I noticed many of these vehicle were either privately owned vehicles or rental trucks..Many of the unmarked trucks might have been rentals too...Inexperience might be the cause of many of these problems. That, and, obviously, inattentiveness...Thanks Jackie

I have to say, they must have built that bridge pretty well for all the abuse it's taken.

That and the guy who built the bridge smiles every time a truck, bus, camper, trailer, takes the top off.

Yep got another one.

Thanks for the video feeds and the map of the site, with the big sign at the bridge that says if you lights are flashing your to tall to go under this bridge.

BUT

In our hearts we know we can do anything and those laws, well they are meant for the other guy.

River

Riverwind (imported) wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:48 am Thanks for the video feeds and the map of the site, with the big sign at the bridge that says if you lights are flashing your to tall to go under this bridge.

Do the lights flash just when vehicles that are too tall are approaching the bridge or do they flash all the time?

I think that those warning lights like that go off only when the vehicle is too high.

Ah yes, the Drapeau effect. So named after the late Pierre Drapeau, formerly the Mayor of Montreal. Prior to the Olympic games there he was anxious to build a bridge across the St. Lawrence river (hereafter called the bridge over troubling waters.). An architectural masterpiece was created but...it was too low to allow vessels much higher than cabin cruisers to pass safely under it. Nothing alarmed by that, the Good Mayor had a solution, "Don't raise the bridge, lower the water". I've heard this credited to other civil authorities but combined with certain other "difficulties the Mayor encountered (notably the EXpos baseball team) I feel his is the seminal utterance, all others just know a good quote when they hear one.

Dave (imported) wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:10 am I think that those warning lights like that go off only when the vehicle is too high.

Well, that's not working out. Wouldn't it be better when I vechicle too tall is recognized that a srping loaded spear gun be triggered blowing out the engine or some tyres or...whatever it first hit. You know, "I shot an arrow in the air, it fell to ground...ooh."\

PJ

Here, in Saint-Petersburg, there are so called "American bridges", which had just the same effect before reconstruction. Especially in winter (snow builds up, and effectively lowers the bridge). Considering that they were on a really busy route.... good source of traffic jams.

http://wikimapia.org/17030/American-bridges

Paolo wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:06 am I have to say, they must have built that bridge pretty well for all the abuse it's taken.

If you manipulate the view on the Google photo link I provided you can see that either the State DOT or the railroad has installed a separate beam structure immediately in front of the bridge that is not part of the bridge itself. Apparently this problem has existed so long they built another structure to take the top off a the vehicles too tall to pass under it before they hit the bridge.

--LT

Parking garages and a few other places around here have horizontal pipes that hang down so nothing gets past that can't drive through the garage or the facility to where the real roof is too low. It stops the bridge or building from being damaged while still preserving the damage to the pocketbook of the stupid driver. (I'm giggling and chuckling as I type that) ...

A number of winters ago (probably a decade) a barge got away from the dock during the ice flows in the spring thaw (we always get flooding along the rivers) and that barge just slammed into a bridge piling. (major bridge, too, part of the interstate system). People went batshit crazy when it happened. Barges are huge things if you've ever been close, you know. The Army Corp of Engineers shut that bridge down within minutes so they could inspect for damage. That was a 12 hour traffic jam that day.

So yes, they put safety structure in front of the real structure so the safety structure is damaged and not the real bridge.