‘Don’t be a blockhead’: Saskatoon official frustrated after semi strikes overpass

The City of Saskatoon says repairs are being planned after a semi hauling heavy equipment hit a major overpass in the city’s southeast. Stacey Hein reports.

The City of Saskatoon says repairs are being planned after a semi hauling heavy equipment struck an overpass at the Circle Drive, Highway 11 and Highway 16 cloverleaf in the city’s southeast late Thursday afternoon.

The excavator being hauled on the trailer slammed into the structure and was sliced in half. No injuries were reported.

“They’re lucky nobody was killed,” Dan Willems, the city’s director of technical services, told reporters Friday. “It’s extremely frustrating.”

Traffic in the area was disrupted for hours and is still affected, with lane closures in place as engineers assess the damage and plan repairs.

Willems says the load was well above the overpass clearance.

“The load was significantly higher than the available clearance,” he said. “Even if this overpass was 10 feet taller, it would have hit the next one down the road.”

• Get the latest news from Saskatoon, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

It is not the first time the overpass has been struck. Willems says it was hit in 2007 and again in 2016.

He says warning systems are in place, including signage and permit requirements, but the driver did not have a permit.

Willems also has a message for drivers hauling oversized loads.

“Don’t be a blockhead and measure your load before you try to move and get a permit,” he said.

He says Saskatoon police are investigating to decide if charges are warranted, and the city is considering all legal options to recover the cost of repairs.

A bylaw passed last year makes it an offence to damage city property and allows officials to seek cost recovery. Willems says fines can reach $10,000 for a driver and $25,000 for a company.

If deemed safe, the city plans to reopen Highway 11 northbound lanes beneath the structure by the end of the day, Willems said, while Highway 16 eastbound will remain reduced to a single lane until repairs are completed.

There is no timeline yet for those repairs, but the city hopes work can begin next week.