Eleven foot eight

[Iceni John]

For all of you with roof raises and/or roof-top AC  -  http://11foot8.com/

Yikes.   Be careful out there.

John

[Jeremy]

The usual practice in the case of abnormally-low bridges here is for a cable to be strung across the road a short distance from the bridge, with lengths of chain hanging down such that the bottom of the chains are at the same height as the bridge - if a vehicle hits the chains it scares the bejesus out of the driver and ensures he comes to a swift halt before hitting the bridge.

Jeremy

[Eagle Andy]

We Have a low bridge here in Miles City , I have only been here 2 years and at least 3 Bull racks and one Rv have distroyed  the trailers .There are warning signs a mile up the road and then every other stop lite . people don't read signs or even consider whats ahead of them .

[belfert]

I almost made my bus into a convertible on the trip home.  I stopped a few inches from hitting a bridge.  It was late at night and somehow I missed the clearance sign.

I hate the Amtrak Northeast corridor.  There are many, many underpasses but most of them are not tall enough for a bus.  I would end up driving by four or five underpasses before finding one with enough clearance.

[gus]

The only safe way is to stick to truck routes, especially in small towns. I almost found that out the hard way in WY last fall.

[PCC]

I was watching the warning lights, and they only flashed for a short time period. I think those lights should continue to flash for 10 - 15 seconds, so the driver would be awake when he hits the bridge.

Sometimes I can miss the signs, especially when it is dark or the road is unfamiliar (to me).

[TomC]

It never ceases to amaze me that the government on the east coast (we have very few low over passes on the west coast-none on a well travelled highway) are so dense that they don't just simply dig out the roadway down 2 feet to get 13'8"-problem solved.  Instead, they put up lights, an I beam bumper, etc.

Reminds me of when one of the outer bridges in New York City was repaved.  Course the contractor scrimped on the black top mixture and had too much tar in it so that when summer came around, the entire bridge pavement heaved with big bumps in it.  Instead of New York city fixing it right away, they put a 15 mph speed limit on the bridge-sort of like punishing everyone for the crookedness of the paving contractor.  It took nearly another year for the bridge to be repaved properly.  Good Luck, Tom

[gus]

The one I almost got had no lights but the sign was nice and big.

There are literally thousands of these on the east coast simply because the towns and railroads are so old and the streets so narrow, some still have cobblestones.
I have no problem with this, just be alert.

[RJ]

. . . just be alert.

Gus -

You are absolutely right!  The world needs more lerts!!   

[PADoug]

In the first video, just before the accident, a transit just ahead of the driver went right under without any problems. Still no excuse though. When I worked for U-Haul, I was always nervous about over/underpasses. Even now, while driving my tiny little Ford Escort, I'm wondering: "Will I fit under that back bumper?  " 

[busshawg]

I peeled 18 ft of roof back on my trailer in chicago. The sign said 13'10". When I called the shipper where I was loading he said a lot of guys have been doing that since they repaved the road, he said the clearence is differnt from the sign now. Hmmm and I was still scared of getting a ticket.

[Singing Land Cruiser]

Wow, this realy makes you think! M&C

[niles500]

***** It never ceases to amaze me that the government on the east coast (we have very few low over passes on the west coast-none on a well travelled highway) are so dense that they don't just simply dig out the roadway down 2 feet to get 13'8"-problem solved.  Instead, they put up lights, an I beam bumper, etc. *****

Tom, that would be a real solution, and way too easy for the government to comprehend

[bobofthenorth]

We had our fifth wheel in the shop at Bish's RV in Idaho Falls about 10 years ago now.  There was a brand new truck camper in the shop at the same time with its roof peeled open and I mean really opened up.  The guy had picked up his new truck camper in the morning, gone home, pushed the auto door opener and tried to put the pickup in the garage.

[belfert]

The primary issue here is money.  Government doesn't have enough money to maintain the roads we have let alone fix thousands of low bridges.  You can't simply lower the road immediately under most bridges.  The grade has to be brought back perhaps 1000 feet or more on either side of the bridge depending on how the bridge is situated.  This would entail a lot of work including potentially rebuilding intersections on both sides of the bridge.

Here in Minnesota alone we probably have 1/3 or more of our roads that need to be rebuilt from the ground up due to deterioration.  They just just keep patching them (poorly at that) due to lack of funds necessary to rebuild.  The Minnesota DOT says they have maybe 25% of the funds necessary to do the work that needs to be done over the next 20 years.

When I was out east I noted that most of the time I had to go less than 1/4 mile to find a underpass with proper clearance.  All the professional truckers in the area going to know what underpasses to avoid.

Eventually those bridges will need replacement and that will be the time to fix the clearance issues.  Unfortunately, I suspect most of the bridges will get rebuilt with the same low clearances as the time to raise the bridge would cause even more disruption to the northeast corridor.