything is safe," she said.
Bensadoun said the concrete block that fell off Monday was part of the protective barrier that holds up the guard rail and was not considered a structural piece of the bridge.
Quebec Transportation Minister Sylvain Gaudreault tweeted that crews from the Transport Quebec were on the scene five minutes after receiving the call at 11:37 a.m.
The highway was closed at 11:45 a.m.
It is still unclear what prompted the concrete block to fall from the overpass.
"Right now we are investigating. We’re not sure what caused this concrete to fall. We’re not sure if it’s the winter conditions because lately it was very, very cold, now it’s kind of hot, so we’re going to investigate and give you more information once we have it," said Bensadoun.
Bensadoun said motorists who see anything that is abnormal should contact them at 5-1-1. Crews will arrive on site within minutes.
Quebec's crumbling road infrastructure is of concern to the public since the De La Concorde overpass in Laval collapsed in 2006. Five people died in that incident.
- With a file from The Canadian Press
