Height clearances

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Tom

Tom

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Are there clearance issues in the UK associated with overpasses (flyovers) and bridges? Is there a minimum clearance that all flyovers and bridges must meet? Are clearances marked? Is there a directory or other listing of low clearances?

Do you know the height of your RV?
 
Tom,

Bridges can be any height, though the lowest Ive found on a main road was 10ft (railway bridge in Swindon).

There are several free downloads on the internet for Sat Nav users, which detail the bridges. The biggest problem with that system is that you only know about the bridge, via a bleeping image flash, when you approach it - standard sat navs wont automatically route around it (but the trucker ones at $800 will).

It reminds me of the US where you guys have low bridge warning signs AFTER the last chance to pull off that road - kinda useless by then. I guess it saves the bump but you still have to turn around somewhere.

The other good trick done by highways maintenance in the US is to re-lay a bit of road on top of the existing road but not change the bridge height sign !!

Paul
 
Paul,

It sounds like the issues are similar on both side of the Atlantic. Pro truck drivers like yourself are likely to be very conscious of this stuff, but I was just curious how aware most RVers are over there. Hopefully, the dual language signs in Wales apply equally to low clearance warnings  ;D

The extent of "advance warning" of low bridges here seems to vary by state and maybe even by county. Bridge clearances on our local country roads around this area are signposted several miles from the bridges, but I've been surprised on some country roads in other areas of the US.

The issue of road re-surfacing has been discussed here on the forum over the years, but I don't know if anyone knows for sure whether they change the signs or not. It's a scary thought, but I doubt anyone here has taken a tape measure to confirm the validity of signs.
 
Hopefully, the dual language signs in Wales apply equally to low clearance warnings
Click to expand...

The Welsh are very obliging by helping us Englishmen out with the translations.

The problem is by the time you've worked out when the Welsh bit has stopped and then started reading the English version, you could have hit the bridge. ;D

I delivered to a factory in Chepstow last week. Approaching the factory was a bridge posted at 11ft 3"

When I walked the 200yds to ask the office staff of any other way around, they stated in unison that the road had been lowered (dug out and re-surfaced), the sign was wrong and, at 13ft 9", I would in fact fit under the bridge.

I was prepared to give it a go and went to get the lorry.

As I inched toward the bridge, I got out to take a look - and found I was roughly 2" too high.

I'm glad I decided to ignore them all and check for myself.

Paul
 
Smart move checking it out for yourself Paul.

For my info, when you carry a "high" load, how do you measure it?
 
I only drive curtain-side or fixed body vehicles, so the height remains the same.

I can't answer for how the lorries with (for example) piles of wood would work it out.

On the subject of RV heights, it is a legal requirement for certain vehicles (which I will check) to have the RV height displayed inside the vehicle where it can be seen from the drivers seat.

I dont know of anyone who has a sign - in fact, I dont even have one myself (note to self: get one)

Paul
 
I've been meaning to put a label on our dash because, every time I see a "low clearance" sign, I forget how high our rig is. My driver wouldn't think of it, but I need something I can glance at quickly.

For simplicity, I rounded the clearance required for the boat  to 20 feet, but there are so few bridges we can get under and most of the vertical lift bridge and bascule bridge tenders know we need a lot of clearance. The rotating bridges just move out of our way. It would be nice if we could do this with low bridges over the road, but it would make a mess of traffic every time an RV came by.
 

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For folks who don't know the height of their RV, we have this illustrated measurement method in our library, courtesy of forum staffer Ron (from big D). Ron sketched this one after reading my report of being unable to squeeze under the door of a storage shed here.
 
Here's another reason to know the height of your RV. One of our forum members from the UK (no names mentioned) told us this story of his freebie covered camp site  ;D
 
On the subject of RV heights, it is a legal requirement for certain vehicles (which I will check) to have the RV height displayed inside the vehicle where it can be seen from the drivers seat.
Click to expand...

I found the details for the height requirement.

Any vehicle above 3 metres tall must be measured and have the height (in Imperial measurement, and ideally metric too) displayed where the driver can see it.

The details are on the UKs DirectGov Website

Paul
 
Good find Paul, thanks. I've been thinking of posting the height of our coach on the dash so I don't have to remember what it is as we approach a low clearance bridge. Here's the same information for folks on the other side of the Severn Bridge.
 
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