The Toughest Bridge in the World

[suezek]

This video illustrates my biggest fear while driving down the road whistling a happy tune. Sometimes I fight the urge to duck.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3c0_1351184890

 

[bingberg]

??? ???doh!!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Should be required viewing for all new RV owners!

 

[ArdraF]

Not to mention rental truck drivers, delivery truck drivers, and bus drivers!  It's amazing how many of them kept going....  Oh, and the driver of the second hay truck must have been in la-la land not to have noticed what happened to the first load of hay.

ArdraF

 

[Wizard46]

Look Ma, new skylights !!!!!

 

[Steve & Linda]

I think this 'fear' was the major reason we purchased a NAV system for our RV where we could put in our route preferences and info about our TV's height, length, etc. We came upon a trestle like this on our recent trip but were driving the pickup at the time, TG!

 

[John From Detroit]

When I had a sticks and bricks there were two businesses near me

One was a U-Haul rental plasce

The other a Country club.

The country cllub had a main entrance for the clubhouse/restaurant with the traditional awning so that you could let your sweetie out in the dry when it was raining.

It was 1 foot lower than the top of the U-haul truck.

The camption under the picture on the wall at the U-Haul said "Do not do this"

I though i had posted, might be in a different forum.. I have seen serveral semi's that went under the 13' bridge (The seim was 13'6" Before it passed under).

It's a funny site when you don't have to pay for it.

 

[Lowell]

When this has happened so many times on the same bridge, it seems to me that they should raise the bridge or lower the roadway.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Yeah, it's somebody else's fault.  Certainly not the drivers who ignored the HUGE SIGN and/or had no clue how high their rig is (or should I say "was"?).

 

[99WinAdventurer37G]

Back in the 80's I was a Truck Driver Trainer.  One thing I noticed about when four wheelers start driving trucks is, they don't read signs!  I would sit in the jump seat and have them read out loud to me every sign.  It amazed me how they can completely miss signs. 

A general rule of thumb I'd give them, if you didn't see a clearance sign for an overpass, don't go under it.  I've literally backed up Tractor-trailers for miles to the safest place to turn the unit around, because a driver didn't read the sign at the last intersection that read, 13' clearance ahead, and we were 13'6".  At least they stopped when we got to the bridge.  But then I got to back the truck three or four miles on s skinny two lane road, back to the next intersection, so we could go around it.  I don't remember a single time, when I got to that intersection, that there was not a sign warning of a low overpass 3 miles ahead. 

They also will post weight restrictions ahead.  And although you may go over a bridge with a sign stating 5 tons, if it goes down with you on it, it's going to be one expensive trip.  Also in many jurisdictions the cops that work those bridges and carry portable scales.  Although they are mainly looking for trucks, I've seen them weighing large MH's as well.  The tickets can be very expensive.  I know with my unit, I avoid anything under a 10T weight limit, just to be safe.  I know it's over the 5 Ton limit.  Always read the road signs!

 

[John From Detroit]

Gee.. I weighed in at 13 tons (26,000 pounds) and what did I get, A big whomping ticket and a pile od debt, .. (Sing to 16 tons).

No, that did not happen by the way, Never been accross a weight limited bridge with this house.. Last time I crossed a weight limitted bridge I was at a great bit 2 tons (Well under bridge limit).

My brother, who reads as well as I do, used to joke he read the speed limit sign and it said.

Speed Limit

55

Minimum

And by that time he was past it and could not read any more

(HINT;

Minimum

45


I tend to think that people should be able to read as well as He and I do, or my Mother did,  and it really annoys me when I ask someone what a sign said and .. Well, they flat did not have TIME to read it  Why.

Be-----cauise--------they------le--arned------to------read--------li--ke----this.

(Hope the editor does not shorten that too much).. THIS is why a lot of folks do not read signs.. They don't know how!!!.. .I mean come on folks Reading is FUNdemental (That is not a type as the books I read are both fun, and demental you see)..

Heck, I once pulled into a restaurant for dinner,, Very nice, good food, decent prices, wife wondered how I knew of that place when I had never been to that town before....

Well you see they had a few signs on the freeway,, NOT too many (Which would have meant higher prices) and not too few (Not as good food) but just the right amount.

 

[Molaker]

Be-----cauise--------they------le--arned------to------read--------li--ke----this.

Where's Burma Shave when you need it? ;D

 

[ArdraF]

Lowell, that's a railroad bridge and it's not easy or inexpensive to raise one of them.  We had a change in elevation for Caltrain on the San Francisco Peninsula.  It's purpose was to eliminate road crossings and build elevated bridges over the cross streets.  It cost a small fortune and years in which local businesses really suffered with some going out of business.  Each time they got ready to open one of the new overcrossings it was a lesson in how you raise train tracks from a lower level.  The engineers did a wonderful job but it was a huge and very costly hassle.  It's not something you do on the spur of the moment or take lightly.

ArdraF

 

[Lowell]

Yeah, it's somebody else's fault.  Certainly not the drivers who ignored the HUGE SIGN and/or had no clue how high their rig is (or should I say "was"?).

I think you missed my thought.  I didn't count all the accidents on this bridge, but when a problem keeps reocuring, there may be another solution.  Something is wrong when so many drivers miss understand the same problem.  Yes, the driver is at fault.  But road design clearly could use some improvement.  It may not be practical to raise the bridge, but I bet it would be possible to lower the roadbed to eliminate the problem.

 

[Lou Schneider]

You'd have to lower the roadway a full foot or maybe two for at least a truck length in both directions to do any good, and it looks like there are cross streets within that range.

Not simple or inexpensive.

 

[John From Detroit]

Raising the bridge to make a overpass instead of a street crossing is indeed a major undertaking,

Raising it one foot.. Not so major (it needs to be raised 3 feet)

Lowering the road makes a bathtub and when it rains and the drain cloggs up from debris and vandals... You have a problem.. Been there a few times.

 

[Just Lou]

The obvious answer is to eliminate the underpass or ban truck traffic from that area all together.

 

[BigTonyB]

That bridge in Durham is only 1/2 hour from my house. I've heard there are a couple low ones in that general area. Having just purchased my class A, I've been paying close attention to bridge clearance signs even when I'm driving my car, or my computer.

We took our maiden camping trip last weekend at a park that's only 15 miles from home. Knowing there's an old railroad bridge that we would pass under on our route, I used Google street view to check it out and was even able to read the clearance warning sign. 13' 2", no problem.
You can't always count on reading the signs on street view, as they purposely try to blur any thing with text for privacy reasons.

I've been using our Garmin as a navigation aide, but there isn't any options on my unit to only show truck routes. Does anyone here have recommendations for a navigation system that is RV friendly?

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Larry N.]

These are the ones that I know of: the Garmin dezl560 (has truck and RV modes -- I'm pleased with mine) and some 5" and 7" units from Rand McNally, the 7720 being the latest (I think). All allow setting your RV dimensions and axle weight, as well as info on towed vehicle. On the Garmin you can have several profiles set up, such as the RV with and without the toad, a truck you drive regularly and another RV (don't know how many total are allowed), plus switch to car or pedestrian mode.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Lowering the roadbed by nearly two feet (to achieve standard 13'6" clearance),  has to be done for about 75 feet either side of the underpass. Note that there is a T intersection there as well that would also be affected.  A substantial road lowering is a major engineering challenge on city streets.

By the way, the city has previously added electronic height sensors and yellow lights flash when a too-tall vehicle approaches it.  Sometimes you can't fix stupid!