He's wishing he'd seen it now though.
February 13, 2017 11:10 PM Subscribe
No amount of hi-vis paint seems to make any difference here. A lot of this is more common recently thanks to folks in rental vehicles just following sat-nav instructions.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:13 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:13 AM on February 14, 2017
The true injustice of both of these things is you don't even get to get a cheeseburger after you've ripped off half your roof.
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:35 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:35 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's a similar bridge in Spokane. A friend posts pictures of the accidents pretty consistently. I wonder how common these are.
posted by oddman at 4:12 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by oddman at 4:12 AM on February 14, 2017
Here in Charlottesville, VA we have a similar train bridge very close to the UVA Grounds. I think the clearance is just a little higher than 10'6" (maybe 10'8"?), but it's also at the bottom of a "valley," so it's a bit of an optical illusion. They have put up flashing lights and even a photoelectric cell system that used to set off a ringing bell, all to no avail. There was a point where a truck/bus/RV was smacking that thing at least once per month...
posted by kuanes at 4:30 AM on February 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by kuanes at 4:30 AM on February 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is one of several MA bridges that are a regular feature of Mefite adamg's blog Universalhub. The most common sites are low overpasses on Storrow Drive, a cars-only parkway. This has engendered the term Storrowing for the accomplishment of running a truck roof into the bottom of a bridge.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:31 AM on February 14, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:31 AM on February 14, 2017 [6 favorites]
What I don't get is why they don't put up a bar hanging from some chains, before the bridge, which can swing up, out of the way. It'll make a huge noise and scare the crap out of the driver (who would then stop, presumably), without severely damaging the truck (or the bridge). What am I missing?
posted by defcom1 at 4:51 AM on February 14, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by defcom1 at 4:51 AM on February 14, 2017 [8 favorites]
Looks like they're replacing the bridge next year — something the 11foot8 officials apparently never considered.
posted by thejoshu at 5:21 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by thejoshu at 5:21 AM on February 14, 2017
What's really astonishing here is the number of people who evidently are fine tailgating a huge truck as it heads for a low bridge.
Also, the last dude in the first video... Am I reading that right? He (a) delayed leaving a burning truck to grab a duffel bag, and (b) was driving barefoot?
posted by range at 5:24 AM on February 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
Also, the last dude in the first video... Am I reading that right? He (a) delayed leaving a burning truck to grab a duffel bag, and (b) was driving barefoot?
posted by range at 5:24 AM on February 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
I think they've tried pretty much everything, including chains, etc, and it doesn't make any difference.
Think of it in these terms: those drivers are like people reliant on the aca who voted trump. They could see it coming, knew what would happen, but full speed ahead, maybe it won't be so bad.
On a more serious note, if these drivers rely on a nav system and that nav system doesn't take into account height, that's negligence on someone's part.
posted by maxwelton at 5:28 AM on February 14, 2017
Think of it in these terms: those drivers are like people reliant on the aca who voted trump. They could see it coming, knew what would happen, but full speed ahead, maybe it won't be so bad.
On a more serious note, if these drivers rely on a nav system and that nav system doesn't take into account height, that's negligence on someone's part.
posted by maxwelton at 5:28 AM on February 14, 2017
Looks like they're replacing the bridge next year — something the 11foot8 officials apparently never considered
This topic has gotten positively stupid amounts of discussion in Something Awful's OSHA dot jpg thread. There's a major sewer line running just under the street and there's a heavily-used train track going over the bridge. The city can't dig up the sewer line without re-engineering a ton of stuff to make sure that the waste continues to flow, afterwards (to say nothing about what happens to those affected by the sewage shutoff for the weeks / months required). They also can't raise the bridge as the train company "owns" it and isn't going to shut down their lines -- plus, to keep the track within the required slope would necessitate tearing up something like half a mile of track just so that they can slowly come up to the correct height, then slowly descend back down to the existing track.
