Live data from Hacker News

11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

11foot8.com

71–80 of 216 posts

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people are human. They are passing a 4-way intersection. Their wife is angry at them. Their boss is giving them a hard time. Who knows. People are human and they make mistakes all the time. That's why simple, clear signage helps. Why wayfaring is a science. Why packaging is difficult.

> That's why simple, clear signage helps. But the bridge is signed, isn't it?

>> That's why simple, clear signage helps.

> But the bridge is signed, isn't it?

But is it done clearly?

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's why simple, clear signage helps. But the bridge is signed, isn't it?

>> That's why simple, clear signage helps. > But the bridge is signed, isn't it? But is it done clearly ?

It's a huge bridge, right in your way.

What more do you really think they should do?

Why is anyone driving underneath a bridge without carefully checking the height.

If the height isn't clear, why don't people stop rather than just ploughing into it.

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#73
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a sign indicating that too large vehicles must turn, which most drivers won't read/see in time When the sign activates, it also causes the traffic light to turn red. In theory, that provides plenty of time to notice and respond to the sign; in practice, collisions still happen because people just run the red light. If someone's sufficiently determined to do something stupid and reckless, there's only so much you ca…

> That's what the big yellow beam is; it was installed to protect the bridge. Yes, that one protects the bridge - what I'm talking about is a 'warning' bumper, that you can run into, but won't damage the vehicle (as others' comments here have mentioned). It would be put up further up ahead of the bridge itself (not at the bridge). Something like this: https://www.cisco-eagle.com/catalog/product/157494/garage-lo...

That's going to get destroyed by every 13' truck that smacks into it. The bridge is just on the other side of an intersection. The other three paths from that intersection are perfectly fine for 14' trucks to drive on.

And those bumpers might not cause structural damage, but I'm sure you wouldn't want random plastic objects scraping across your roof when you drive, right?

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#74
post #53

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 e…

Why cant they put a swinging bar at the tunnel height some distance before the tunnel? The bar knocks the top of the truck and wakes up whoever is driving to the fact that the truck is too tall.

This sounds like the perfect solution, a few swinging bars, thin enough not to knock something over but enough to make a loud banging noise.

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#75
post #37
post #32

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. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1008464/Amazing...

That’s really cool. Is that a divided highway? How do the trucks back up and turn around there?

They have them in more than one place, in some cases they have to stop traffic so the truck can back out.

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#76
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've often seen large gates with hanging chains at the maximal height just before low bridges and tunnels. Wouldn't that also be pretty efficient, reliable and not requiring any maintenance? I suppose having an obstacle spring in front of you would be even more likely to make you stop, but if you're still going when some chains hit the top of your vehicle you deserve to have your license suspended anyway.

The trouble with 11foot8 in particular is that it’s right on the intersection, so through traffic passing by the bridge without going under it would hit the chains as well.

But that bridge in Australia isn’t on an intersection. There’s plenty of room for a hanging bar.

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> That's why simple, clear signage helps. > But the bridge is signed, isn't it? But is it done clearly ?

It's a huge bridge, right in your way. What more do you really think they should do? Why is anyone driving underneath a bridge without carefully checking the height. If the height isn't clear, why don't people stop rather than just ploughing into it.

Ever missed a single down-step and fell down/got tripped up?

How could you possibly miss it??? I mean, it was right there in front of you!

I mean, it doesn’t matter that it “blended in” and wasn’t easily visible, and has no handrail, it was still right there.

Re: 11 Foot 8 – The Can-opener Bridge

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a huge bridge, right in your way. What more do you really think they should do? Why is anyone driving underneath a bridge without carefully checking the height. If the height isn't clear, why don't people stop rather than just ploughing into it.

Ever missed a single down-step and fell down/got tripped up? How could you possibly miss it??? I mean, it was right there in front of you ! I mean, it doesn’t matter that it “blended in” and wasn’t easily visible, and has no handrail, it was still right there .

> it doesn’t matter that it “blended in” and wasn’t easily visible

It's a MASSIVE bridge, right in front of your face, and bright yellow warning bar.

Post reply on HN