high load or low head?

This happened in South Bend IN this morning

I just got done replacing the boom and dipper/stick on a CAT backhoe that hit a bridge. Thankfully it didn't damage the rest of the machine, but the owner wasn't happy with the nearly $5000 it cost for the replacement....and I don't know what the cost was to inspect and/or repair the bridge.

I have seen machines that hit a bridge where it ripped the boom completely off of the machine. Like Newton said, 'An object in motion tends to stay in motion', but he forgot to say, 'until it hits a bridge....' LOL

Correction! That mistake happened on old US 31 under US 12 south of Niles, MI. It was on the South Bend 22News.

The chickens were stacked to 14 9

He must not have seen it,there is not a tire mark on the road,maybe the sun was in his eyes,its taken some wallop to bend the boom like that,must have been some whiplash when it hit the bridge,hope the driver is ok.
AJ

bet he has to find a new insurance company

Isn't legal height 13'6" ?? I heard a story from a dispatcher at a culvert pipe plant, he got a very angry call from a state policeman concerning one of the trucks hitting a bridge and top course of pipes taken off hitting a car following the truck and they were responsible, load too high ect.. Dispatcher says I know the height of every truck leaving the yard, that truck was legal, by the way I was down that way last week and they were paving that road did they mill the old pavement or raise the bridge or at least change the clearance sign???? Trooper says ahhhh I'll get back to you on that. Not the truckers fault!!!

That just took a complete idiot . That excavator would easily go under that bridge loaded correctly . He had the boom to the front and looks like standing up. Spin the house around with the unit driven to the extreme front
on that trailer. Tuck the bucket up under the stick and lower the boom. We haul 320s and 315s all the time with the a trailer much like that one. Loaded right they will be under 13 6 .

being the retired director of bridges for my county highway department I investigated a lot of bridge hits. In every case where i questioned the driver he saw the bridge clearance sign but thought his load was lower--NONE had ever checked the height of his load

Well son of a gun! My dad was at that crash about 10 minutes after it happened. We know the head mechanic at the Cat Rental Store it came from, and we know the owner of the trucking company that was hauling it. Excavator is done for and the bridge girder is badly damaged.

Oh yea, and I guess that was a nearly brand new Landoll EZ-Load trailer that is now junk because the frame is bent.

One of the things I used to hear all the time was that, "They mark the bridges a foot lower than they really are. " Nope, they don't.

we always did in Suffolk county--but never made a difference as the drivers never knew there load height
the criteria for posting clearance was a bit strange--if it was 14-0 it did not need to be posted=--if it was 13-11 it would be posted for 12-11

New York marks their bridges a foot lower than they are. It is IMHO a foolish way to do it. There is no excuse for hitting an overhead obstruction, they do make tape measures.

I have a bridge story. Years ago, I hauled for a imp. dealer. Went through Glendive Mt. north to Wolf Point and Havre. North of Glendive I saw a bridge sign that said 13'6". I loaded a New Holland bale wagon, tape measured the load at 12' 9". Headed back and at 65 mph I approach the same bridge and read LOW BRIDGE 12'4". Aimed for the center of the bridge and grabbed the wheel hard. NOTHING and I looked back and could read 13' 6".

When I floated my 920 cat loader last fall , the company wanted the dimension specs. and when she was loaded , the driver measured the overall height . So there's no excuse for these mishaps .

Larry

Once a week, or so it would seem, some darned fool would get off the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on the Brooklyn side, with a tractor trailer and head east on the Belt Parkway! All kinds of warnings, even sensors that contact if you are over height, yet without failure, they would make it under the arched pedestrian bridge near the waterfront/park and or pull off areas, (had to be in the center lane, thought its been hit many times as well) all the way to the F train bridge that crosses over the Belt Parkway in Coney Island. Early morning collisions, before sun up were most common as I recall. I can't recall how many I have seen, one I actually heard. The usual results, top of trailer torn off like sardine can, trailer folded in the middle and the contents spilled and or needing transfer, often times box trucks would show up for the clean up.

