Re: clearance Reply #25 – January 08, 2019, 12:20:33 pm Quote from: Joan - January 07, 2019, 04:57:45 pmDo drivers, including truckers, not know how high their rigs are? If they do, do they not associate the posted clearance limit with their rig's height? Do they simply think, "Hmmm, maybe that posted clearance limit is wrong; let's find out!" There is an infamous 11'8" bridge near me. Many of the vehicles that are can-openers are rentals. I suspect many others are lost and concentrating on directions instead of signs.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USu8vT_tfdwRich'03 MB in NC
Re: clearance Reply #26 – January 08, 2019, 02:35:29 pm Quote from: rich - January 08, 2019, 12:20:33 pmThere is an infamous 11'8" bridge near me. Many of the vehicles that are can-openers are rentals.That bridge has been on the internet for years. Why the local road department doesn't install an overhead hanging warning device, a couple hundred feet before the bridge, is beyond me. With the dozens of accidents occurring there, it seems intentional that nothing has been done. I'm surprised the bridge hasn't been damaged and the city sued for allowing a known hazard to continued to exist.All it takes is two poles, a piece of PVC pipe, some rope and a little dedication to the job.Larry
Re: clearance Reply #27 – January 08, 2019, 03:02:52 pm A stop sign right in front of the bridge would help also.
Re: clearance Reply #28 – January 08, 2019, 04:34:02 pm Quote from: Larry W - January 08, 2019, 02:35:29 pmThat bridge has been on the internet for years. Why the local road department doesn't install an overhead hanging warning device, a couple hundred feet before the bridge, is beyond me. With the dozens of accidents occurring there, it seems intentional that nothing has been done. I'm surprised the bridge hasn't been damaged and the city sued for allowing a known hazard to continued to exist.All it takes is two poles, a piece of PVC pipe, some rope and a little dedication to the job.LarryPretty sure there are warning lights.As far as damaging that bridge, hah. The railroad folks put a huge I beam up there. That's what is ripping stuff to pieces. That bridge is in no risk of any damage.
Re: clearance Reply #30 – January 08, 2019, 04:49:42 pm A rather elaborate warning system was installed in 2016. They still average a crash a month. You can see it working here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSy0yZWSAL0That particular bridge is the most (in)famous, but there are a few other bridges around here with the same issue. Rich'03 MB in NC 1 Likes
Re: clearance Reply #31 – January 09, 2019, 01:28:09 pm Quote from: rich - January 08, 2019, 04:49:42 pmA rather elaborate warning system was installed in 2016. They still average a crash a month. You can see it working here:That particular bridge is the most (in)famous, but there are a few other bridges around here with the same issue. Rich'03 MB in NC There's only one thing to say about that video ... Ron White says it best.
Re: clearance Reply #32 – January 09, 2019, 04:49:57 pm Quote from: henness - January 08, 2019, 04:34:02 pmPretty sure there are warning lights.As far as damaging that bridge, hah. The railroad folks put a huge I beam up there. That's what is ripping stuff to pieces. That bridge is in no risk of any damage.Seems like an insufficient response when an overhead clearance indicator would be a simple cure to reduce crashes, it worked for us at LAX. With its long term presence on the internet, the low height of the bridge almost seems intentional, especially considering there has been a camera recording all the crashes. Why bother with the camera if they don't care?A good road superintendent would have taken care of the problem years ago, one of the job's responsibility is to improve road safety and to prevent accidents, whenever possible.There are better solutions than installing a "huge I beam".And maybe it has been fixed and we are watching crashes from years ago. Once something is on the internet, it's forever.Larry
Re: clearance Reply #33 – January 09, 2019, 05:34:14 pm I remember several years back driving home from work one afternoon from SLO to Atascadero on the 101 northbound. I was a little ways behind a truck that was transporting one half of a double-wide modular when it went under the overpass and clipped the top one foot or so from the modular. This was a heavily traveled route so I was very surprised when it happened. Darndest thing I ever saw! The strange thing was I saw the companion truck carrying the other half of the modular a little ways past the accident pulled over at the side of the freeway. Not sure why the first one made it and the second one didn't?
