Body of crane driver recovered from northern Alberta river a month after crash

'The driver of the crane has been recovered and confirmed deceased'

Crews have recovered the body of the driver and the 300-ton crane he was driving when it crashed through the railing of the Wapiti Bridge and into the river below, approximately six kilometres south of Grande Prairie. Shortly after 9 a.m. on June 16, RCMP and emergency services were alerted to the incident on Highway 40 exiting the northern city. Responders from the M.D. of Greenview, County of Grande Prairie with assistance from additional agencies, arrived on scene.

Rescuers immediately worked to determine whether the driver was in the cab or had surfaced. A river boat was deployed. Personnel began to search riverbanks.

The Canada Labour Code Health and Safety Office investigators were notified. Witnesses told them they didn’t see the driver come up, said investigators. The driver’s co-workers and employer stood on the shoreline watching.

A decision was made several hours later to suspend recovery and search operations. Fast moving and rising water levels from continued rain the week before, compromised their efforts. On July 7, work started to remove the crane from the water.

On July 14, RCMP announced that the body of the driver was recovered, but removal of the crane is still ongoing. Historically, Highway 40 intersections leaving Grande Prairie experience high traffic volumes. As a gateway to oil and gas and construction sites.

In 2025, southbound volumes averaged more than 5,200 daily. For more than a decade local municipal governments lobbied the province for improvements to the bridge and road on what was an economic corridor. In 2024,16 km of Highway 40 was twinned and a second bridge constructed, at a cost of $168 million.

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