Another Bridge Strike

knotknowbody

Just found this in my local paper, what was the driver thinking, he must have hit that at a bit of speed, luckily the line is not in use.

http://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/meathnorth/articles/2011/08/03/4005871-dramatic-crash-destroys-castletown-railway-bridge-on-busy-county-road/

This is the bridge in question, perhaps he forgot he had a high load.

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=google+maps&ll=53.788356,-6.731057&spn=0,0.038581&fb=1&gl=ie&cid=0,0,16062054193687671808&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.788509,-6.73023&panoid=UbD5sMx-rUJqLk4lix2F7Q&cbp=12,62.76,,0,8.37

L1011

Irish Rail will be delighted.

dowlingm

No doubt IE will incur at least some non-recoverable costs on a line it doesn't earn a penny on :rolleyes:

This is the sort of line I believe the NTA should be taking possession of, taking over negotiations for greenways etc.

-Corkie-

Just for arguements sake the line was open and a train passing was imminent.... It would be a huge disaster..

dubhthach

The underside of that bridge looks fairly "rotten" that's for sure! Never been on the N52 but it looks narrow especially when you see some of the trucks on it in Google Streetview.

L1011

-Corkie- wrote: »

Just for arguements sake the line was open and a train passing was imminent.... It would be a huge disaster..

It'd have been far stronger if it was an open line, methinks it'd likely have collapsed with a 201 on top of it (Although the 201 class is 'banned' from the line according to the network statement).

DWCommuter

This topic should be in the conspiracy theories forum.:D

Victor

Those flat steel bridges and stone arch bridges are the two that have the greatest worries.

donkey balls

I have drove on that road a few times over the last few weeks and I can honestly say that there is no warning signs about the bridge and it's height before you actually see it,The road it's self is fairly narrow that only one truck/car could get by and it's on a bend so your literally going by it at about 10/20k any way,As a professional driver having a bridge strike is one of my worst nightmares the problem we seem to have is poor warning signs,Take the old N1 laytown to Drogheda all along that route there is low bridges as it's the Dublin to Belfast rail line yet from the main road there is no warning signs of a low bridge if you turn off onto one of the those roads.
Another problem would be the local council resurfacing the roads adding a few inches without taking the bridge height into consideration or rectifying the signs with the new height.

L1011

donkey balls wrote: »

I have drove on that road a few times over the last few weeks and I can honestly say that there is no warning signs about the bridge and it's height before you actually see it,The road it's self is fairly narrow that only one truck/car could get by and it's on a bend so your literally going by it at about 10/20k any way,As a professional driver having a bridge strike is one of my worst nightmares the problem we seem to have is poor warning signs,Take the old N1 laytown to Drogheda all along that route there is low bridges as it's the Dublin to Belfast rail line yet from the main road there is no warning signs of a low bridge if you turn off onto one of the those roads.
Another problem would be the local council resurfacing the roads adding a few inches without taking the bridge height into consideration or rectifying the signs with the new height.

There are warning signs about the bridge at great distance before the final turnoff point (heading from the East) and at all approaches to the junction with the alternative route (heading from the West)...

Victor

donkey balls wrote: »

Another problem would be the local council resurfacing the roads adding a few inches without taking the bridge height into consideration or rectifying the signs with the new height.

I don't think thats relevant in this case.

knotknowbody

donkey balls wrote: »

I have drove on that road a few times over the last few weeks and I can honestly say that there is no warning signs about the bridge and it's height before you actually see it,The road it's self is fairly narrow that only one truck/car could get by and it's on a bend so your literally going by it at about 10/20k any way,As a professional driver having a bridge strike is one of my worst nightmares the problem we seem to have is poor warning signs,Take the old N1 laytown to Drogheda all along that route there is low bridges as it's the Dublin to Belfast rail line yet from the main road there is no warning signs of a low bridge if you turn off onto one of the those roads.
Another problem would be the local council resurfacing the roads adding a few inches without taking the bridge height into consideration or rectifying the signs with the new height.

Warning sign before the bridge just after R162 Junction,

http://maps.google.ie/?ll=53.786911,-6.733493&spn=0,0.009645&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.786971,-6.733334&panoid=K3bBbjqjtYVjSGa-TNZgmQ&cbp=12,27.84,,0,-8.71

the driver who wiped out this bridge passed this sign, he also passed signage in advance of the junction, resurfacing was not a factor here as his load was way to high by at least 10-12 inches.