Posted on 01/22/2016 11:44:11 AM PST by thackney
Last month, a garbage truck caused a parking lot on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin when it got stuck underneath the overpass at I-35 and 12th Street. To avoid scenes like that from happening in the future, the Texas Department of Transportation is installing a new bridge warning system to detect overheight trucks along the southbound lanes of I-35 between Airport Boulevard and Riverside Drive. KXAN News told you about the workgroup formed last year to address the issue of overheight trucks.
The detection system will be placed at three locations along I-35, including just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just south of 11th Street and at the 6th Street on-ramp, to provide ample warning to overheight vehicles to prevent the southbound bridge at Cesar Chavez from being hit (bridge clearance there is 12 feet). If a driver is going southbound on I-35 and is too high to clear the Cesar Chavez bridge, the equipment will alert the driver multiple times to exit the mainlanes and use the frontage road instead.
When activated, the system will send a command message to roadway signs with beacons that will flash. In addition, an alert will be sent to TxDOT’s traffic management center CTECC and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to advise them of a potential collision.
The $412,000 project was funded by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks grant through the TxDMV. TxDOT says this is the only height-detection system in Central Texas.
Work is scheduled to begin in February and is expected to be complete later this summer.
Earlier this month, NBC News reported on a low bridge in Durham, N.C. that has been struck by one too many trucks.
“What’s your clearance, Clarence?”
Audible grinding sound and instant reduction in forward motion as your rig fails to clear. Is that alert enough?
Not a bad idea, looks like fairly cheap tech, sometimes these bridge repairs are very expensive.
$412,000 project...
“Did I do that?”
-Robin Williams
And the name on the truck that is stuck due to stupidity or negligence??? ...”Progressive”.
Oh, that is so rich.
A simple sign correction would save them $410,000. Google maps shows the clearance sign being 14 ft.
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2614534,-97.7364467,3a,75y,230.78h,93.8t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1spmtD5j9DPOrXRC-Ccq2WUQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DpmtD5j9DPOrXRC-Ccq2WUQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D77.632378%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
The signs are right, google maps, not so much.
If you are depending on google maps, and ignoring the signs in front of view, I don’t think google maps is the problem.
What languages on the warning signs?
Won't matter. This bridge has tons of warning signs, flashing lights, and its own web-page dedicated to the idiots who ignored them.
And just what made them decide that it was one too many?
Typical.
Progressive Waste Solutions
Oh the irony
The cause is not low bridges, but drivers who either don’t know their trailer height and/or ignore existing signage. Not sure how this new signage will change that.
Well it looks like there is a big flashing sign upstream of the closest ramp that says “exit now”. Realize that won’t be 100% effective, but should help. Maybe they should include a CB radio ch 19 message also.
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