AUGUSTA — A railroad trestle on Water Street, called the “Can Opener” by some city officials, claimed its latest tractor-trailer victim late Monday night.
The trestle accident happened about 11:30 p.m., causing the trailer to tilt onto its side and sustain extensive damage, police said.
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The driver, Finian D’Silva, 55, of Ottawa, Ontario, who was driving for J B Express, of Ontario, was charged with having an over-height vehicle. The trailer was empty.
“It was stuck under there for two hours before KDT (Towing & Repair) could pull the trailer out,” Augusta police Sgt. Christian Behr said.
D’Silva was unhurt, said Behr, who added that there was little traffic to be affected at that hour.
The 18-wheeler also struck one of the decorative street lights, which cut off the power to the other streetlights. Behr said the trailer was destroyed and that the replacement value for the streetlight was about $5,000.
Clearance under the Water Street train trestle is 12 feet, 10 inches, according to numerous signs that dot the landscape around the area. The trestle has taken its toll on a number of tractor-trailers, sometimes peeling off the roof of the trailer as it is pulled under.
So notorious is the bridge for wiping out trucks that city officials have even given it a nickname, as if it were an Old West gunslinger.
After a series of tractor-trailer trucks got stuck at the trestle in 2012, City Engineer Lionel Cayer said he and other officials called the trestle “the Can Opener.”
“It’s a reoccurring problem for us,” he said at the time.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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