The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
'The toughest bridge in the world'?
That's the title of this video clip. A tip o' the hat to reader S. M. for sending me the link.
I note that despite all those crashes, the bridge is still there. It's tough all right!
The original footage is from 11foot8.com. The author has an office near the bridge. About once a month a vehicle over 11 foot 8 inches tries to make it under the bridge--despite flashing lights that are triggered by tall vehicles. He put a webcam in his office, and another in a window across the street. He's up to 53 crashes since 2008.
They installed additional steel in front of the bridge to protect it. Their biggest mistake is to have yellow lights warning the approaching vehicle that they are too high. The lights really should be RED.
Lowering the road would be difficult and expensive because there is a large sewer main right under the road surface. Installing overheight-vehicle sensors ahead of the bridge would be impractical because many trucks use the cross street right in front of the bridge.
Maybe, instead of flashing yellow lights that indicate a vehicle that's too tall, they ought to put up those red-light camera flash bulbs. Those seem to get people's attention. Or they could employ roadspikes and flamethrowers. That'd work.
The original footage is from 11foot8.com. The author has an office near the bridge. About once a month a vehicle over 11 foot 8 inches tries to make it under the bridge--despite flashing lights that are triggered by tall vehicles. He put a webcam in his office, and another in a window across the street. He's up to 53 crashes since 2008.
ReplyDeleteStill on my first cup of coffee, I read the headline as "The Toughest Bride in the World."
ReplyDeleteNow I am disappointed.
They installed additional steel in front of the bridge to protect it. Their biggest mistake is to have yellow lights warning the approaching vehicle that they are too high. The lights really should be RED.
ReplyDeleteCheck out
ReplyDeletehttp://11foot8.com/faq.html
so it's a train bridge so they can't raise it up, why can't they dig the road down a foot?
ReplyDeleteLowering the road would be difficult and expensive because there is a large sewer main right under the road surface. Installing overheight-vehicle sensors ahead of the bridge would be impractical because many trucks use the cross street right in front of the bridge.
ReplyDeleteThey could raise the rail bridge, but they'd have to go back aways each side to make only a gradual gradient.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, instead of flashing yellow lights that indicate a vehicle that's too tall, they ought to put up those red-light camera flash bulbs. Those seem to get people's attention. Or they could employ roadspikes and flamethrowers. That'd work.
ReplyDelete