The Sidney Harbor Tunnel had a similar problem. They came up with an elaborate but successful solution.[1] There are detectors and huge flashing warning signs that light up. Then, there's the last-chance sign. At the entrance to the tunnel, pumps force a curtain of water straight down across the entire roadway. Then a powerful laser system projects a giant octagonal red STOP sign onto the water curtain, filling the entire height of the tunnel opening. That's in addition to the six red traffic lights, flashing red Xs above each lane, and a big STOP with a flashing frame above the tunnel mouth.<p>That was expensive, but after someone wedged an oversized truck into the tunnel, blocking it for three weeks, it was worth it. Gets tripped about 18 times a year.<p>[1] <a href="https://youtu.be/pRKA7m-tbqM" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/pRKA7m-tbqM</a>
What's beautiful about the 11 Foot 8 bridge is that quietly it's been a constant in my life. I distinctly remember watching the videos over a decade ago on this YT Channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/yovo68" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/user/yovo68</a><p>There's an element of schadenfreude that's so compelling in watching ordinary situations go terribly wrong.
So far the best solution I've seen to this sort of thing (other than building a taller bridge) is the waterfall approach. Probably a bit spensie for some rando railroad bridge but it's clever nonetheless.<p><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1008464/Amazing-water-curtain-Stop-sign.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1008464/Amazing...</a>
They ought to make it <i>lower</i>, so it’s most obvious that a truck won’t fit. Make it no more than 2metres, whatever that is in American, so that only cars can go through.
Boston is home to any number of bridges that trucks don't fit under, most famously on Storrow Drive.<p>Rating truck/bridge interactions has become a bit of a past time on universalhub:<p><a href="https://www.universalhub.com/storrow" rel="nofollow">https://www.universalhub.com/storrow</a><p>Every year when college students move back in and out, the powers that be put up illuminated construction signs <i>everywhere</i> to try to keep the number of rental trucks on roads they shouldn't be to a minimum. They're mostly successful.
How about something counter-intuitive: <i>lower</i> the limit? There is a built-in hard limit imposed by the structure itself. Set the marked limit to something well short of that, like 8 feet. Then add very obvious soft barriers like light swinging bars to indicate the lower boundary. That would encourage anyone driving anything that might actually hit the hard limit to take an alternate route. (Of course, that means there actually needs to be a realistic alternate route.)
My all-time favorite picture for this situation is:<p><pre><code> ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS,
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS.
</code></pre>
<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/c7fpl6/on_the_road_to_success_there_are_no_shortcuts/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/c7fpl6/on_the_road_to...</a>
Another one from Melbourne, Aus<p><a href="https://howmanydayssincemontaguestreetbridgehasbeenhit.com/" rel="nofollow">https://howmanydayssincemontaguestreetbridgehasbeenhit.com/</a>
What is so special about this bridge? Why do people drive under it without checking their height? You wouldn't normally think you can just drive under any bridge, would you?<p>It doesn't even look like a very low bridge. Why do people approach it without a care in the world at full speed?<p>My vehicle is only 2m tall and I still do take a quick look at height signs as I approach them.
The maximum standard height for a vehicle is 4 metres in Europe. All E-routes in Europe require that bridges and tunnels can clear at least 4 metres, otherwise they cannot get designated with the E-route. Is there a similar concept of safe routes for lorries and buses in the US?
Why not place an arch before the bridge that will impact but not damage vehicles going through? This exists in the entrance to most parking garages.<p>Edit: like this <a href="https://www.jpsiteexperts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/clearance-bars-7-1024x7681.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://www.jpsiteexperts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/cle...</a>
Slightly related, a now famous bus/car trap in Stockholm that became a short documentary: <a href="https://www.svtplay.se/video/17480166/sparviddshinder" rel="nofollow">https://www.svtplay.se/video/17480166/sparviddshinder</a> (only in Swedish, but should be viewable globally)
There's also an excellent sub for this and many other "can openers" as well as assorted "cans" getting opened -<p><a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/11foot8/" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/11foot8/</a>
I used to work really close to where this bridge is at my last job and many of my coworkers had worked in offices even closer previously. Supposedly, every time there was a crash people would rush to observe what happened even though it was a fairly common occurrence.<p>The bridge is located in a kinda odd space to do construction. While I imagine it's possible to retrofit or dig it to be deeper, it likely would have been really inconvenient to the adjacent businesses.
I live a block away from a can-opener bridge. We haven't had anything since quarantine, but there's usually two or three trucks a year that get stuck in it. We had one week where there were two trucks and a bus.<p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/9hbbbr1xl53e8u3/77EFF5A4-D593-4FB8-A925-7B40DDDC1863.jpeg?dl=0" rel="nofollow">https://www.dropbox.com/s/9hbbbr1xl53e8u3/77EFF5A4-D593-4FB8...</a>
I'd hate to be a truck rental company near that thing.<p>Random weekend movers peeling the tops off your fleet.<p>I'd have free-take-one warning maps with a big red X at the checkout counter.
For the greater good they should install something that makes a lot of noise but doesn't damage the car say 5m before before the hard hit. Maybe fine $100 per soft hit to pay for it? They can say well we've just saved you a lot more!
I love the sub reddit too<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/11foot8/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/11foot8/</a>
Still not high enough. They raised it another 8 inches to make it an even 12ft not too long ago, but evidently that <i>still</i> not enough.<p>One would think they would've looked more closely at the traffic on that road and adjusted it accordingly.<p>It's also really silly to have a sign indicating that too large vehicles must turn, which most drivers won't read/see in time, and practically force them to crash into the bridge, instead of having some sort of 'bumpers' ahead of the bridge for those vehicles to bump into first (I've seen those at entrances of parking lots that have both above ground and underground parking).