A champion among railway bridges

S

seasink

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According to a neighbour it's 3 crashes per week in summer; 2 in winter. Most drivers are too embarrassed to report it.

You would think that an underpass as low as this would get more care. It's harder to slink away in the city at Montague St, and it gets more publicity..
 
Guyra had one which was a 'give-way' underpass probably laid down in the horse and cart days. You can see where they bricked it in to make it into a cycle underpass instead. The council must have given up on removing stuck vehicles.

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And of course there's the old rail bridge near Tenterfield, still hanging in but only just. I believe it's under the control of the heritage council and hasn't been maintained for a very long time. I'd have to say it has deteriorated somewhat since this flyover was done.


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The NSW penalties are savage. $2200 and 6 points for the driver, vehicle rego cancelled and $27000 for the owner, plus repair costs. These have reached $1,400,000 at Maitland overbridge and $1 million in the M5 tunnel.
 
seasink said:
The NSW penalties are savage. $2200 and 6 points for the driver, vehicle rego cancelled and $27000 for the owner, plus repair costs. These have reached $1,400,000 at Maitland overbridge and $1 million in the M5 tunnel.
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If there are still accidents, then I would say they're not savage enough.
 
Some of the freeway tunnels are just not high enough for widely carried loads yet alternative routes are not easily accessible.
 
Here's another bridge to enjoy, with quite a good bridge vs truck score.
In the US this time, Glenville, NY.
www.timesunion.com

What's it like to live near Glenville's notorious bridge? 'We're tired of it,' residents say

Residents sound off on life next to Glenville's notoriously crash-prone bridge
www.timesunion.com www.timesunion.com

There are 14 height warning signs, but truckies are said to just follow their dashboard maps. Probably the same drivers notorious for stopping large semis on railway level crossings that keep Youtube amused..
 
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Russell Hall said:
Some of the freeway tunnels are just not high enough for widely carried loads yet alternative routes are not easily accessible.
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it wouldn't make any difference if vertical clearance was unlimited, I had to get off the tarmac twice a couple of days ago for farm machinery... At least this stuff goes like the clappers these days and they don't stuff other road users around for very long.
I discovered long ago that 'standards' are only made to be challenged, we had a complaint that wheelchairs wouldn't go through a particular doorway - yes, they never will if the lot that designed them don't read the book and make 'em too wide !!
Bob
 
Yes, farm machinery has right of way. I moved a 15 foot wide drill down from the Wimmera putting oncoming traffic off the bitumen but everybody is understanding. Our round baler is slow to move, gets a bounce up at 40 k's and need a good surface to travel at 60 k's. Gives a good appreciation of bridge width and how rough most roads are. Years back a wheat grower used to always move his header down the road every time the BP rally went through.
One of the Melbourne freeway tunnels is too low. It can accommodate a cattle truck but if the animals in the top deck put their heads up they hit the signs and lights. There have been decapitations as well as sign damage. So you're not supposed to carry the top deck loaded which is uneconomic but some trucks taking bullocks to O'Connors take the chance because it's a long way otherwise.
 
It's good then that I haven't seen long necked stock or giraffes using the 9 km long North Connex toll road tunnel that parallels Pennant Hills Road, Trucks on that route will be heavily fined if they don't use it. There's an exemption for explosives, but not animals. There isn't a practical bypass. It's 5m high.
 
Russell Hall said:
So you're not supposed to carry the top deck loaded which is uneconomic but some trucks taking bullocks to O'Connors take the chance because it's a long way otherwise.
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I never knew that! I have sent double deck B doubles of cattle to O'Connors without even thinking about height issues.

Roger
 
There was talk about it in the Melbourne press about eighteen months ago. The problem is with the signs and lights that hang down. Of course most cattle travel calmly once they're moving and it's only the exceptional one that has its head up. Never happy when stock are on the road and more so if they're going to Melbourne.
 
Russell Hall said:
Years back a wheat grower used to always move his header down the road every time the BP rally went through.
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And probably wet himself laughing everytime a rally car suddenly went flying into the shrubbery...
 
Russell Hall said:
There was talk about it in the Melbourne press about eighteen months ago. The problem is with the signs and lights that hang down. Of course most cattle travel calmly once they're moving and it's only the exceptional one that has its head up. Never happy when stock are on the road and more so if they're going to Melbourne.
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A mesh roof over those bovine heads would solve the problem but it's a solution a bit too esoteric for the average meat hauler. :)
 
Probably true but the lack of room for the stockman when loading is restricting. I'd be happy with a mesh.
 
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