Drivers urged to take care on bridge

14 August 2014Drivers of large vehicles are being urged to avoid Cambridge's high-level bridge.

In the last week, a truck and a camper van have both tried to drive over the newly refurbished bridge, causing significant damage in the process.

Police are looking at prosecuting the truck driver whose vehicle demolished the sign on the bridge last Friday night. The camper van damaged the railings.

Council advises that private insurance held by the vehicle owners will cover the cost of damage; it will not fall back on ratepayers.

Project engineer Greg Wiechern said in terms of causing damage, camper vans were frequent offenders. They often damaged their own air conditioning units as well.

He advised that although clear signage was already in place, Council was looking at making it even more obvious that overweight or over-width vehicles cannot use the bridge.

Even thought the cost of the damage itself doesn't fall back on ratepayers, there is a cost to all of us when the bridge is damaged, he said.

Every time repair work is needed on the bridge, traffic management is required because workers are so close to moving vehicles. While the driver who caused the damaged picks up that cost, it's other drivers in Cambridge who are inconvenienced.

On Tuesday (August 12), the bridge was closed for around an hour to allow repairs to be undertaken.

To use the bridge, vehicles must be under 3000kg (the size of an SUV), under 2.1m wide and under 3m high.

While most single axle trailers meet the width restriction, most tandem trailers don't. We've got to remember that the bridge is 107 years old and was designed for horse and carts - not campers or trucks.

ENDS

Media enquiries: Jeanette Tyrrell 027 5077 599