Discussions

I have said it before, and I will again. The advance warning lights for the underpass ( if the load is overheight) are YELLOW. Yellow typically means proceed with caution. These advance warning lights should be RED! RED means STOP!  
 
 
They should also put staggered barricades (similar to what is/was in place at Wawanesa) on both sides of the underpass to prevent large truck traffic of all sorts.  
 
Edited by Stormcloud, 2019-11-15 15:56:31

Attached story has been updated with information from RCMP. No injuries, the driver was issued a ticket that comes with a $237 fine...  
https://ebrandon.ca/buzzpost.aspx?buzz_id=588

The bridge wins again!!

How many '' wins '' is it for the dear old bridge ?

put up a scoreclock that shows how many wins the bridge has verses trucks. No overheight truck/trailer has successfully made it under.  
 
The other famous can opener just got raised from 11'8 to 12'4 in Durham, North Carolina. It's been catching trucks since the 1950's. It had a crash bar to protect the bridge, signage that state if a truck is overheight, numerous signage. And trucks still hits it.  
https://www.youtube.com/user/yovo68  
http://11foot8.com/  
http://opendurham.org/content/south-gregson-rr-bridge-11foot8-bridge

A few years ago I got nailed for speeding on the 110 bypass, I was doing 123 in a 90 zone with my car and paid a fine of $437.00. Not defending my actions but compare this to ignoring signs, hitting and damaging a bridge, closing down a highway and involving numerous emergency response vehicles? Why the hell after all these accidents has someone in power not had the common sense to adjusted the fine for this type of accident?

I got a $300 or so ticket with multiple demerits for texting at a long red light, makes you scratch your head.  
 
As to the bridge, the engineer who designed it really should be given a commendation, same as that one linked, they definitely engineered them not to fail

this is really a geometry problem , longer semis and a grade entering and leaving, the length of the unit as well as the height needs to be considered

your point, but it should be also be a common sense problem too. Close it to all trucks if your load is taller than your cab.

common sense is no longer common

It is not the truckers to blame, they go by there GPS. Someone from Manitoba Highways needs to contact the people responsible for updating GPS central to put a warning on that portion of road.  
On a level parking spot a truck and trailer may be well under the 3.7 meters but when a 70' units front and back end are on inclines the units centre may be 4.5 meters or more from the road surface directly under the bridge...so the sign should read maybe 2.5 meters real clearance.

This bridge is indestructible! It has taken so many sem trailers off the dome and still structurally sound.  
 
Does anybody know how man semis have attempted and failed and taking out the bridge?

Higher fines would not solve the problem. You get a fine once, you are less likely to do it again. You hit a bridge once it is highly likely to never hit it again. Part of the problem could be that a driver realizes he is where he is not supposed to be, so fearing a fine he makes a decision to try to evacuate the area as fast as possible.  
So decision time: do they risk going under the bridge, after all the true clearance is always higher than the stated clearance, or do they extend the time in a "no truck zone", by trying to back out. (note... I'm referring to after they drove by the turnaround not realizing it is there, just as they missed the signs.)  
 
Edited by rum, 2019-11-16 17:27:56

I am inclined to agree with this.  
 
Just for the heck of it, I checked Google maps to see if any restrictions were visible. Not only are no restrictions listed, but this is also the preferred route given for westbound TransCanada traffic. Running up the hill isn't even listed as an alternative!  
 
I'm not sure how other maps stack up, but this is clearly a big part of the problem. And not recognizing this obvious issue is only going to make the insanity continue.  
 
How many millions of dollars does it take before the decision to solve this problem once and for all (be it a highway retrofit or a semi ban) is finally made?

Yes the fine should be quite a bit higher for the driver. Add another zero for sure. And a driving ban for at least 3 months.  
 
Yes semi's should be banned and even if they don't get stuck have it photo enforced. Though if they don't pay attention to any signs or lights why are they going to pay any attention to a no semi sign.  
 
In addition why isn't all the cost of emergency vehicles, etc. not billed directly to the company. I don't know for sure but probably not.  
 
