Good afternoon everyone. I was reading today’s Milwaukee journal sentinel in the local section. A railroad bridge in Wauwatosa that a truck has struck the CP Railway bridge in the 1900 block of Swan Blvd. It has happened for the fifth time this year and the 3rd time this week the Wauwatosa police dept. Said the bridge was struck about 10 Am Friday Morning. The clearance on the overpass is 12 feet and there are no trucking signs posted on Swan Blvd. from Watertown Plank Rd to North Ave. No one has said if the truck driver was ticketed or not.
Three times in a week? Shouldn’t this suggest that there’s a problem somewhere? Perhaps a missing warning sign? I doubt that signs warning of the low clearance, or suggesting an alternate route, are the responsibility of the railroad. That would fall to the municipalities involved. Until somebody wises up, said underpass might be a good location for a doughnut shop!
Methinks the Wisc. RR Commissioner/PUC ought to hit the highway jurisdiction with a compliance order.
I’ve always wondered why there is no tell-tale type device used on highways approaching low bridges? You would think an iron bar accross the road at bridge height would stop an overheight truck before it hit a muli-million dollar overpass bridge. An overpass on I-90 around our city has been whacked 3 or 4 times that I l know of.
You would be suprised how many bridges or overpasses have no sign to tell a driver how much room he might have. In NY state many bridges are marked a foot lower than thet really are. I’v been told it is because of ice and snow than would make the clearence lower. I had to deliver at a power plant in KY and the truck entrance had to go under the railroad tracks. It looked low and I went slow and no problem. On the way out I gave it no thought and clipped the bridge with the front corner of the trailer. Just a small hole was all the damage done.
One company I worked for took loads to Crozet VA. There was only one way in with a truck. The shortest way was 12’ 6" and I can’t tell you how many trucks tried to go that way. There was even big signs to warn the driver.
I don’t think you’ve met our RR Comissioner. If he isn’t barging into the cabs of locomotives in service on the Wisconsin and Southern he is lamenting that Bill Gardner has somehow taken the entire state of Wisconsin hostage as a railroad baron of the 18th century. Not really the kind of guy that worries about things like low bridges and stuff.
Here it is. With the bridge being hit so many times, I wonder if there’s ever any significant interruption of rail traffic while civil engineers check it out. http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=43.055352&lon=-88.027677&z=20&r=0&src=msa
Many years ago I remember the Crandic bridge in Iowa City was hit many times; once while I was in class in the EPB building just to the west side of the tracks. Ripped the top of the truck off like a sardine can. It was quite loud. http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=41.661307&lon=-91.539414&z=18.7&r=0&src=ggl
About 25 years ago a Bettendorf garbage truck struck the old Milwaukee Road Eldridge spur bridge over McClellan Blvd. in (East) Davenport, IA. (This track was the original route the CM&StP used to access Davenport.) At the time the line was a tri-weekly and service was interrupted, but judging by the trees growing over the ROW now, it’s apparent that IC&E must not be using this line much at all anymore (or at least not often enough to bother pruning the trees.) http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=41.534404&lon=-90.546912&z=19.6&r=0&src=msa
What is a compliance order? There is a state highway near here with 10’9" clearance under a secondary line of the BNSF. Despite numerous signs, it is struck several times a year.
edit: I didn’t ask the real quesiton very clearly. Obviously, the underpass in my example is substandard, but just whose standard is it? Who, if anyone, is responsible for a remedy? Who has the authority to force a change, and who gets to pay for it?
When the feds took over control of minimum dimensions of over the road trailers they mandated states could not limit any truck to less than 13’6" tall, 102" wide, and 48" long. All new federal aid roads had to be built with these clearances in mind. To get additional length of trailers (53’) the states could limit if they choose (GA does) to certain routes. Actually a few western states allow 57’ trailers. There was also an overall length allowance but don’t remember it. Going into Chicago when I drove trying to deliver is a nightmare. Had to dodge 6 low bridges once including 2 or 3 EL bridges on the south side. That is a part of CREATE that will help traffic in Chicago. Al=in-chicago I bet you can tell tales.
Are these bridges on a marked “truck route”? If not, do they have to be marked for height clearances? I know in Appleton Wi, theres an underpass on Mason street that ISN"T on a truck route but at least once or twice a year, a truck will get stuck under it. Both sides are marked for height clearance. I think the height is marked 12’9" for one side and 13’9" for the other.
Paul
I’m aware of him - just hoping the ignoramus would do what he’s supposed to do, for once. (He can’t go showboatin’ for the piles of fluff he seems to attract.)
Compliance order is a state order for specific performance (as in erect and verify placement of advance warning signs, as if that would effect some of the Billy-Bobs out there behind the wheel of large pieces of equipment)
http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=3476
Funny, that. It seems our governor, in a rare moment of clarity, replaced the man. Let’s hope the new guy is interested in being the RR commissioner and less interested in bullying his ass onto an operating locomotive.
There are warning signs posted. I just googled the map in 3D and it shows “12’ - Low Clearance” warning signs about a block before the bridge. There are turnarounds just before the bridge also. Google 3D Map that area and travel the route. And I also saw the signs on the news channel when they showed the top of the truck peeled back like a sardine can. So I think it was a case of not paying attention to road signs. There is a low bridge like that in South Milwaukee on Marquette Avenue that gets hit frequently, even though there is a well posted truck route around the bridge. Murphy Siding has a good idea with putting the tell-tales up. But use the ones like they have at fast food drive throughs. A length of PVC pipe hanging horizontal at the clearance height a few blocks from the bridge. I believe the speed limit on Swan Blvd. is 35 mph. Although the pipe might not fare well in our cold weather. It’d probably shatter when the truck hits it at 0 degrees…
[soapbox]As a retired trucker with over 25 years driving experience, any driver that hauls an oversize load MUST file a trip itinerary with the shipper, receiver, and all municipalities in between for any roads travelled off the Interstate. This is primarily the resonsibility of the driver, follwed by his dispatcher. Most oversize load haulers have special maps that indicate any overpasses less than 15 feet high in order to plan the trip. However, each municipality has the responsibility to post the actual height of any and all overpasses, and to update such postings after any paving projects. This does not eliminate human error. There is a railroad bridge six blocks from where I live that is posted at 12’6", but alot of the new “operators” coming out of truck driving school figure this is an old sign and ignore it because in their mind there are no overpasses under 14 feet high. This overpass, part of NS and CSX and Amtrak trackage claims a rig a month on average. These new guys are too lazy to stop, get out and visually look to see if their rig will clear. THey are just plain dumb as is any driver who takes for granted his or her rig will clear any and all bridges. End of [soapbox]
trainnut 57:
We both forgot about going under sags. If I moved tandems all the way forward I could get my 13=6 under a underpass but not if they were all the way back. Was I ever scared the first time I did that on instructions of dispatcher. Oh! it was only a 48 footer.
Yeah, you’re right about the sags, that’s what 15 years of retirement can do. I beleive that’s how most of the tops are peeled at the bridge I mentioned. Ironically too, this spot is right beside a large beer distributor yet none of the rigs ever carried beer. Also, another thig was tire size. 24.5 rims can turn a 13’6" into a 13’8 or more especially if they’re on the “horse” as drive wheels.
trainnut57:
I can not remember that underpass specifically but I do remember some that had two different directions heights on sags that was at the same elevation under the bridge above. Guess some smart DOT people took the sag in consideration and others did not.