According to the news: at around 0300 hours on Jan 15 2026 on the I-10 freeway in or around Ontario, CA, a Sany excavator on a step deck trailer pulled by what appears a full size semi truck, hit the overhead "falsework" on a bridge crossing the I-10....said bridge possibly undergoing a lane expansion and a lot of plywood can be seen in that stage of the formwork erection. The dipper was vertical and not folded under the boom (see approx 2 minute mark). you tube video less than 3 mins long We have heard no news about it being 'hiked' - perhaps was a rental yard wee hours move - with truck driver having a brain qweef. Sadly, the falsework beam was dislodged, it fell onto the freeway, and cars hit it while travelling at speed .... and one of the car drivers was killed. Sorry to have to post this 'bad news video' but it is a sad reminder of how one simple thing forgotten or overlooked can have large consequences.
Sadly that's incompetence by who ever loaded the machine and the truck steerer. Something Raj Transport is renowned for.
That's a really bad one!
It's hard to believe people don't check their load height. . . . There could be jail time - considering there was a fatality.
I would wager the arm/stick was folded under, but the impact with the bridge structure caused it to pop straight up, you can clearly see the arm cylinder bent. The thing about those size excavators, 100 to 160 class, they simply will not fold the arm/stick in far enough to lower the main boom. For that reason most of those size excavators have a second pin boss hole in the arm where the cylinder attaches to the arm, that second hole if for "transport position", allows you to bring the arm in a bit further and lower the boom some more. I don't see a second hole on that one. Additionally, an excavator of that class would have to have the cylinder pin in the transport position on a step deck, period. Driver should have checked his height, likely going to be charges there.
That excavator should have been loaded with the boom to the rear, all folded up, and it would have been well under 14'. My guess, inexperienced driver afraid to swing the house while on the deck and didnt want to rest the stick on the edge of the upper deck.
competitor of mine had a new hire, told him he was experienced. hauling a Drott 50 to a jobsite. boom forward, stick plumb.....our town had aerial cable tv wires that went down the alleys. he wiped out about 4 blocks of wires going down the street before they got him stopped. lucky the power lines were high enough he didn't catch them.
Yes, this shows the truck driver made a major mistake but it also shows how many people just drive down the road assuming there will be nothing in their path. Those who hit the beam were way over driving their headlights.
i blame the supervisor...apparently, little if zero training.
Yep. A man (employer) has GOT to know a drivers level of experience.
Breaking News. An excavator on a truck has hit the overpass over the Bruce Highway at Forest Glen Australia. It's smashed 3 of 4 concrete beams under the deck, likely has to be demolished. The bridge is labelled 5.4m clearance, legal load hight 4.2m. I believe it's a local contractors truck and digger who's depot is near there. PS, Raj Transport may not be responsible for this one. Pic's coming
Oh my, over 17'6"? Then its really not a surprise, but a miracle they made it that far. You'd have cable and probably even some power lines here at that height.
My guess is the machine was on the truck boom forward. Looks like the load bindings busted on impact eventually sliding the digger down the ramps. Not as many beams damaged as originally stated.
That's similar to a bridge that was hit here a couple years ago. $100's of thousands in damage.
This undoubtedly with run into the millions if fines are included.
Imagine watching Uncle Jimmy's Club House and TV disappears through the wall.
Good to know the US doesn't have the corner on the market for ineptness
Depending on the clauses in their Public Liability insurance the contractor may not have a leg to stand on. Mine didn't cover illegal activity which at this point in time was. Just sayin Media catching up on my initial report Bruce Highway blocked after excavator strikes Sunshine Coast bridge Authorities say one southbound lane of the Bruce Highway may reopen tonight after an excavator struck a bridge and then fell onto the road. www.abc.net.au
The bridge involved is a little unique in that has a substantial slope. Driver may have thought he was ok by shifting to higher fast lane. Also may have shifted it previously in the other direction with no issues. No excuse for large, long established company local to the area.
There's the problem, a C.O.E.
We have 3 145 linkbelts. Pretty much identical besides the year. 1 machine however has a longer stick. On the big float it's fine as it's lower. On the tag along , 2 machines, blade forward boom rear. Curl the bucket tight, stick tight and boom down. Long stick, same procedure sets the top of the boom about 4 inches higher. You can't curl the bucket tight. My float driver hit the back scratcher on the bridge I mentioned this fall that got destroyed and closed. He didn't damage the bridge. But tore steel lines off the boom. Coincidentally he had just made it 4 months without smoking, and got so worked up about damaging the machine. He went and bought a pack of smokes
C.O.E. ??? What does that mean?
Cab Over Engine
We had one of those, mid 90's 10 wheel dump truck towing a smaller excavator, stowed far too high on the trailer. Hit an unused railroad bridge and ripped the pintle hitch off the dump truck. PD thrilled cause its right on the start of rush hour on the main drag. Turns out the driver doesn't have keys to the excavator and doesn't have a class A license. Company sends a second dump truck with the keys and a new hitch. Things look good until the second truck shows up bearing the exact same license plate. turns out the busted one was registered and the new one wasn't was a lot of tow truck work to clear it all up.
At least the accident didn't happen in Washington State. They seem to destroy a bridge at least every year. The got two of them at least last year. The one by Cle Elum made national news.
The damaged bridge always seems to make the news but the other expensive part of the event is what happened to the machine being carried. My company was hired by an insurance adjuster twenty eight years ago to consult on the damages to a Hitachi EX400-3 that hit an overpass at highway speed. I documented the process on video for possible use in court. I've edited it down to just the investigation of the carbody and house and it can be viewed on YouTube by clicking the link below.