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Bridge hit by lorry again
Tuesday 22nd December 2009, 11:30AM GMT.
This was the scene at a blackspot bridge in the Black Country after yet another lorry became wedged underneath.
The lorry carrying a container hit the 13ft Metro bridge in Great Bridge Road, Tipton, at 1.30pm yesterday.
Traffic was brought to a standstill while emergency services freed the vehicle. No-one was injured. Residents said more than 20 heavy goods vehicles have hit the bridge in the past five years.
Tamieka Gray has lived in Great Bridge Road since March. The 24-year-old said today: “This is a constant problem and has happened three times now since I moved in. It’s a real nuisance as it blocks all the residents into their homes.”
Last month, a lorry overturned in the road after ploughing into the bridge spilling engine oil across the road and causing chaos.
Sandwell Council is now considering installing electronic barriers and flashing warning signs to stop the problem.
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The police and local council need to start charging heavy penalties for anyone who hits the brige, there are enough signs for people.
I think they should also be charged with careless driving as they are clearly not reading the warnings…..how long can this keep going on for?
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How long does it take for Sandwell Council to make a decisiion? They have probably been debating this problem since the wheel first appeared on Tomorrow’s World.
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I wonder how many of these drivers are blindly following non-HGV optimized SatNav devices?
And why are the council discussing ‘flashing’ warning signs and the like? Surely a pole across the road at the same height a short distance before the bridge would do the same job?
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Well, I can’t believe so many people can be that stupid. The driver of the truck should have known the total height of his cargo, and there are signs saying how high the bridge is, it’s not rocket science to subtract one from the other, and knowing if he is able to get under that bridge. all he has done is cause yet another load of inconvenience for the public and the emergancy services!
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Flashing lights and barriers eh?
How about raising the bridge or lowering the road?
The latter is probably less expensive. Yes there is drainage to consider but that should not be a major issue.
This problem has existed for years and years. What kind of public administration can be so cheap and so “penny wise, pound foolish” as to ignore the real cause?
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To Tom. were you there? NO, well I was and a known fact is that the signs read 13’6″ but the two inside members of the bridge are 13’4″.
the driver of the truck slowed down and checked to see if he could get under the bridge, and he did to be stopped by the inside of the bridge. that is why the police are not prosecuting the driver for careless driving. also great bridge road was not closed off and people do not get blocked in there houses, bit of exageration there I think.
It needs signs and light barriers before the traffic lights at both ends of the great bridge road, if an artic gets to the bridge where can he turn round? think carefully about this sandwell council.
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…..a bit harsh on the pole there Nick ?!
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This has to be one of the easiest problems to overcome, but costs money, and as none of the bridges hit has fallen down councils are reluctant to spend the money.
To stop it, 40 foot before the bridge you have a laser beam across the road, set at a height 5 inches below the maximum height of the bridge, when the beam is broken red stop lights and horns are activated, at 10 feet before the bridge you have a steel cable stretched across the road and if that gets snagged a collapsible barrier drops down to block the road, a bit like the one used in a bank, problem solved.
Jim of Bearwood.
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He could job share with a Lithuanian Colin
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I have lived on Great Bridge Road, very near the bridge, for over 10 years. Several years ago I wrote to Sandwell council with an idea to improve safety on this bridge. They never even bothered to reply. It is only a matter of time before someone gets killed. The metro crosses this bridge and lorries hitting the bridge could even cause a major de-railment. There are several ways this problem could be rectified, it will be interesting to see what Sandwell council come up with, if anything.
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PEOPLE WHO DRIVE THESE VEHICALS SHOULD KNOW THE HEIGHT THEN THINGS LIKE THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN
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its all ways homer simpsons look alikes who are allways driving doh
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To Carl – If a lorry driver is thinking that he should be okay with just two inches to spare then it’s his own fault if he hits the bridge.
In two inches you need to consider; tyre pressure, weather conditions eg snow/ice/water on the road (all topical), gradiation of the road, road surface condition.
You need to allow yourself more than two inches.
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i was 2 cars behind this incident…..the driver slowed down to check the height,he passed the first set of channels and all looked good, but the inner set are lower (pathetic really).
ps, no roads were blocked (AT ALL), but “dont let the truth get in the way of a good story” eh?
TOM sounds intelligent. he didnt know that drivers ARE heavily fined, BUT IT DOES NOT STOP IT HAPPENING does it? in london they have steel bars suspended accross the road a few hundred metres before the bridge, if you hit it,you stop and reverse away SO SIMPLE and inexpensive.
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CARL…Absolute rubbish..2 inches to spare and the driver takes their truck under the bridge. Incompetance on the drivers part simples..Probably like the driver.
Same problem the stupid bus drivers get into when they take the top off their double deckers as has happened recently. Incompetance.. Not a mistake with the vehicles size they are driving!!!
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I use that road usually 6 times a day and I see them ignoring the signs and try squeezing under,when they get stuck they try and get back out this makes the lorries twist and tip over.My husband has driven lorries for years he says they usually take a few inches off the size on the signs to be on the safe side,thats why they can sometimes make it when the signs say they can’t.Abviously by this bridge this isnt the case.He also says in other areas there are chains to show drivers they’re not going to make it through.Sadly I agree with another comment,nothing will be done till someone dies.
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Why don’t they do as nottinghamshire and derbyshire councils do? they have a height guage made from hanging chains a distance before the bridge and if an overheight vehicle hits them it make an awful noise thus warning the driver
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The drivers need to be fined, surely they should know the height of their vehicle, or are they just typical of people today who don’t give a damn?
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Tom and stjoe,you both need to know the law a little better.The approach signs DO NOT give the height of the bridge,they signify the maximum safe height of vehicles which can pass underneath it.If the approach signs say 13’6 then any vehicle upto and including 13’6 should safely get under it.How is a 13’6 vehicle going to safely pass underneath if there are some cross members at 13’4?
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