Bridge bashing

[chriswright03]

http://lincolnshirereporter.co.uk/2017/12/gainsborough-road-closed-after-lorry-crashes-into-bridge/

 

Talk of it being a new bridge and having worked there quite a lot over the years I do not recall it being a low bridge.  So was it lowered? The sign is clearly visible so is it a driver going by memory and not reading the signs maybe?

[newbryford]

http://lincolnshirereporter.co.uk/2017/12/gainsborough-road-closed-after-lorry-crashes-into-bridge/

 

Talk of it being a new bridge and having worked there quite a lot over the years I do not recall it being a low bridge.  So was it lowered? The sign is clearly visible so is it a driver going by memory and not reading the signs maybe?

 

Sat Nav is often to blame for bridge bashes.

 

There is a low-ish bridge near us and the instances of striking or lorries turning round has gone up by a factor of about 10 in the last 4-5 years as satnavs have become more common.

Drivers of large vehicles have given up looking for warning signs and blindly follow "Turn left in 100 yards......"

 

One day it was hit by a skip wagon that had passed safely under it earlier in the day. He hadn't allowed for being empty on the way back and slightly lower on the other side of the road.........

 

Cheers,

Mick

[woodenhead]

I thought this was going to be a thread about dissing bridges  

 

If any bridge is replaced I wouldn't imagine it would get planning permission from the council or Network rail if it introduced a low structure where there wasn't before - lorries aren't getting smaller.

[chriswright03]

I agree with both points but from knowing the area and having driven under it (in a car) thousands of times I just don't recall it being low whereas some in the area were notoriously so.  Like the one just outside Clarborough on the way to Retford that was equipped with the dangling sensors. 

 

Just off for a look on Google Street view to see what that brings up.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.3855847,-0.7678594,3a,75y,123.82h,94.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swjlUidpEcyURAAeCRGgknQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

It would seem I was wrong. As the above from 2009 shows.

[unravelled]

The odd thing about the bridge is that the warning chevrons suggest that the clearance is better than it is. The bridge troughs are lower and would often be in shadow. No an excuse for not knowing the height of your vehicle though. I'm always surprised more bridges aren't fitted with sacrificial portals which would stop the working  structure from being hit.

 

Dave

[woodenhead]

I suspect it would depend on the bridge - any iron or steel structure would be much stronger than the force of a general lorry hitting it and special loads usually plan their routes carefully rather than rely on sat navs.

 

It's older brick structures that don't like being tapped and if the route is renowned for bashing i have seen loading gauges  built - I guess it is all a case of risk - what is the likelihood of large vehicles being in the vinicity of the bridge, how will the bridge stand up to a bash and finally how important is the line and the impact of it being closed.

[Edwin_m]

A steel structure might be undamaged in itself but knocked sideways on its footings, causing a dangerous track misalignment.  However one would hope a modern bridge is designed to resist that sort of impact.  There is risk assessment in place on bridges and for many the risk of a threat to the railway is minor enough that trains can be re-started after a fairly cursory inspection.  I recall being on Grantham a few years back when delays due to bridge strike were announced, but the platform staff assured us the delay was likely to be short (which it was) but if it had hit the more vulnerable bridge next down the line then everything would have been stopped for at least an hour. 

[Reorte]

I'm always surprised more bridges aren't fitted with sacrificial portals which would stop the working  structure from being hit.

I know of a couple fitted in recent years so I'm guessing that they're becoming more common.

[chriswright03]

A steel structure might be undamaged in itself but knocked sideways on its footings, causing a dangerous track misalignment.  However one would hope a modern bridge is designed to resist that sort of impact.  There is risk assessment in place on bridges and for many the risk of a threat to the railway is minor enough that trains can be re-started after a fairly cursory inspection.  I recall being on Grantham a few years back when delays due to bridge strike were announced, but the platform staff assured us the delay was likely to be short (which it was) but if it had hit the more vulnerable bridge next down the line then everything would have been stopped for at least an hour. 

I forget which one it is but one in Grantham used to be hit virtually on a weekly basis.

 

Lorry is being recovered still but trains are running.

