A running tally of overpass strikes in Metro Vancouver rose to a new record early Tuesday morning, Nov. 5, after another semi-trailer truck failed to clear the railway bridge just east of the new Glover Road overpass.
Langley RCMP said a truck transporting a crane scraped the railway overpass at 232 St. around 4:40 a.m.
Damage appeared to be minor and the incident was still under investigation Wednesday.
According to the online Metro Vancouver Overpass Impact Counter, this latest crash brought the total number of overpass collisions in Metro Vancouver to 21 so far this year, a new all-time record.
In 2023 Metro Vancouver recorded 12 hits according to the unofficial estimate by the counter at https://x.com/MVOverpassDWI.
The railway overpass has a 4.4-metre clearance, far less than the minimum 5.2 metres modern standards require.
It is slated for replacement, like the neighbouring Glover Road overpass, which, built in the 1960s, stood 4.3 metres.
Glover crossing was demolished and replaced with a new overpass that opened in May with better height clearance, and multi-use pathways on either side for cyclists and pedestrians.
The rising number of overpass collisions in Metro Vancouver comes despite a provincial move to increase penalties for such crashes after an Aldergrove-based trucking company, Chohan Freight Forwarders, had its licence to operate in B.C. cancelled, following six overpass collisions in the last two years.
Chohan's safety certificate was suspended on Dec. 29, 2023, when overheight ironwork being transported by a Chohan contractor crashed into the Highway 99 overpass at 112th Street in Delta.
Chohan filed a court challenge of the suspension.
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