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Truck smashes into Montague St bridge in South Melbourne

A truck has smashed into the notorious Montague St bridge in South Melbourne, breaking a 154-day streak.

Rhiannon Tuffield
2 min read
March 11, 2022 - 1:47PM
NCA NewsWire
Truck hits Montague St Bridge again

A truck has been torn to shreds in Melbourne after hitting the infamous Montague St bridge, breaking a record for the number of days the bridge has avoided a crash.

The truck hit the South Melbourne bridge around 11am on Friday, breaking a 154-day streak – the longest time period without a crash since 2018.

The last time the bridge was reported hit was on December 8, 2021. That crash caused a truck to lose its airconditioning unit.

The bridge has become notorious in Victoria due to the number of times it has been crashed into by trucks, buses and mini-vans, even collecting its own fan page that records each hit.

Traffic became congested in the area on Friday afternoon as police closed the left northbound lane on Montague St and diverted traffic.

The collision caused the entire back carriage of the truck to be ripped apart, with the impact pulling off the carriage’s roof and walls.

With just three metres clearance, the bridge is among the lowest on Victoria’s traffic network and has been hit hundreds of times since its inception in 1914.

In recent years, trucks have had their roofs, walls and doors ripped off or become completely stuck under the low-level bridge, as overly-confident drivers charge through without a care for the consequences.

The first reported crash occurred in 1929 not long after the bridge was erected as a connection line between Port Melbourne and the city.

The bridge had the footpath beneath it raised in the 1930s to address flooding in the area.

Despite traffic slowing amid ongoing lockdowns during the pandemic, the bridge was hit six times in 2021 and six times in 2020.

Last year, stunning data revealed the cost of bridge collisions in the state, with Victorian Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll revealing it cost the economy around $900,000 each year for the carnage.

“For every bridge strike that occurs, we estimate a cost of $100,000,” Mr Carroll said.

“That is based on the 45-minute delay to traffic, including freight, but also to the impact it has on those public transport passengers that have often had to have their line cancelled above the bridge.

“That’s fairly conservative too because often we have to get the emergency services vehicles out and firefighters.”

The trend took a dark turn in early 2016 when a bus hit the Montague St structure and seriously injured six people.

A passenger was seriously injured when driver Jack Aston ploughed his bus into the bridge and is suing him for negligence.

Sharon Raysin, 63, was in Melbourne from the US for a work conference when Mr Aston missed the warning signs about the bridge on February 22, 2016.

She was one of six passengers injured when the bus slammed into the bridge with such force that it pushed the roof back to the fifth row of seats.

Ms Raysin was trapped in her seat until emergency services could free her and was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Ms Raysin says she now suffers vertigo, and memory and concentration difficulties.

Originally published as Truck smashes into Montague St bridge in South Melbourne

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/motoring/on-the-road/truck-smashes-into-montague-st-bridge-in-south-melbourne/news-story/1325bcba19073bfe7cc369e2e2898cef