Duck or grouse? Biglorryblog is extremley grateful to Carl Jarman who hs sent me these pictures for Truck & Driver only I couldn't resist them for BLB. Carl says: "Hi Brian---One for the magazine! A warning to all drivers to make sure they know the running height of their vehicle."
Carl continues: "These shots were taken on Friday 13th June, certainly an unlucky day for the driver of this Scania, it appears that the chassis has broken just behind the point at which the crane is mounted, as the crane has hit the bridge (just out of view ) and come to a sudden stop, it has forced the cab upwards snapping the chassis and causing considerable damage to the crane, a very expensive accident. The bridge is on Crossley Road Stockport and is 14 foot 6 inches, the Crossley park industrial area cannot be reached off the A6 if you are over this height."
Now click through here for another view...
Don't know what the guy in the high-vis vest is doing...anyway my sympathies go to the driver who must have been pretty shook up. There but for the grace of the big man upstairs go the rest of us etc. The truck, a P340, is an '05-plate so hardly an oldie. I wonder what they'll do with it? In the meantime thanks Carl. Great shots.
I know it's quicker to just leave the crane up there but just proves it's not always the quickest option.
Don't have too much sympathy for the driver with his self inflicted troubles. An impact causing that much damage to a new chassis could easily have dislodged the railway bridge causing a train accident with loss of innocent lives.
I think "bridge bashes" now run at around four a day on average!
George
Belay that last remark! I have just checked the stats for the last available year and bridge strikes are running at a daily average of 5.47!
George
I was driving buses in London in the 60s, and one of our drivers normally drove a single-decker, in which he used to go slightly off his route at lunchtime, under a low bridge to park up outside his house. One day his single decker was having a service check so he had to take a double-decker, and without thinking about the low bridge he still took that bus home at lunchtime. That's right, a double-decker went under the bridge on one side and a single-decker came out the other side. True story!