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Lions Gate Bridge was closed for an hour Monday afternoon after a large piece of metal – described variously as a “piece of windborne debris” and a roof segment of a commercial truck — became wrapped around one of the bridge’s overhead signal lights.
The incident happened around 1 p.m.
DriveBC tweeted out a photo of the large rectangular metal object which appeared to be wrapped around an overhead metal beam holding the bridge’s lane signal lights.
Highway officials closed the bridge in both directions while a crew member in a cherry picker truck was raised to pry the metal loose.
Photos of the scene showed a worker in a bucket apparently using a shovel to get the metal loose.
Shortly after, DriveBC announced on social media the metal had been removed and “dragged off.”
Although the metal was initially described as “windborne debris,” many fellow motorists pointed out on social media that it looked like a roof section of a commercial truck.
According to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, "It appears that the metal was the roof of a commercial vehicle that became dislodged and blew up and onto the gantry. This was an extremely unusual occurrence, and fortunately no one was hurt."
In a statement, the ministry added that it doesn't believe the vehicle itself struck the gantry, "as there is no damage to the gantry beyond one lane signal light that isn’t working."
Crews are assessing the extent of the repair needed, according to the ministry. The ministry’s commercial vehicle inspection branch is also attempting to track down the vehicle involved.
The incident happened as Environment Canada was predicting a first fall storm was expected on the south coast bringing wind, rain and possible thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday.
