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Bridge bashing


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27 minutes ago, rab said:

Especially as some see Cornwall as a country,

on a par with Scotland and Wales.

Actually to elaborate, it does happen but it seems to be those odd Druid type Cornish piskies who are still harping after the days of wode and tin…..get with it chaps……lithium is the way :lol:

 

And it only costs £2 to get out of the county (£1 if you buy a tag ;))

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48 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Looking at some of those bridges I wouldn't take my smallish car down there let alone an LGV. Perhaps a few width and height restrictions and well signposted alternative routes is the answer.

It's never worked before.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Hobby said:

And still a damned sight more expensive than the odd bridge strike where any costs will often be covered by the vehicles insurers.... I could see a sort of argument for it when talking about the sea wall but it doesn't stand up at all for a bridge strike, if they got it for that think of all the other places that would want the same treatment, Cornwall isn't unique in that way... Aberystwyth anyone?

 

 

When I have hired a 7 1/2 tonner, the insurance and collision damage waiver only covered damage up to 10 feet after that it was upto the hirer to pay for the damage. I checked my route a couple of times to make sure there was no possibility of bridge strikes and subsequently when I drove buses for a living. No such thing as sat nag when hiring the lorries.

 

 

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But it is not only pay and conditions. How many careers advisers suggest lorry driving, I wonder? Much more useful than journalism or management degrees, but just not the same street cred. The same applies to a lot of other useful non-graduate careers.

And qualifications.? I got an NVQ level 2 a few weeks ago for a half day attendance at a course. A farce. I can't even remember most of it.

So what do we do? Create a Masters degree in lorry driving?

Of course the whole syllabus would be classroom based or on-line!

Jonathan

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54 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

And qualifications.? I got an NVQ level 2 a few weeks ago for a half day attendance at a course. A farce. I can't even remember most of it.

So what do we do? Create a Masters degree in lorry driving?

Of course the whole syllabus would be classroom based or on-line!

Jonathan

You can get an NVQ for being a dustman.

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8 hours ago, LMS2968 said:

It's never worked before.

 

 

Yes, it is amazing how many ignore the flashing amber lights, or slow down and go through very slowly, because they aren't sure of their heights.

 

But it does raise (sorry!) a few questions, especially since that bridge has been raised slightly.

1/ Is there a market for slightly damaged air conditioners?

2/ Is there a truck repair business on the other side?

3/ Do drivers get brownie points, if they make it through to the other side?

 

 

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4 hours ago, kevinlms said:

 

3/ Do drivers get brownie points, if they make it through to the other side?

 

 

I'm sure a few get brownie pants when they don't make through.

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I wasn't meaning to denigrate the ides of NVQs. It was just that I felt that that particular course did not deserve one. However, unfortunately there has been a "takeover" of the NVQs, which started out linked to on-the-job practical training , by academics so that their practical usefulness has sometimes been reduced. Of course classroom teaching is much cheaper than on the job training. But I had better not rant on.

Jonathan

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8 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Yes, it is amazing how many ignore the flashing amber lights, or slow down and go through very slowly, because they aren't sure of their heights.

 

But it does raise (sorry!) a few questions, especially since that bridge has been raised slightly.

1/ Is there a market for slightly damaged air conditioners?

2/ Is there a truck repair business on the other side?

3/ Do drivers get brownie points, if they make it through to the other side?

 

 

 

I do wonder judging by how many seemed to be just a couple of inches too tall, is whether that is the first time the drivers had gone that empty or lightly loaded, and every other time they had gone that way it had fitted without problem...

 

My Dad made that mistake with a minibus a long time ago.  Drove into a car park fully loaded with a height restriction - it was an open car park not a multi story and the restriction was just there to stop lorries parking in it. He carefully checked on the way in and was just clear, unloaded everybody and scraped the rear of the roof on the way out!  Not much harm done, just a few scratches, but he was a bit annoyed with himself for being caught out like that!

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2 hours ago, Titan said:

My Dad made that mistake with a minibus a long time ago.  Drove into a car park fully loaded with a height restriction - it was an open car park not a multi story and the restriction was just there to stop lorries parking in it. He carefully checked on the way in and was just clear, unloaded everybody and scraped the rear of the roof on the way out!  Not much harm done, just a few scratches, but he was a bit annoyed with himself for being caught out like that!

I got caught out by a height restriction barrier though I didn't even enter the car park. I was driving an 18 seat Transit when I took a wrong turning and ended up in a cul-de-sac. If the Transit had been a little lower I could have used the access to the car park to do a three point turn. In the end I had to back up about 200 yards on a narrow twisting lane with cars parked either side (which I done successfully). The barriers were there to stop camper vans staying overnight but I noted as there was a fee for using the car park it was almost empty, the cars were parked on the road instead.