[w124bob]

I recall an incident between Stafford and Bushbury, minor road passes a large chemical works and ducks under the railway. On this particular occassion after a delay we were given permission to proceed at caution. Standing just past the bridge was a roofless double decker with an ad on the side "Learn to drive with xxxx buses" across the the back of the bus "Driver under instruction"!

[LMS2968]

There's a bridge in Durham - the one in North Carolina - which has removed the tops of so many HGVs it has its own web sites. Look under 11Feet 8 Inches.

[Bruce Depot]

Been to a few interesting bashes in the past, just a shame mobiles in those days never had camera built in!

Always remember a skip lorry on Landor St (Saltley) when skip fell off the back onto the leaner car behind....what a driving lession that must have been.

[HillsideDepot]

I thought this was going to be a thread about dissing bridges  

 

If any bridge is replaced I wouldn't imagine it would get planning permission from the council or Network rail if it introduced a low structure where there wasn't before - lorries aren't getting smaller.

 

Sometimes it happens unintentionally. I know of a bridge where the road was resurfaced, and on checking the clearance with the new surface the signed height had to go down into the next 3 inch band. They'd not scraped off enough of the old material before laying the new! But that error in turn meant that the low height double deckers which previously went happily under the bridge now couldn't - at least not according to the hastily altered sign. In reality the they would fit, according to what the Highway Engineer had measured, but we didn't pass that on to the bus company who had to arrange a diversion.

 

I know of another bridge which we measured for "high bridge" double deckers to go under, although the sign warned they wouldn't fit. Very few of us knew that the newly arrived Olympians would actually fit as to do so would be against the warning signs and the relevant place names on the far side of said bridge were left off the destination blind, with a prohibition notice right next to the winding gear handle.  

 

But you can only do so much. We had a bus taken under a low bridge near the depot when the driver was running empty. Thinking about what he was doing after his shift ended he turned towards home under the bridge rather than taking the bus to the depot. The roof was rebuilt at great expense and the bus ran for just a short while before going under the same bridge at the end of the same duty (but it was a different driver). After that the company got the message and sent the bus to the seaside where it outlasted its counterparts by many years, running as an open topper.

[Trev52A]

I was there in Selby when this happened at the south end of the swing bridge! Nothing too serious as I recall, as trains still passed over, at walking pace. 

 

43099 creeps over the south end of the swing bridge a few minutes after this altercation between a van and the bridge on 29th July 1981.

 

Trevor

[highpeakman]

This bridge was replaced just a few years ago so should be built to latest standards and be strong enough. It still caused major disruption though.

 

I live within a few miles and diversions to avoid this have caused problems on our local country roads as well as delays to trains.

 

I see that the company is based in Norfolk so not that local to know the bridge but the driver should still be able to read and know height of his vehicle. 

 

On their web page it states:

"Our capability is based on long experience, forward thinking, continuous training and a policy of recruiting staff of the highest caliber". 

 

Time for more even more training and forward thinking perhaps?

[pete_mcfarlane]

I forget which one it is but one in Grantham used to be hit virtually on a weekly basis.

It's normally the one on Barrowby Road (on the A52 towards Nottingham) that gets hit. Do this at the right time and you can snarl up Grantham and a good stretch of the A1 with traffic, as well as blocking the ECML. 

[Edwin_m]

"Our capability is based on long experience, forward thinking, continuous training and a policy of recruiting staff of the highest caliber". 

 

Time for more even more training and forward thinking perhaps?

If they lowered their caliber a bit, they might fit under the bridge. 

[Darius43]

On their web page it states:

"Our capability is based on long experience, forward thinking, continuous training and a policy of recruiting staff of the highest caliber".  [/size]

 

Time for more even more training and forward thinking perhaps?[/size]

Corporate speak - a substitute for professionalism, competence and basic intelligence. Perhaps if firms like this still called themselves road hauliers as opposed to logistics solutions specialists, their highly trained specialists wouldn’t hit things so often.

 

Darius

[37114]

Corporate speak - a substitute for professionalism, competence and basic intelligence. Perhaps if firms like this still called themselves road hauliers as opposed to logistics solutions specialists, their highly trained specialists wouldn’t hit things so often.