Really, the city needs to shell out for one of these
posted by jpolchlopek at 5:37 AM on February 14, 2017 [5 favorites]
This topic has gotten positively stupid amounts of discussion in Something Awful's OSHA dot jpg thread. There's a major sewer line running just under the street and there's a heavily-used train track going over the bridge. The city can't dig up the sewer line without re-engineering a ton of stuff to make sure that the waste continues to flow, afterwards (to say nothing about what happens to those affected by the sewage shutoff for the weeks / months required). They also can't raise the bridge as the train company "owns" it and isn't going to shut down their lines -- plus, to keep the track within the required slope would necessitate tearing up something like half a mile of track just so that they can slowly come up to the correct height, then slowly descend back down to the existing track.
Really, the city needs to shell out for one of these
posted by jpolchlopek at 5:37 AM on February 14, 2017 [5 favorites]
Grew up near one of these in Dayton, Ohio. We would have an accident (that I was aware of) a couple of times a year. Signs, flashing lights ... nothing seemed to work.
Then one day a cement mixer actually took down the bridge. The replacement came with a couple of railroad rails (I swear that's what they were, and it makes sense as it was a railroad line, as this one is) anchored at the same height about a meter to each side of the bridge. Future impacts happened with these railroad rail bumpers rather than the bridge itself.
posted by oheso at 5:43 AM on February 14, 2017
Then one day a cement mixer actually took down the bridge. The replacement came with a couple of railroad rails (I swear that's what they were, and it makes sense as it was a railroad line, as this one is) anchored at the same height about a meter to each side of the bridge. Future impacts happened with these railroad rail bumpers rather than the bridge itself.
posted by oheso at 5:43 AM on February 14, 2017
Plus kids used to paint the sides of the bridge, a new message every week or two. I've just had a look via Google street view and not only have they redone the entire bridge and lowered the road (and widened the span) to provide more clearance, but they've replaced the previous slab-sided bridge with an open-girder construction that doesn't leave room for the messages from the "bridge club".
posted by oheso at 5:55 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by oheso at 5:55 AM on February 14, 2017
This topic has gotten positively stupid amounts of discussion in Something Awful's OSHA dot jpg thread.
Or you folks could check the previously thread, where all options are explored :-)
(an aggressive approach that could work would be to put collapsible warning bars at a truck driver's typical eye height, say 7.5 feet or so. It's one thing to think that you'll fit under something that's above you, an entirely different thing to think that both you and your vehicle will fit under something that's in front of your face. I'm sure people would immediately find some other way to fuck up, though...)
posted by effbot at 5:59 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Or you folks could check the previously thread, where all options are explored :-)
(an aggressive approach that could work would be to put collapsible warning bars at a truck driver's typical eye height, say 7.5 feet or so. It's one thing to think that you'll fit under something that's above you, an entirely different thing to think that both you and your vehicle will fit under something that's in front of your face. I'm sure people would immediately find some other way to fuck up, though...)
posted by effbot at 5:59 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
I never did find out what was burning. My guess is that it was the fuel tank on the refrigeration unit.
posted by Bruce H. at 6:14 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by Bruce H. at 6:14 AM on February 14, 2017
That fire video has no payoff.
I was hoping for an escaped giant lobster rampage.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:55 AM on February 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
I was hoping for an escaped giant lobster rampage.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:55 AM on February 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
I was hoping for an escaped giant lobster rampage.
I mean, aren't we all just kind of hoping for that in general?
posted by dersins at 7:01 AM on February 14, 2017 [6 favorites]
I mean, aren't we all just kind of hoping for that in general?
posted by dersins at 7:01 AM on February 14, 2017 [6 favorites]
Massachusetts is full of these bridges. Northampton calls theirs a truck eating bridge. Local news retrospective on various crashes, though perhaps the best is: Squash.
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:07 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:07 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best joke about the infrastructure fix... "by the end of 2018" LOL just the best joke evah.
