10.07.2008

Bridge bashing injures six

A loader crane driver heading back to the yard struck a footbridge on the A-7 in Costa Mijas near Malaga in Spain on Monday, Large concrete sections dropped behind the truck onto a car behind, another car then ploughed into the back of the that car.
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The bridge section is removed from the car

The two seriously hurt were the 47 year old driver and his 30 year old passenger, the fact that the two men survived is incredible when you look at the state of their car. The four others, including a child, were travelling in the car behind.

Witnesses say that the crane was raised and that it hooked onto the bridge, effectively pulling it down as it passed underneath, there were no pedestrians on the bridge at the time.

The driver of the crane said that he does not understand why the bridge came down he said that he heard a scraping sound as he went under the bridge and his truck shook, but he did not know why the hook of his crane was in an un-stowed position. He claims that he was not driving fast, and certainly under 60 kms/hour.

He is reported to have said that he wished that the bridge had fallen on him, rather than the two on the car behind. There are also reports that another truck, possibly with a crane onboard, hit the same bridge a few months back, leaving local residents to speculate on whether the structure was weakened at that time.

Vertikal Comment

Bridge bashing is still all too common, it is not beyond the wit of man to devise a simple system that prevents the vehicle being put into gear or the brake being released without the truck driver being alerted to the crane being up and obliging him to stow it or over ride the warning.