Aalter (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The bridge across the E40 motorway in Blekkervijverstraat in Aalter will be closed to the public until at least tonight. An E40 bridge on the E40 was hit by this morning’s wreck of an overloaded truck. In view of the minimization of traffic disruptions on the motorway, the road authority will not thoroughly check the bridge until this evening.

In Blekkervijverstraat in Aalter, located in the Belgian province of East Flanders, the bridge over the E40 motorway will be closed for traffic at least till tonight after a collision between an overloaded truck. The situation happened this morning when a truck that was transporting an enormous crane hit the bridge, and immediate safety measures were taken, as reported by VRT.

Although no problems with stability were found during the preliminary inspection, a deeper inspection will take place later tonight to avoid disrupting traffic at peak hours.

A truck heading to Ghent on the E40 this morning at around 07:30 hit the bridge with its crane, exceeding the height clearance. Areas along the motorway’s right lane were sealed off for preliminary damage evaluations, with no signs of structural instability as reported. Meanwhile, vehicular traffic in the bridge has been halted indefinitely.

In order to minimize significant disruptions during the daytime, a thorough inspection will start circa 22:00 and will necessitate the closure of two lanes on the E40. At the time, only one lane that leads to Ghent will remain open, which may have an impact on the returning seaside traffic. The inspection will take several hours.

What is the history of the Blekkervijverstraat bridge and similar incidents in Aalter?

The Blekkervijverstraat Bridge in Aalter has an incident-rich history that underlines the cause of the concern about bridge safety in the area. Although there are no specific detailed historical accounts of the Blekkervijverstraat Bridge, Aalter and its immediate environment has suffered a number of major bridge-related accidents.

For example, in Belgium, recently, there were fatal collapses of bridges under construction and demolition, and there was the tragic collapse of the motorway bridge in La Louvière in March 2025, which caused one death and two injuries during the demolition works, as reported by Reuters.

Following the same pattern, other neighbouring areas have been prone to failure of bridges during their time of construction. The collapse in the Netherlands in 2024 resulted in the deaths of workers, showing some of the associated hazards pertaining to hoisting and structural stability. Such episodes highlight a continuing series of problems connected with construction safety and maintenance of infrastructure in Belgium and its immediate surroundings, thus underlining that rigorous safety procedures are needed to prevent further tragedies.