So far no train has been passing at the same time or even other vehicles involved, does a death or major disaster have to happen before they do something.  
 
I don't agree to spend millions of tax payers dollars to make the road better for semi trucks.  
 
Just my thoughts.

But is everyone on here telling me that they never miss a sign or make a mistake while driving. If so I don’t believe you. There are quite a lot of warnings on the road in question though.

Positive approach would be to offer offending drivers the option of prosecution or attending and passing a two day driver correctional course. After passing the course the driver would be put on a two year probation period during which they can have no at fault accidents in which case they would then go straight to court for prosecution.  
Many years ago having admitted to an at fault accident on scene I attended such a course and it did more to improve my driving skills than any amount of fines. Positive re- enforcement is an awesome concept.

I have wondered that myself with the grade going in and exiting the underpass but lets face it, the bridge has a 12' clearance, most semis (cans/vans) are close to 13'6" grading isnt going to get them under a 12' bridge ! with such an easy bipass even if a mistake was made backing up to the elevator road wouldn't be difficult, embarrassing yes nut not difficult at all  
 
My guess is that since he was hauling a can full of meat that he came from Richmond east, right beside the 110 bipass so why was he close to the bridge in the first place? new driver, GPS maybe set in a different language? but even if that is the case there are many drivers who could give a non English speaking driver directions, or dispatch so really this driver has no excuse  
 
As someone pointed out red lights instead of amber would make sense and possibly help but with all the signs im not sure what more can be done, id put a bar up before the bridge but honestly that bridge was built pretty well as "tests" have shown

Has the bridge been hit now?

I totally agree with you. Everyone does it. They just don't like to admit it. Sometimes distractions can cause issues like this or just not paying attention and even sometimes ignorance. I have 30 years of driving under my belt, commercial and automotive and yes i have made a few minor mistakes. Mostly in my first few years. So I am not perfect like some people think they are.

I know its not truck related but if the trucks hitting the bridge makes you speechless then how about this? I have seen Double Decker buses do this again and again under some railway bridges in another Country! Imagine the devastation caused and the harm to the people sitting in the top deck? Every couple on months or so the same thing would happen again and again! Mind blowing and sad. Always driver error unfortunately.  
 
Edited by (vette)mech, 2019-11-18 09:53:56

I remember double deck buses and trucks hitting rail bridges especially the older stone built ones (in another country) UK? It was always on the news . That was why quite a lot of bridges on disused lines were removed. Funny how the bridge always wins. Sometimes they had to be careful extracting the vehicle until they knew that the bridge was still sound. It happened in multiple locations over there.

Pretty much everyone misses a stop sign or yield sign or no left turn sign at some point in time. Most of us, though, do not miss a bunch of flashing lights, especially if those lights suddenly activate as we approach. That takes some serious distraction to totally not notice those. Distraction, or total disinterest. I haul live cargo and I can assure you that I pay close attention when I am driving my truck and trailer.

early on 1A, just west of Riverheights Terrance. Then there are numerous others, plus the big message board flashing low bridge, overheights must turn.  
 
The height of the container alone was 9'6" (2.9m). It can be read in one of the pictures. Plus the height of the chassis. The deck height of an intermodal chassis is 4' (1.2m). So the the total height would be 13.4' or 4.1m! The bridge height is 12' or 3.7m! Even if the road was level with a raised 3.7m clearance bridge, he still would of hit.  
 
The driver did not need the warning lights to know he was overheight. The moment he went by Riverheight Terrance, he would of known he would not fit. Then either turn around then or use the overheight detour.  
 
It's the driver's responsibility to know the height of his tractor and trailer. And most obey the signage over the GPS.

Well, in 20 years, if they ever build the western extension of PTH 110, this will get solved.

I was wondering why there was no West arm of the 110.  
 
In the interim, there really should be a truck ban and turnaround.  
 
Now off to YT to watch videos of low bridges destroying trucks.

Just to add to this, while there is more than enough signage, those flashing overheight lights do not work flawlessly. I have pulled my 13'2" camper west bound on the 1a numerous times and almost 1 out of every 2 trips those lights do not trigger for me heading westbound.