06.11.2025

Fatal bridge bash

A man died earlier today near the town of Lithgow, north west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, when a truck mounted lift he was travelling in struck a low railway bridge, bringing it down onto the vehicle, crushing the cab,.

The man, 34, was in the passenger seat of the three axle Redmond Gary insulated truck mount, when they struck the underside of the 3.8 metre high bridge that takes an old leg of the Zig Zag railway line in the Blue Mountain area over the road.

The driver, 38, managed to get out and was rushed to hospital where he is reported to be in a stable condition tonight. The passenger was trapped, and it took rescuers several hours to free him, by which time it was too late, and he was declared dead at the scene.

Both men were employees of Sydney Trains which runs the region’s suburban train network. The platform is one of the larger models made by Redmond Gary. If it is the model that we have been told it is, the overall height is typically 4.1 metres. But that does depend on the chassis. Other bridges further down the road have well over four metres of clearance.

Three All Terrain Cranes were brought in from local companies to remove the fallen bridge, a five axle unit from Henry Plant & Equipment along with a four and a five axle crane from Central. The bridge was lifted onto trucks and transported away, leaving the truck mount free for the investigators to do their thing.

The news reports below show more detail




Vertikal Comment

This is a tragic incident – while bridge bashing by cranes or work platforms is far from unusual, it rarely results in a fatality. This time it was almost certainly down to the combination of the truck mount being considerably too high, and the fact that it hit a relatively lightweight, low use, and ageing bridge.
,
It does though, highlight the importance of having large, clearly displayed vehicle height signs in the cab.