A13 lorry crash: Video captures the moment lorry collides with …

This is the moment a lorry carrying a heavy load crashed into a bridge on the A13 - which forced the major Essex road to be shut for hours. The road had to be shut in both directions at the Wennington Interchange yesterday (August 8) after the lorry collided with the bridge at around midday.

Essex Police along with fire and ambulance crews attended the scene and were forced to shut both carriageways due to the safety concerns caused by the crash. No injuries were reported, but debris was strewn across the road from the lorry.

Now, video footage has emerged showing the exact moment of the crash. In the footage, captured on another driver's dash-cam, the lorry can be seen carrying a heavy load in the form of a large cylinder. It approaches the bridge on the eastbound carriageway, and the lorry cab goes underneath, but due to the height of its load, the cylinder strikes the bottom part of the bridge.

The resulting collision sees the lorry come to an abrupt halt as debris is strewn across the road and the other driver is forced to stop, with debris obscuring the dash-cam's view. The A13 was shut soon after in both directions while work was carried out to assess the damage to the bridge.

Traffic was diverted around the junction, with tailbacks building back to the M25 and to Rainham. Ambulance crews were called to the scene but later stood down due to no injuries being inflicted. The westbound carriageway reopened shortly before 5pm, but emergency repairs to the bridge led to the eastbound carriageway being shut throughout the night.

The carriageway did not reopen again until 5am this morning (August 9). At the time, a spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: "Firefighters from Wennington and Dagenham fire stations responded to reports of a Road Traffic Collision on the A13, where an articulated lorry had struck a bridge.

"The brigade was first called to the incident at 1208. Crews remained on scene until 1251, when the scene was handed over to the Metropolitan Police Service."

Video by @Rob23576718

References

1. ^{^} A13 traffic recap as road shut after lorry hits bridge causing long delays (www.essexlive.news)