A 22-year-old truck driver has been handed an infringement notice following an incident on Saturday morning, in which an excavator he was transporting made contact with Terralong Street’s new overhead rail bridge barrier.

The bright yellow structure was installed just last month in an attempt to reduce the damage of overheight vehicles on the trainline above, with a maximum height allowance of 3.4m. 

With the assistance of passersby, the driver was able to reverse out before the earthmoving equipment could cause further damage.

Emergency services were called to the scene around 11:10am, but the driver had left by the time Lake Illawarra Police District officers arrived.

They pulled him over on South Kiama Drive a short time later, where he was subjected to a roadside drug and alcohol test.

Although the test results for alcohol were negative, the driver allegedly returned a positive reading for cocaine.

The sample has been sent away for further analysis.

He was issued with an infringement notice for disobeying a low clearance sign, which carries a fine of $4783 and 12 demerit points.

He was also banned from driving for 24 hours.

The protective beams were repaired on Monday morning.