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Whenever we drive into the Eurotunnel train you have to go under those barriers before getting into the queue to board, I know that the car has plenty of headway but I still cringe a little when approaching them, anyone else do the same?! :)

Edited by Hobby
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1 hour ago, Hobby said:

Whenever we drive into the Eurotunnel train you have to go under those barriers before getting into the queue to board, I know that the car has plenty of headway but I still cringe a little when approaching them, anyone else do the same?! :)

Yes- and I used to work there.... My recollection is that the clearance under the tell-tale is 2.3m, meaning a Range Rover would pass, but the early Discovery wouldn't.

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1 hour ago, Hobby said:

Whenever we drive into the Eurotunnel train you have to go under those barriers before getting into the queue to board, I know that the car has plenty of headway but I still cringe a little when approaching them, anyone else do the same?! :)

Near me there is a level crossing removal project. Also going at the same time is a low bridge. I took a photo of half the beams in place, over the old bridge. There would be at least 2 metres difference in the amount of clearance.

I'll look for the photo tomorrow.

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53 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

Yes- and I used to work there.... My recollection is that the clearance under the tell-tale is 2.3m, meaning a Range Rover would pass, but the early Discovery wouldn't.

Think it is 6' 1.8m. My camper can get in 2m car parks, but is restricted in the Euro tunnel.

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2 hours ago, Hobby said:

Whenever we drive into the Eurotunnel train you have to go under those barriers before getting into the queue to board, I know that the car has plenty of headway but I still cringe a little when approaching them, anyone else do the same?! :)

Every time we used it……you know but each time you duck a little in the seat :lol:

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3 hours ago, Hobby said:

Whenever we drive into the Eurotunnel train you have to go under those barriers before getting into the queue to board, I know that the car has plenty of headway but I still cringe a little when approaching them, anyone else do the same?! :)

I duck when l put my car in the garage!  Yes I know it's stupid but I can't help myself...

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I used to drive a 7.5 tonner, height 12'3".

 

One one drop, I had to use a bridge signed at 12'9".

 

Even though I knew there should be a good six inches of clearance, I still went through DEAD SLOW, hunched down in my seat, and fully expecting to hear the scrape of my roof against the bridge.

 

It didn't help that the company Sat Nag was only a car one, with nothing to indicate restricted height/width areas. Cheapskates.

 

It hadn't been updated since purchase either, so it used to get quite upset when it detected me driving through what it thought was open fields where a new Industrial Estate had been built.

 

I am SO glad to be out of that job, now.

 

Regards

 

Ian

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43 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Always cringe when going under the Railway Bridge at Orpington on the top deck of a bus ....... not helped by the 'overheight' lights flashing at the top of the hill beforehand !

Yet another incorrectly calibrated warning setup !

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2 hours ago, Ian Smeeton said:

It didn't help that the company Sat Nag was only a car one, with nothing to indicate restricted height/width areas. Cheapskates.

 

It hadn't been updated since purchase either, so it used to get quite upset when it detected me driving through what it thought was open fields where a new Industrial Estate had been built.

Despite updating my car's satnav, it still thinks we are going cross-country from the M6 to the A14 at the re-built Catthorpe Interchange.... :lol:

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The Fat Controller mentioned sports cars, that did happen to us on a run many years ago.  The whole convoy ended up in a car park, don't ask, it was one of these days.  We did a circuit to clear the entrance before leaving, we were not parking.  The oldest cars could just clear the barrier, but the newer mark's windscreens are a couple of inches taller & didn't.  Enter complete mayhem as we tried to find some change. I think we finally lifted the barrier a couple of inches to escape.

 

ps, to keep within the topic, we did not scratch the bridge ( ie barrier) !

Edited by duncan
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Completely off topic, but . . .

Six months after the Newtown bypass opened (in planning for about 70 years) Lidl was selling a road atlas by a respected publisher which didn't show it as even under construction.

Mind you although we have one low bridge on the main road (I think it featured a few pages back) the biggest height limitation on many of the local roads/lanes is trees. You can tell when a lorry loaded with hay has been that way. I have sometimes thought it would be worth sweeping the hay from the road and selling it to the nearest farmer. But no damage to the vehicle of course.

Ans almost back on topic, just try cycling along many towpaths, even those designated as cycle routes, without keeping a careful lookout for low overbridges, often about 5 ft headroom. And no signs!

Jonathan

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