As Keith mentioned the local term is "storowing". I saw one years ago that had a flatbed truck with a small apartment's worth of furniture just sitting out in the open on the back of the truck, then I saw the body of the truck knocked cleanly off a few feet behind on the road like a box.
posted by sammyo at 7:22 AM on February 14, 2017
As Keith mentioned the local term is "storowing". I saw one years ago that had a flatbed truck with a small apartment's worth of furniture just sitting out in the open on the back of the truck, then I saw the body of the truck knocked cleanly off a few feet behind on the road like a box.
posted by sammyo at 7:22 AM on February 14, 2017
You might notice that toward the end of the YouTube video and on Google street view (as of 4/2016), they've put traffic lights at that intersection. Maybe that will help a bit.
Looking at the street view, I saw a few things that didn't make much sense. First, there are no signs warning of a low clearance as you approach the underpass street from the side streets that intersect it. And the only signs on the street itself are back at the last major intersection.
And though there are flashy lights above the road at the bridge, this seems to be a fairly congested area that has pedestrians and other signs, so I suspect the drivers aren't particularly looking up. I can almost understand that an inexperienced truck driver might screw up here.
posted by SteveInMaine at 7:32 AM on February 14, 2017
Looking at the street view, I saw a few things that didn't make much sense. First, there are no signs warning of a low clearance as you approach the underpass street from the side streets that intersect it. And the only signs on the street itself are back at the last major intersection.
And though there are flashy lights above the road at the bridge, this seems to be a fairly congested area that has pedestrians and other signs, so I suspect the drivers aren't particularly looking up. I can almost understand that an inexperienced truck driver might screw up here.
posted by SteveInMaine at 7:32 AM on February 14, 2017
Came here for a Storrowing reference, left satisfied. But seriously, if these are common issues, why not stick some low-clearance arches with a plastic pipe or something ahead of the overpass?
posted by smirkette at 7:40 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by smirkette at 7:40 AM on February 14, 2017
This is a masterpiece of bad design. If what jpolchlopek says is true, they need to re-route the sewer line completely, and/or sue the railway company for public endangerment if they refuse to cooperate to make improvements. Imagine the cumulative cost to the community over years of daily accidents.
posted by sneebler at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by sneebler at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2017
The pedestrian at 1:30 in the first link barely reacts making me think he's seen this IRL too many times.
posted by Constant Reader at 7:55 AM on February 14, 2017
posted by Constant Reader at 7:55 AM on February 14, 2017
Generally speaking, local governments don't have a lot of leverage when it comes to forcing railroads to modify their infrastructure. In the particular case of the East Street Bridge, the owner is apparently the MBTA, and they are working with the town on the replacement of the bridge, which will increase the clearance slightly. (Although it's still below Federal-standard minimums so it's still going to have a truck ban in place.) More importantly, IMO, it's going to widen the actual underpass so that it'll have two legitimate sidewalks and to remove the narrowing that can be seen causing a few head-on collisions in the video.
But if it were a private railroad, as is the case in the "11foot8" bridge which is owned by Norfolk Southern, the company would almost certainly be within their rights in most states to tell the local government to pound sand. There's a brief analysis of liability concerns for truck crashes under the bridge, which basically puts it squarely on the individual drivers, and not on the railroad or the state agency which maintains the road.
Though this varies a bit by state, with some states having strict liability for clearance-related crashes on the driver, and others making the road maintainer liable if the clearance issue wasn't marked. Pennsylvania, intriguingly because it has typically been a very rail-friendly state, is the oddball, because of a peculiar case from 1980 (Marinelli v. Montour) which interpreted a 1911 law in such a way as to create a duty on the part of a railroad to maintain the clearance on a highway over which they had built a viaduct, even if they didn't own or maintain the highway. This strikes me as pretty odd, and I guess the PA lege thought so too, because they removed the cited law in question in 1978, before the case even went to court. However, various jurists continue to cite it since, claiming that it creates a common-law duty independent of the underlying statute. That seems to be a real stretch, but maybe there's some subtlety that I'm missing in reading it. It's an interesting area of transportation law.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:33 AM on February 14, 2017 [3 favorites]
But if it were a private railroad, as is the case in the "11foot8" bridge which is owned by Norfolk Southern, the company would almost certainly be within their rights in most states to tell the local government to pound sand. There's a brief analysis of liability concerns for truck crashes under the bridge, which basically puts it squarely on the individual drivers, and not on the railroad or the state agency which maintains the road.
