“People don’t read” should be an entire course in civil engineering and Ux.
I volunteer to write the text book.
14 Likes
Bad news on whether it’ll be consumed, though.
17 Likes
Given the approaching train, it makes sense to get clear of there. Whatever debris might be poking through the tracks could get projectilized by the mass of the train.
4 Likes
An enterprising person would open a van repair place on the other side.
13 Likes
I wonder in some distant future people will finally realize these warning signs are ridiculous, and replace them with ones that say 3.76 m instead.
18 Likes
Maybe instead of changing every bridge, we change the vehicle. If you always drive a car/SUV you are trained to ignore these warnings and signs. So the day you rent a truck…
How about all tall rental (or even all comnercial) trucks come with a sensor to warn the driver, and pump the breaks, just like collision detection?
This isn’t specific to this bridge and setup. In Vancouver we have commercial trucks driven by licensed professionals hit the highway overpasses way too often. Fines aren’t enough.
4 Likes
Ooh, new idea (I think):
One of those musical roads on the lead up to the bridge, that plays a verbal warning over and over again!
“This place is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here. What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger. You WILL hit this bridge!”
19 Likes
Only if it plays Jerusalem.
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I was thinking the other way around. Trains are more likely to operate on fixed time schedules, so the rail bridge should be open most of the time. When trains are able to cross it, all road traffic beneath it must be blocked.
Over the years, Cleveland has used a couple of types of movable rail bridges - both swinging and lifting (for crossing water instead of roads).
9 Likes
What if any overheight vehicle were to trigger a hologram projection into the cab, Haunted Mansion style, of Sam Kinison screaming at the driver that they are going to crash?
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Oops, missed this before. Speed bumps isn’t on the bingo card since it seldom comes up. Broadly, I’d place it under “the city has done everything it can”. Gregson St. is a state road, a major thoroughfare, and an emergency route. Speed bumps not permitted.
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Or, how about they set up a high powered local radio beacon that talks over all FM frequencies in a 200 ft radius, and plays this song?
8 Likes
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That’s an important point. Especially since they raised the span, the people who crash into the bar are 1. driving rental trucks and 2. Not from Durham.
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I think the overheight sensor also triggers the yellow->red transition which, while it seems like a good idea, makes some people focus on “beating” the red and miss the overheight sign. They should make that overheight sign much more prominent, maybe even add some strobe or otherwise prominently flashing lights to draw the driver’s eye.
8 Likes
I wonder how annoying/profitable this is for the truck rental co. and their insurer.
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But at that point you may as well just have a level crossing (bingo!) instead of the expense of a drawbridge. The advantage of a bridge bridge is that it doesn’t prevent cars going under at the same time for the vast majority of vehicles.
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So instead of the “Can Opener” we can have the “Truck Crusher?”
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Looks up from his streaming bluetooth device:
What’s “radio”?
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