Re: clearance Reply #34 – January 09, 2019, 08:40:18 pm Quote from: Larry W - January 09, 2019, 04:49:57 pmSeems like an insufficient response when an overhead clearance indicator would be a simple cure to reduce crashes, it worked for us at LAX. With its long term presence on the internet, the low height of the bridge almost seems intentional, especially considering there has been a camera recording all the crashes. Why bother with the camera if they don't care?A good road superintendent would have taken care of the problem years ago, one of the job's responsibility is to improve road safety and to prevent accidents, whenever possible.There are better solutions than installing a "huge I beam".And maybe it has been fixed and we are watching crashes from years ago. Once something is on the internet, it's forever.LarryFrom the link I mentioned above:FAQRyder truck 2/13/09Why is the bridge so low?This train trestle is about 100 years old. At the time when it was built, there were no standards for minimum clearance..How often do trucks crash into the bridge?On average, about once a month a truck gets visibly damaged at the bridge. However, every day I see trucks that trip the overheight warning lights, stop and turn into the side street.Why don’t they fix it?Depends on who “they” are and on what “fix” means. The North Carolina Railroad Company owns the train trestle, and their concern is primarily with keeping the trains running and keeping them running safely. So their concern is mainly with reducing the impact of the truck crashes on the actual structure of the train trestle. As far as they are concerned, they solved that problem by installing the crash beam. The city of Durham has installed “low clearance” signs on each of the 3 blocks leading up to the trestle (Gregson is a one-way road). There is a sensor that triggers an LED blackout warning sign when In overheight vehicle approaches the trestle (more info below). Several blocks ahead of the trestle the speed limit is 25 MPH. The folks from the city planning department said that they made an effort to prevent accidents. The North Carolina Dept. of Transportation maintains the road, but not the signage. I suspect they have much bigger problems to deal with statewide than this bridge.MUTCD W12 low clearance signIs the clearance signage accurate?The clearance signage displays a maximum safe clearance – and yes, in that sense it is accurate. The actual clearance of the crash beam right in front of the trestle is 11 feet 10.8 inches, which gives it a 2.8 inch safety margin. The MUTCD allows for a maximum of 3 inches difference between the signage and the actual clearance.Metric, please!Would this situation be better if the signage were metric? Well … take a look at his website: 2m40.com (Warning: French. Metric)For the convenience of our metric-only audience, here are the measurements we’re talking about in Meters: 11foot8 (11 feet 8 inches) = 3.556 meters 11 feet 10.8 inches = 3.627 meters Safety margin: 7.1 cm (at the crest of the road)Can’t the road be lowered?That would be prohibitively expensive because a sewer main runs just a few feet below the road bed. That sewer main also dates back about a hundred years and, again, at the time there were no real standards for minimum clearance for railroad underpasses.Can’t the bridge be raised?Here, too, the question is who would want to pay the millions of dollars to raise the tracks a couple of feet? To accomplish this, the grade of the tracks would have to changed on both sides of the trestle, probably for several miles. That would require rebuilding all trestles in Durham. And NS would have to shut down this busy track for months. I don’t think they are interested in that idea.Is the signage adequate?The signage is good, and the vast majority of truck drivers notice the problem and avoid the bridge. Large signs alert driver to the low clearance several blocks before the bridge. Half a block before the trestle, a sensor detects overheight vehicles and triggers an LED blackout warning sign that was installed in May 2016. That same sensor also triggers a red-light phase at the traffic light directly in front of the trestle (installed in March 2016), so the driver has 50 seconds to read the warning sign next to the red traffic light and consider their next move.Should there be more signage?It’s hard to see how more “low-clearance” signs will significantly improve the situation.Could they install a low-clearance bar?A low clearance bar is a bar suspended by chains ahead of the bridge. Overheight vehicles hit that bar first and the noise alerts the driver to to the problem. I understand that this approach has been successful in other places, but it’s not practical here. There are many overheight trucks that have to be able to drive right up to the bridge and turn onto Peabody St. in order to deliver supplies to several restaurants. Making Peabody St inaccessible from Gregson St would make the restaurant owners and the delivery drivers very unhappy.Are the drivers stupid?No idea. They certainly seem distracted and the rental truck drivers are also probably inexperienced.Will insurance cover the damages?Most truck rental insurance policies specifically exclude overhead damage from coverage. However, a good auto insurance or liability insurance might pick up the tab. Check with your agent. Or even better – don’t hit the bridge!What is the location of the 11foot8 bridge?201 Gregson St in Durham, NC (intersection with Peabody St) Link to Google mapsAny other questions?If you have any truck-crash-related questions that are not covered here, post them below. 1 Likes
Re: clearance Reply #35 – January 11, 2019, 05:33:33 pm It wouldn't work here due to the adjacent intersection, but I have seen locations with the low clearance sensors way back which trigger a number of flashing lights and signs warning of 'impending doom'. I wish I could remember where. But then, there are a lot of things I wish I could remember.... 1 Likes
Re: clearance Reply #36 – January 20, 2019, 11:38:15 am I cried silently when the Showhauler lost its overhead ornamentation on the 11'8 bridge. That had to be a very expensive mistake.
Topic: clearance (Read 907 times)
previous topic - next topic
Topic: clearance (Read 907 times)
previous topic - next topic