I always knew the height of whatever I drove, did squeak under on railroad bridge with box truck one time, slowly, whatever it was marked was off, probably the pavement did so when it was re-done.

Worst thing I ever had happen when driving a lowboy, was a '72 AutoCar and 50 ton rogers, with a CAT 235C excavator on, was following the operator from A Springfield NJ site, to a Jersey City NJ site. I ended up in the middle of Newark, NJ, just about trapped with no way out. Had to take one narrow street, instinct kept telling me to look for trucks/truck route etc., which I could see at the end of one street. The operator really screwed me up on this move. Got down that street andb then see the multi- track bridge for the P.A.T.H. train, very low, can't make it once I got close enough to look. So, I just unchained the boom and stick, uncurled it and set it straight and down onto the back of the trailer, was able to get under and through that over passing bridge, then folded it back up, chained back down and was on my way. At the time this was not much fun, blocking traffic etc., but using ones head, staying calm, I was able to get out of a bad situation. The people came out of their houses and moved cars when they saw me coming down this street.

Pays to have a story pole, or to check the height for every load, regardless, you have to know the height and the safe route, guessing never cuts it as you can see above.
Verrazano Narrows Bridge

On larger ones, the top of cab may project too high, but I would agree having moved many of these kinds of machines, the top side of the boom at the radius or curve of it, was always the high point. I can recall with the CAT 235C, having to take one pin out of the stick where the bucket is attached, to get that boom lower or equal to the cab. It was one of my first days on the job, and I had someone show me this so as to get that boom lower to the deck. You describe how I always loaded and secured one on a 50 ton Rogers trailer. 245's would have to go onto a beam trailer, so did the CAT 350L we had.

(quoted from post at 11:06:19 03/13/15) New York marks their bridges a foot lower than they are. It is IMHO a foolish way to do it. There is no excuse for hitting an overhead obstruction, they do make tape measures.

Click to expand...

NY may mark SOME bridges that way, but I've measured enough to know they all aren't, especially the ones that say "ACTUAL HEIGHT ..."!

the national bridge code --AASHTO---calls for the owner of the bridge to post its clearance if less than 14 ft. of course some townships don't comply with the rules
NYSDOT has a rule for bridges in that state to be posted one ft lower than actual---also an inspection of the bridge every two years which includes measuring its clearance---and again some towns don't comply--bridges have spans of 20 ft or more---anything less is called a culvert and inspections are not mandated by the state
Also the national code states that no bridge shall be posted for less than 3 tons--then it shall be closed to traffic.

Reminds me when I was welding for a truck shop and we had a jobber with an old Mack bush truck 24" rubber . He took a short cut alright, then peeled the van roof like a banna hitting a bridge . I had to peel it back and use a million heavy rivets with lots of caulking to waterproof it , since it was used for hauling rolls of paper .

Larry --ont

Oh , i see someone is Delivering a bridge. Or atleast BUYING ONE. I have hauled many oversized loads and i can tell you that you can't even trust the state permit dept. for proper routing . Lets see here W. Va. knew i was 14.6 and sent me to a 13.9 underpass ( that was fun. ) . Pa knew i was 132and change and sent me down a 10 ton road with ten ton bridges Even after we tried to tell them that it was a ten ton road and had a bunch of ten ton bridges . Also got hung up on a hill due to high centering the trailer on a hair pin turn on a hill . Ark. Knew i was 14.6 and sent me down a back road that the phone lines were to low , bet there not low anymore . But as a driver it is up to you and you alone to know what you are and just how your going to handle the unexpected . Hauled a 750 Deere dozer years back down to a drilling location on our OLD lowboy and about a half mile from the new location the frame broke on the trailer , it was on a rough old back drit road and i just unloaded the dozer and run it back the road and took the trailer back to the shop to be welded . I went back and built the location and when time came to move the dozer off the location my trailer was not done so we borrowed one . After i loaded up it came to me that whoa this trailer sets a foot higher then mine did and i will not be able to get back under the under pass the way i came in here . To get back out i had to drive twentyfive miles out and around , Now had i just chained and went i would have bought and under pass and a new rops .