The incident

On Sunday 3 March a so-called ‘professional’ driver of a container truck loaded with a single ‘high cube’ 40 foot ISO shipping container bound for the Port of Melbourne tried to make it under the 4.0 metre clearance Napier Street bridge, but ignored the warning signs – striking the bridge and dislodging the container from the truck.

By the time I came past trains were already running again following an inspection of the bridge, and Victoria Police were in attendance – not hard, given their police station is next door!

The damage

The 40 foot container had been dislodged from the trailer, and hanging at a perilous angle, almost ready to fall onto the footpath.

The bridge protection beam taking the hit rather than the bridge.

The impact speed must have been high, as the bridge warning lights had been dislodged.

And the steel container deformed.

An impact mark from the bridge protection beam visible to one side.

Dislodged container twistlocks on the ground below.

A hole in the fresh asphalt where the container fell to the ground.

Recovery time

The truck operator called up mobile crane to assist with the recovery operation.

But it wasn’t needed – a heavy tow truck was used to drag the container away from the truck.

Chains and the rear boom used to lift up the rear of the container.

Which then topped over sideways.

Crushing the fence intended to ‘protect’ pedestrians from road vehicles.

I don’t think that was how they intended the recovery to go!

At least the semi-trailer was now free.

But in need of repair – the rear container twistlocks bent out of position.

Another crack

After a bit of maneuvering, the heavy tow truck was able to pull the 40 foot container back upright.

And then pull it clear of the bridge.

Allowing a waiting sidelifter truck to pull up alongside.

Lift the damaged container onto the sidelift trailer.

And take it away.

Allowing the eastbound lanes to be reopened.

All up the recovery effort took an hour to complete.

So why is the Napier Street bridge worse?

The Montague Street might be notorious for bridge strikes in Melbourne.

But the bulk of impacts in South Melbourne are just weekend warriors on car licences driving rental trucks when moving house – not ‘professional’ drivers with a heavy vehicle licence – and a four tonne steel shipping containers falling off a truck is far more dangerous to other motorists than the body of a pantech truck getting a little beat up.

In addition the statistics don’t lie – the the Napier Street bridge was struck 37 times by heavy vehicles between 2018 and 2022, while the Montague Street bridge was only hit once in 2021.

One possible solution – the Port Rail Shuttle project, paused back in 2015, but ready to start operation ‘soon’.

Footnote

And a bit of a laugh – a petition to “Paint Footscray’s Napier Street Bridge With Scary Shark Teeth“.

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Built it up

Construction work on the Laverton Rail Upgrade project on the Werribee line has been a recent theme – we see that work on the third platform was almost done.

Along with the new footbridge.

Another project was the construction of a new station on the Craigieburn line at Coolaroo.

Served by a similarly large footbridge.

Nothing ever changes on the Albury line

Another project of the period was the North East Rail Revitalisation Project, which was converting the deteriorating Seymour-Albury railway broad gauge track to standard gauge, providing two parallel tracks at a cost of $500 million.

While this work was underway, V/Line services had replaced by buses since 2008.

A new platform was also constructed on the standard gauge track at Broadmeadows.

And V/Line was also busy upgrading trains for the return of trains to Albury.

It was intended for V/Line trains to return in late 2010 but poor track quality delayed it until June 2011.

Unfortunately nothing has changed in the decade since – 2012 saw a promise to ‘fix’ the track, but reliability of V/Line services to Albury has stayed in the toilet , despite the addition of a third and even fourth train set to run the service.

May 2018 saw the launch of the $235 million North East Line Upgrade project – will this finally solve it?

But plenty of change towards Sunshine

Ten years ago the view along the line between the CBD and Sunshine was very different.

Freight sidings filled the area between North Melbourne and Moonee Ponds Creek.

South Kensington station used to have trees on the platform.

Suburban and V/Line trains needed to share four tracks to Footscray.

And two tracks through West Footscray.

There was plenty of grass beside Sunshine Road.

And a rickety timber footbridge across the tracks at Sunshine.

All are now gone, to make way for the new Regional Rail Link tracks that separated suburban and V/Line services from 2015.

Blink and you’ll miss it

January 2010 saw the first Southern Spirit rail cruise run through Melbourne, on a journey from Adelaide to Brisbane.

Barely squeezing into the platform at Southern Cross Station.

The last Southern Spirit rail cruise ran in May 2012, with the concept was relaunched in 2019 as the Great Southern.

Things that are gone

I swung past Essendon station.

Where traffic queued up at the Buckley Street level crossing – removed in 2018.

City Circle Trams used to be maroon.

Since 2012 they have been replaced by the W8 class tram rebuilds, with the final one withdrawn in 2018.

And buses in Geelong used to be green.

The Benders livery replaced the blue Geelong Transit System brand from the 1980s, but has since given way to Public Transport Victoria orange.

At Lara station I captured a 1950s-era A class locomotive hauling a V/Line train towards Geelong.

In 2013 they were withdrawn, only to be returned to service in 2014, then finally withdrawn in 2018.

Another V/Line antique was the compartment carriages used on a once daily return trip to Geelong.

The set remained in service until August 2010, when the delivery of additional VLocity trains enabled it to be retired.

And finally, I captured The Overland headed out of Geelong bound for Adelaide.

Government funding for the service expired in 2015 was was renewed for three years, followed by a one year renewal in 2018, which has yet to be renewed at the time that I write this.

And the start of a plague

In 2009 VicRoads commenced the trial of ‘High Productivity Freight Vehicles‘ at the Port of Melbourne.

These B-double trucks with quad axle trailers were up to 30 metres long and 77.5 tonnes in weight, transporting four TEU of containers compared to the three TEUs moved by standard B-doubles.

In the years since trucks have now taken over the streets of Melbourne’s inner west, while the Port Rail Shuttle project that was supposed to move containers onto rail has gone nowhere.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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