Truck hits Napier St, rail bridge in Footscray

ALL lanes have been cleared after a truck hit a Footscray rail bridge, throwing peak hour city-bound traffic on Napier St into chaos.

• Promised bridge works never happened

ALL lanes have been cleared after a truck hit a Footscray rail bridge this morning.

Peak hour traffic was at a standstill on Napier St when VicRoads closed all inbound lanes and urged drivers to avoid the area.

The rail bridge is hit almost 10 times a year.

One lane was opened to let some cars through but was closed again to allow recovery vehicles access to remove the truck.

The incident did not affect trains.

In March a shipping container fell on a car when the truck carrying it misjudged the bridge height.

The container slid off the truck and landed on a car carrying three men who suffered minor injuries.

Truck stuck after driving under Napier street bridge Footscray. Picture: Nicole Garmston

This morning’s incident. Picture: Nicole Garmston

In March a container fell on a car after hitting the bridge. Picture: Martin Wurt

Work was done earlier this year to upgrade the 4m high bridge, which has been struck by trucks more than 60 times since 2010.

In November last year the bridge was struck twice in one week.

Another notorious Melbourne bridge, Montague St in South Melbourne, had gantries installed after a series of crashes including one where bus passengers were injured.

However there have been further incidents since the gantries were installed.

Meanwhile, train passengers are also facing delays on two Melbourne lines.