Commuter trains were delayed early Thursday morning after a truck driver rammed into the Guy St. train bridge.

The collision happened around 3:30 a.m. when the driver of the 18-wheeler, heading south from René Levesque Blvd., failed to heed the signs warning of the low height of the bridge.

The impact wedged the truck's trailer in place, buckling the sides of the container and ramming its stationary supports into the asphalt.

Crews arrived soon afterward to unload the truck into another vehicle and around 7:30 a.m. a tow truck dragged the empty trailer out from under the bridge.

Carole Ann Boisvert, the general manager of the company that owns the truck, Creativ Nation, said the driver was not injured. 

VP Michael Litresits said the driver was fully trained and licenced to operate an 18-wheeler, and that the driver feels horrible about the crash.

Following any impact with the bridge Canadian Pacific sends engineers to the location to make sure the bridge is intact and can support the weight of fully-loaded trains. Once the all-clear was given Thursday, commuter trains were able to continue to the Lucien L'Allier station instead of unloading at Vendome.

CP would not say how frequently trucks hit the Guy St. bridge, nor would it say if it had spoken to trucking associations about the problem.

 

'Impact' sign installed in 2012

Collisions were a weekly occurrence until 2012 when the AMT installed a truck measuring system hooked up to a warning sign: when trucks that are too tall approach the bridge, a sign warning of the impact lights up.

About 12 trucks a week get the warning, and they can stop in a special parking spot until traffic clears and they can move around.

Axel Rioux of the Quebec Trucking Association said drivers should check their route ahead of time and ensure they won't run into any height restrictions, but said sometimes that is not possible, especially when drivers "might be caught in detours and go on a road they didn’t initially plan to."

After the sign was installeed impacts from trucks dropped off to about once per year until last year, when at least three trucks hit the bridge in September and October, and there were about nine impacts in 2018.

The bridge is 3.75 m high, which is about 40 cm lower than most trailers.