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Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

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Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#161
post #135

Put a metal sign on a hinge that is at the too-tall height several hundred feet in front of the tunnel. When they hit it, they will definitely stop, and replacing the sign is a fraction of the cost of the water sign, which they can drive through anyway.

> When they hit it, they will definitely stop, and replacing the sign is a fraction of the cost of the water sign

Other comments seem to suggest this doesn't work [Low bars etc..] I am not sure how large a problem this is [No audio on vid :(] Asking people to stop sharply on a suddenly wet road doesn't seem an ideal solution.

I think an addition would be to charge the drivers the cost of repair, this is not a tax on stupidity - it is a lesson in taking responsibility in driving an extra-ordinary sized vehicle on a public road.

Thankfully my driving instructor knew the importance of taking responsibility and understanding what that means before you get behind the wheel.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#162
post #69

And I think some people will STILL crash on the tunnel anyway. I made a arcade game once: www.abril.com.br/blog/campus-party/2011/01/19/fanatico-por-jogos-leva-seu-proprio-fliperama-para-a-arena/ It has instructions printed on the sides of the screen... It was VERY, VERY, VERY common to someone ask people around them what a button do (sometimes to even random passerby people, or for example a couple arrived at the ma…

its because most instructions are unhelpful and a waste time to read, so we're conditioned to ignore them.

That's probably true, I'm always surprised when I find the answer to a problem is in the manual.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#164
post #74

That's a cute high-tech solution. A simpler one is to put a horizontal bar, the same height as the tunnel's ceiling, which will physically stop the truck before causing millions worth of damages. It's often done in France, sometimes with an early warning: a first arch with chains hanging to the maximal height. It makes a lot of noise on the truck's top, but won't destroy it.

They showed footage where low bars did physically stop the truck (or at least tore off the top part of the cargo container), but this still caused debris to be showered across the tunnel entrance, which resulted in large traffic delays.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#165
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And lastly a large flashing sign, or water sign, saying there is tire damage up ahead. Then have tire damage spikes come out of the road. It's the drivers responsibility to not damage the tunnel or bridge. Better to damage some cheap tires on a truck than the tunnel.

That's not a good idea. Tire damage reduces control of a multi-ton vehicle in the middle of traffic, and vastly increases the amount of time it will take to get the vehicle back out. Even the flying rubber tire parts have huge amounts of energy and can damage nearby cars or even kill people.

The trick then is to have something negative happen before the tunnel that isn't so dangerous to other drivers.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#166
post #135

Put a metal sign on a hinge that is at the too-tall height several hundred feet in front of the tunnel. When they hit it, they will definitely stop, and replacing the sign is a fraction of the cost of the water sign, which they can drive through anyway.

> When they hit it, they will definitely stop, and replacing the sign is a fraction of the cost of the water sign Other comments seem to suggest this doesn't work [Low bars etc..] I am not sure how large a problem this is [No audio on vid :(] Asking people to stop sharply on a suddenly wet road doesn't seem an ideal solution. I think an addition would be to charge the drivers the cost of repair, this is not a tax on…

"I think an addition would be to charge the drivers the cost of repair"

The cost of a repair to a bridge?

Maybe if the driver's employer is Fedex perhaps but even then the worse case scenario is the driver looses his job but I'm sure that already happens regardless of cost impact.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#167
post #138

Why not just have those things which actually hang down and hit the top of your truck showing you that you're too tall? As for that water sign ... why don't they put it further back and have a way for offending vehicles to exit in front of it? Am I missing something?

> As for that water sign ... why don't they put it further back and have a way for offending vehicles to exit in front of it? Am I missing something?

The projected-onto-water sign relies, for visibility, on the fact that is in front of a tunnel that is dark (hence why the lights near the entrance shut down when it activates), so it wouldn't work farther back; it also makes the road wet and incrementally more dangerous for all drivers, which is why it makes sense for the more normal insistent flashing signs, etc., to be placed farther back and the water sign to be a last resort even before considering visibility issues.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#169
post #135

Put a metal sign on a hinge that is at the too-tall height several hundred feet in front of the tunnel. When they hit it, they will definitely stop, and replacing the sign is a fraction of the cost of the water sign, which they can drive through anyway.

> When they hit it, they will definitely stop, and replacing the sign is a fraction of the cost of the water sign Other comments seem to suggest this doesn't work [Low bars etc..] I am not sure how large a problem this is [No audio on vid :(] Asking people to stop sharply on a suddenly wet road doesn't seem an ideal solution. I think an addition would be to charge the drivers the cost of repair, this is not a tax on…

That would be an expensive lesson, don't you think? Not only for the guilty but for the other drivers as well. I would go for low bars as supplemental safety measures.

Re: Sydney tunnel water screen stop sign for oversized vehicles [video]

#170
post #121

I'm somewhat more impressed by this water screen than the iphone's retina display.

Water screens are very simple (and old) tech. It's just a perforated tube and a projector. This is much more interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gusJeslMbLc , but still a weekend project, not billion-dollar research :)

There was the bit.fall project (ca. 2005) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AICq53U3dl8 by Julius Popp

and before that Stephen Pevnick's Graphical Waterfalls® (1977) http://www.pevnickdesign.com/gwhtml/history.html

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