OTTAWA -- Ontario Provincial Police say a truck was travelling at close to 100 kilometres an hour, with its dump box raised, when it struck a highway overpass in Ottawa's west-end, leaving the box jammed under the overpass for several hours.
The 53-year-old Almonte man driving the truck has been charged with careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act after the crash Thursday morning.
The OPP says a dump truck travelling eastbound on Hwy 417 struck the overpass at Huntmar Drive just after 11 a.m.. The large dump box that struck the overpass became wedged under the bridge, while the rest of the vehicle kept moving.
The truck stopped about 100 metres down the Queensway after the crash.
In a statement Friday morning, the OPP said the investigation confirmed the truck had been travelling at close to 100 kilometres an hour, with the dump box raised, resulting in the collision.
"You could hear this loud bang, you could feel the thing move, but you had no idea what it was," said Donevan Levy, who was working at the Palladium Auto Park when the truck struck the overpass.
Levy said he walked over to look at what happened.
"Next thing you know you see all the cops and everything on the road, and that's what it was, it was this truck jammed in there."
Crews removed the dump box from the highway overpass just after 3 p.m. and all lanes of the highway reopened just before 7 p.m.
The driver of the truck was treated for minor injuries.
Correction:
Ontario Provincial Police reported the incident happened at Palladium Drive. It happened at Huntmar Drive.
