Truck Wedges Itself In Paoli Bridge, Causing It To Collapse

The previous link said the clearance was 13'6". I say BS.

Here's another link, that says vertical clearance is less than 11'.

From Bridge Hunter

Dimensions:

Length of largest span: 90.5 ft. Total length: 92.8 ft.

Deck width: 15.7 ft.

Vertical clearance above deck: 10.8 ft.

Dave

street view

street view

I for the life of me do not know where he was going. Unless he was coming in the other direction. If that is true, then he must have made a wrong turn somewhere.

Dave

street view

I for the life of me do not know where he was going. Unless he was coming in the other direction. If that is true, then he must have made a wrong turn somewhere.

Dave

Oops, yeah, that view is actually the opposite direction that the truck was going. I tried to find the same view from the picture in the first post, but of course that shows the front of the truck.

That has got to be humiliating! That bridge has been there for a very long time. I have a lot of family that live there and they have pictures of this in Facebook.

Heck, I've been across that bridge several times in the past, it's a beautiful little town. That driver was an absolute idiot. Even without signage, just looking at the bridge construction itself should tell you that it's not a commercial structure. It's a shame really because there was some unique decorative work that will be hard to replace if they go back and replace it with an identical version.

Heck, I've been across that bridge several times in the past, it's a beautiful little town.

When you say been across, you mean in a regular 4-wheeler, right?

What is the height clearance by your estimation?

Dave

In a 4 wheeler yes lol. I should have been more specific on that one. Height, I'd guess no more than 11'6" or so just because a 4x4 pickup that's lifted going across it looked big. I still don't understand how that driver wound up on it. It's clearly marked both ways and again, just looking at it tells you it isn't heavy duty.

It's a shame that one persons carelessness can cause this much damage. But this got me thinking, when are we gonna see a driver aid in the truck that scans ahead and warns you or even stops the truck if you are about to enter a bridge or anything else that will not clear your truck? Since we have collision warning systems, it would not be a far stretch to incorporate height warnings as well. I should patent this idea. I mean I already did!

When are we gonna see a driver aid in the truck that scans ahead and warns you or even stops the truck if you are about to enter a bridge or anything else that will not clear your truck?

This particular incident had a driver aid. It was the passenger in the truck who sat there and watched it all go down along with the driver.

I like this method also...