Truckie escapes as farm bridge shatters

A truck delivering maize to a Te Puke farm is left wedged after falling through a bridge yesterday. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A truck driver says he "hung on and hoped for the best" after his 24-tonne truck sank through a wooden bridge outside Te Puke yesterday while delivering maize to a local farm.

Andy Newcombe from Pukehina said he was the fifth or sixth truck driver across the bridge yesterday morning. But it was his truck that broke the bridge, about 11.45am.

"I'm still shaking. At first it was a bit surreal but when you realised what was happening, I just hung on and hoped for the best.

"And I think that was the best - I could have been a bit wet by now ... or a bit dead," he said.

The timber and concrete bridge gave way under the weight of the truck. The timber snapped and the right side of the front of the truck sunk about a metre beneath the bridge's deck. The driver's window was smashed during the crash.

"I was creeping up slowly and as I went on it, it just had a horrible sinking feeling."

He said he was extremely lucky to have survived the accident unharmed.

"It's one more of my nine lives," he said.

Ross Lawrence was driving his tractor in a paddock about 50m away from the bridge. He was carting the maize in his tractor to and from the trucks.

"I was just up there and saw the driver's window smash and the front sort of fell down," he said.

"I just hoped it wasn't his head that broke the window.

"I just ran up and yelled at him to make sure he was alright, and then he got out real carefully along the side of the bridge," he said.

"It was a bit of excitment for the day."

The truck was eventually lifted from the bridge by a crane about 2.30pm.