Low Bridge

Someone should do an interview of people driving trucks and ask them what their clearance is. I'd bet 75% of them don't really know.

Also reminds me of the old joke. Why did you stop the truck? Bridge says 13 foot clearance, our truck is 14 feet tall. Oh just go, there aren't any cops around.

Good joke.

Majority were rental trucks... I like that it's just tall enough to peel the rind off the truck but still let them pass...

There is the same problem in Paris, at the "Tunnel de l'Étoile". It's a road tunnel going under the Arc de Triomphe, on the Champs Elysée. You have pics here : http://www.2m40.com ...

This seems like an ongoing economic disaster.

It couldn't cost that much to raise the bridge by a foot or two, could it? Maybe they could do it during one of their monthly repairs?

Many years ago I recall a height sign at the entrance to a tunnel going into New York City with a few words added after the numbers: "And we mean it." But honestly, that little sign on the trestle isn't noticeable; it needs to be a big striped sign going across the top of the entire lane.

Forget the trucks and drivers, is the bridge still sound after so many collisions?

*Tom123* While your suggestion is a reasonable one it would not stop the problem. You'd just get bigger trucks/taller trucks trying to go under the bridge. This bridge is for a train to pass over the car traffic. To replace or raise that bridge would be very expensive. Also, part of the reason for the height limit is to discourage very heavy trucks from using the road. The extra weight bearing trucks would severely damage the roadbed.

I know the clearance of mybbus. But for good measure, when I see a clearance sign, I automatically subtract five inches off of whatever the sign is posted at. This allows for any dip in the road, and the off chance that the sign is incorrect.

"To replace or raise that bridge would be very expensive. "

They could lower the road by scraping off a few inches though - at least it would spare the rental trucks, which all seem to be a similar height.

Some of those trucks look like they're going pretty darned fast! Doubt many would be able to stop in time were they so inclined to try...

Speaking of dips on the road...

Tom123, it's millions of dollars to raise the level of a train bridge.

It would make sense to put something for trucks to bash into before they get to the bridge. Also a good psychological deterrent.

We have a bridge like this in Iowa City. About 100' before the bring are some chains dangling down a bout two feet lower than the bridge, from a line stretching across the street. If the noise of these whacking the top of your truck does not make you stop, nothing will.

I lived in an apartment overlooking a 8'9 tunnel in Newark, DE. Someone got stuck about once a week. What's baffling is that certain Uhauls had a 8'6 clearance but would not fit in the tunnel. I know this because the Uhaul I rented to move in had a big sign in the cab, "THIS TRUCK WILL NOT FIT UNDER THE CASHO MILL BRIDGE." So maybe their trucks had an 11 foot clearance but were (obviously) mislabeled.

I know a place in Texas with a low bridge like this. About 100 feet before the bridge in either direction there is a series of metal tubes strung from a line. If you can pass under them then you have plenty of clearance. If you do not then you had better stop and find another way. A pretty cheap way to warn drivers.

I agree with Tom123, how hard is it to figure out that a truck a month would quickly add up to "millions of dollars" not to mention any collateral damage to pedestrians or other motorists... *easily* cheaper to raise teh bridge!
Sounds like a good project to burn up some ObamaBucks!