Though this varies a bit by state, with some states having strict liability for clearance-related crashes on the driver, and others making the road maintainer liable if the clearance issue wasn't marked. Pennsylvania, intriguingly because it has typically been a very rail-friendly state, is the oddball, because of a peculiar case from 1980 (Marinelli v. Montour) which interpreted a 1911 law in such a way as to create a duty on the part of a railroad to maintain the clearance on a highway over which they had built a viaduct, even if they didn't own or maintain the highway. This strikes me as pretty odd, and I guess the PA lege thought so too, because they removed the cited law in question in 1978, before the case even went to court. However, various jurists continue to cite it since, claiming that it creates a common-law duty independent of the underlying statute. That seems to be a real stretch, but maybe there's some subtlety that I'm missing in reading it. It's an interesting area of transportation law.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:33 AM on February 14, 2017 [3 favorites]
Here in Charlottesville, VA we have a similar train bridge very close to the UVA Grounds.
That was exactly the bridge I was thinking of! Come out of the White Spot and check who had trashed their truck *this* time...
posted by tavella at 9:46 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
That was exactly the bridge I was thinking of! Come out of the White Spot and check who had trashed their truck *this* time...
posted by tavella at 9:46 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
sue the railway company for public endangerment if they refuse to cooperate to make improvements.
The public endangerment is the truck drivers, not the bridge. Read the signs, know your truck's height, don't go where your vehicle doesn't fit.
posted by explosion at 10:52 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
The public endangerment is the truck drivers, not the bridge. Read the signs, know your truck's height, don't go where your vehicle doesn't fit.
posted by explosion at 10:52 AM on February 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
The low bridge needs a water curtain stop sign in their face, like Sidney's tunnels have. And a Youtube link.
posted by jjj606 at 11:18 AM on February 14, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by jjj606 at 11:18 AM on February 14, 2017 [3 favorites]
I never did find out what was burning. My guess is that it was the fuel tank on the refrigeration unit.
First it was the refrigeration unit's compressor. Then it was 7000 pounds of lobsters.
posted by Splunge at 12:09 PM on February 14, 2017
First it was the refrigeration unit's compressor. Then it was 7000 pounds of lobsters.
posted by Splunge at 12:09 PM on February 14, 2017
Jesus. Those firemen are terrible at putting out fires.
posted by notyou at 9:18 PM on February 14, 2017
posted by notyou at 9:18 PM on February 14, 2017
On 11Foot8, the best are the RVs losing their AC units. So close!
posted by notyou at 9:26 PM on February 14, 2017
posted by notyou at 9:26 PM on February 14, 2017
Jesus. Those firemen are terrible at putting out fires.
Those silly subtitles have already been taken apart by firemen in the YouTube comments, but TL;DR nobody was in a hurry, and it's not like you'd ever just run up to a random truck fire and start spraying water, that's a great way to get people killed.
posted by effbot at 3:54 AM on February 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Those silly subtitles have already been taken apart by firemen in the YouTube comments, but TL;DR nobody was in a hurry, and it's not like you'd ever just run up to a random truck fire and start spraying water, that's a great way to get people killed.
posted by effbot at 3:54 AM on February 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Missed opportunity for barbecued lobster.
posted by Brother Rambler at 2:45 PM on February 15, 2017
posted by Brother Rambler at 2:45 PM on February 15, 2017
7 Dump Trucks Hitting Bridges And A Sign (Not The 11Foot8 Bridge)
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:48 PM on February 17, 2017
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:48 PM on February 17, 2017
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Also, the pucker factor of walking on that sidewalk, under the bridge, would be immense.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:37 PM on February 13, 2017 [9 favorites]