Undefeated - The Toughest Bridge in the World

[Squisher]

You can't have something swing down on to an active road.

The railroad does it for trains.

 

[Ferzerp]

The railroad does it for trains.

No. The chimes chime for quite some time before the bars decend. It's not the same as detecting a tall truck and then quickly lowering something to block the path.

One has something like 30 seconds of warning, then the bars lower, the other would require immediate lowering to block the 30 mph vehicle with 0 warning. How is that exactly going to work? (especially with traffic in front of that truck)

 

[Squisher]

No. The chimes chime for quite some time before the bars decend. It's not the same as detecting a tall truck and then quickly lowering something to block the path.

One has something like 30 seconds of warning, then the bars lower, the other would require immediate lowering to block the 30 mph vehicle with 0 warning. How is that exactly going to work? (especially with traffic in front of that truck)

So, you couldn't have lights going off first and then the swing arm come down? Why not? The lights could start 200 feet up the road and continue flashing every 50 feet until the swing arm comes down 20 feet from the bridge.

 

[Thebobo]

Thats one awesome bridge.

 

[Ferzerp]

So, you couldn't have lights going off first and then the swing arm come down? Why not? The lights could start 200 feet up the road and continue flashing every 50 feet until the swing arm comes down 20 feet from the bridge.

And all the side streets that connect to it closer than your arbitrary 200 ft mark? How are you going to mitigate issues with those?

 

[Rubycon]

I wonder who's fault is that, the bridge raising people or the ship? :biggrin:

It's never the ship's fault.

Like anything that involves safety sometimes overkill to the 9th degree isn't enough.

Install IR LEDs on the sign and have them flash a code to a receiver that's inside the truck. When activated it blows an airhorn in the cab, pointed at the driver. In case the driver is deaf it can activate a device that gives a little shock through the seat. 16,000VDC at 50mA should be enough. :biggrin:

 

[Squisher]

And all the side streets that connect to it closer than your arbitrary 200 ft mark? How are you going to mitigate issues with those?

I don't see what is so hard for you. Lights go on for trains, you need to stop. Lights go on for fire trucks leaving the station, you need to stop. There are lights at every major intersection, if it's red you need to stop. Lights go on and railroad gates come down immediately. There has to be a 5 second delay between the lights coming on and the gate being fully down and if you sneak under it before it's fully down that is a ticket. Do you even know if there are any cross streets?

 

[eits]

they need to dig out that road and pave it a foot and a half deeper by the bridge overpass. problem solved.

 

[Daedalus685]

It not only happens on roads either!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdok8Aa-eH8

Yeah....

That happened a few minutes from where I grew up. In Welland Ontario about 11 or so years ago. It shut down the quick route over the canal for quite some time.

http://www.boatnerd.com/windoc/

http://bst.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/marine/2001/m01c0054/m01c0054.asp#a3

It was a huge shit storm, and the fault of the bridge operator who was "impaired" at the time. Cost millions in damage.

 

[Ferzerp]

I don't see what is so hard for you.

That's because you're far, far simplifying the issue in your head and turning it in to one long street, with no cross streets. There's one within 20 feet of the bridge visible in the video itself.


You're making up "facts" such as lights come on and in 5 seconds gates are closed at a train crossing (I don't think you've ever seen a railroad crossing if you believe this).

Your naive oversimplified plan would have weird gates closing any time a tall truck that is likely turning off on one of the side streets comes anywhere near the bridge, creating massive, massive traffic jams (because they would just have to stay closed I guess, there's still a truck there), or it would have to have such a laughably fast reaction time that the trucks would just plow through it anyway.

edit: here is typically how they work (though this one is faster than what I've seen). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfBFXSUNOys Your imaginary model has the gates fully closed before this one even begins to move. There is always a long audible and visible warning before anything physical enters the street. It doesn't even begin to move for 9 seconds, and takes the gates a full 11 or 12 seconds to fully decend (with about 5 seconds of movement before most vehicles would need to be clear).

 

[Squisher]

You're making up "facts" such as lights come on and in 5 seconds gates are closed at a train crossing (I don't think you've ever seen a railroad crossing if you believe this).

On your example it 20 seconds and that is a large highway where speeds are likely higher. I said 200 feet, that's about a city street and unlikely to have multiple turnoffs and a tall truck could certainly never be able to make a turn at anything approaching 25 mph. This looks like a 2 lane road with speeds probably from 25 to 45 mph. I would think they'd be able to get an audible and visual warning and get their truck stopped within a city block. Right now there are visual warnings for the bridge and trucks are expected to stop from those, I just said to put in something more substantial. And, I don't see how cars having to stop for a swing arm impacts them any more greatly than a truck with it's roof torn off blocking the road.

 

[grohl]

I loved it

 

[BUTCH1]

Gotta bump this one, just gotta...

 

[marvdmartian]

All I can say is, I hope all those Ryder truck renters paid for the extra damage collision waiver insurance!!

 

[techs]

Problem solved.

Oh, wait. Its North Carolina. Never mind.

 

[Imp]

lol... Missed this when it was first posted.

Thanks for the point-out about the trestle taking the damage rather than the bridge -- for the most part?

Makes you think about how it was like for the people sitting on the second deck of the Megasbus' that hit bridges though...

 

[Triumph]

Problem solved.

Oh, wait. Its North Carolina. Never mind.

I agree. Put that up and call it a day. Anyone who hits it after that, pays for the damages. Fuck the idiots and their pandering to the lowest common denominator. Those people are ruining society.

 

[BUTCH1]

It's been awhile but I, I, I, JUST HAVE TO BUMP IT! if for nothing else new members might have missed out on the carnage and fun!...

 

[Markbnj]

Problem solved.

Oh, wait. Its North Carolina. Never mind.

Haha, awesome. And if you hit that bridge, the entire town is going to gather and laugh at you, because you will deserve it.

In all seriousness, that's a great, simple solution to the problem. I mean, I'm sure the nimrod exists who will still miss that sign, hit that sign, and then hit that bridge, but really what the hell more can you do? A few decades from now the computer driving that truck will know all about that bridge.

 

[SKORPI0]

Look like people just don't read the sign before passing under that bridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAqKdX3rXi4

 

[RaistlinZ]

1:47 was my favorite.

 

[Jadow]

I wanna see this barge vs that bridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlIyxLcnGeY

 

[Howard]

Look like people just don't read the sign before passing under that bridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAqKdX3rXi4

Whoever designed that bridge was a fucking asshole, though. How much more would it have cost to allow a standard trailer to fit underneath?

 

[BUTCH1]

1:47 was my favorite.

That's the one where the entire box just rips off the bed and lays in the roadway, right?. Good luck explaining that to your boss LOL.

 

[mmntech]

Whoever designed that bridge was a fucking asshole, though. How much more would it have cost to allow a standard trailer to fit underneath?

The bridge is over a century old. Was built before height regulations, and trucks weren't that tall back then. As the story goes, the railway says it's too complicated to raise the bridge, and the city won't pay to lower the road.

If you go on to streetview, it's very well signed. Seems like it's mostly rental trucks getting owned. N00b drivers.