 

Darius

When I worked for one of the major transport co... Sorry logistics solution specialists I did a project on bridge bashing and how we could reduce the instances of Bridge bashing. A number of measures I put in place are still used today and focused around visual reminders to cut down on what I would call the "wasn't thinking" accidents. What it didn't stop was the drivers who short of having a barrier put in front of them were determined to get under the bridge come what may. Training has a big impact, bashes were proportionally higher with temporary drivers who didn't receive the full training that our own drivers did.

 

Not sure why calling companies road hauliers, logistics providers or pallet chauffeurs will make though? The bottom line is we want our consumer goods as cheap as possible and the industry has priced itself to the bone, cutting investment in the very things that make a difference - People. We all pay the price in the end...

Edited December 12, 2017 by 37114

[jonhall]

Skip wagons, hiab fitted, and lorries carrying plant all seem susceptible to bashes, because the height of their truck varies from load to load (no excuse for it though).

 

Mind you there was the cretin that bashed a railway bridge in Surbiton, and having been unstuck, and whilst under police escort, bashed two footbridges on the A3 as well!

 

Jon

[LMS2968]

Mind you there was the cretin that bashed a railway bridge in Surbiton, and having been unstuck, and whilst under police escort, bashed two footbridges on the A3 as well!

 

Jon

Everyone needs a hobby!

[Craig1989]

I remember reading not so long ago that a skip lorry got stuck under the bridge by kings langley station can’t remember what exactly happened but somehow iirc that the arm was still raised

[phil-b259]

I suspect it would depend on the bridge - any iron or steel structure would be much stronger than the force of a general lorry hitting it and special loads usually plan their routes carefully rather than rely on sat navs.

 

It's older brick structures that don't like being tapped and if the route is renowned for bashing i have seen loading gauges  built - I guess it is all a case of risk - what is the likelihood of large vehicles being in the vinicity of the bridge, how will the bridge stand up to a bash and finally how important is the line and the impact of it being closed.

 

Actually its the other way round!

 

Steel / Iron bridges can be pushed sideways after being hit putting a kink in the track with disastrous consequences if a train should traverse it. See https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/remembering-the-new-year-s-eve-train-crash-of-1975-1.2480479

 

Iron bridges can also snap (as opposed to bend / tear as with steel) due to its lower strength when subjected to loadings in ways the designer did not anticipate.

 

By contrast a brick or stone arch is very robust and while an impact may well dislodge bricks / stones, the inherent structural integrity an arch has (hint why do you think medieval bridges or Roman structures have lasted for so long) plus the solidness of the material makes damage to the rack alignment much less likely.

[Southernman46]

Skip wagons, hiab fitted, and lorries carrying plant all seem susceptible to bashes, because the height of their truck varies from load to load (no excuse for it though).

 

Mind you there was the cretin that bashed a railway bridge in Surbiton, and having been unstuck, and whilst under police escort, bashed two footbridges on the A3 as well!

 

Jon

That bridge is now a very solid ballasted concrete replacement structure and no longer the bendy girder wheeltimber bridge it was when it used to give me Very Poor track 1/8ths headaches on the DF ....................... as is the one on US at Hersham station which would be a regular target for skip lorries from the industrial estate that turned the wrong way.

 

The serious side of bridge strikes (to give them the proper term) seen below ..... bus was empty ...... buses on diversion routes are often a source of these incidents .................. I wasn't travelling - just attending as examiner ........... anymore fares please !

Edited December 12, 2017 by Southernman46

[Davexoc]

It's normally the one on Barrowby Road (on the A52 towards Nottingham) that gets hit. Do this at the right time and you can snarl up Grantham and a good stretch of the A1 with traffic, as well as blocking the ECML. 

Some years ago late one very windy evening I followed an articulated truck down the A52 into Grantham. He'd tied the trailer curtains around the back doors to reduce the cross wind effect as he was empty. As he went under the bridge the now very flimsy trailer went from rectangular to trapezoidal. Only a fleeting glance that the driver didn't even notice, as on he went with a now longer but lower and probably more aerodynamic trailer, the protection beam doing a good job. May have been a combination of no load and riding too high on the suspension.

 

Dave