In the News
Many Questions When Drawbridges Are To Be Replaced
This story shows that beyond the normal questions involved when replacement of a drawbridge is contemplated, sometimes issues arise that many would never even consider. Such as whether to turn the old bridge into a historic pedestrian park, for example.
More People Than You Think Are Just Nuts
This story shows a video of another driver running through a gate arm and jumping a moving bascule bridge, this time in Detroit. A bridge operator’s job is 95% boredom, 4% excitement and 1% pure insanity!
This story shows a video of a driver running through a gate arm and jumping a moving bascule bridge in Florida. I’m sure this bridge operator now thinks that they have truly seen everything. I wish that were the case.
This story could not have been told without poor decisions being made by both the boater and the bridge operator. The boater was inside his cabin without a clear sight-line of the bridge. The vessel he was “waiting behind” had cleared the bridge by a quarter mile when he attempted to transit through. The operator should have kept her attention on the closing bridge. Without the combination of errors, this could not have happened.
Sometimes bad things happen to good bridges. This story illustrates the myriad possibilities of things that can go wrong. The only lesson to learn here is that inevitably we sometimes run into “just one of those days.”
This story out of Florida simply scares me. In this one short news article, we learn that five people have been killed on just two different drawbridges. It makes me question the adequate training and supervision of bridge operators in these incidents.
This story out of Miami, Florida is another example of what can happen when visual span checks are not part of a normal bridge opening sequence. While blind spots are a reality and must be checked every opening, I am baffled at the inability to spot someone on the span in daytime hours.
Worst Case Scenario… This story out of Rio Vista, California is unfortunately the worst case scenario of what can happen when visual span checks are not part of a normal bridge opening sequence. If there is a blind spot anywhere, the failure to check those spots will eventually lead to disaster.
Car Jumps Drawbridge…Almost – In another “car jumps drawbridge” scenario, a Dutch driver maneuvers under a barrier and attempts to jump a closing retractable type drawbridge in the Netherlands in July of 2015. Unfortunately for him, he’s no James Bond.
Car Jumps Drawbridge – Again – A family vacationing on the Jersey Shore found themselves in a situation ripped right out of an action movie. Somehow, and I would love to know all the details, a bridge operator opened for a commercial vessel in such a way that roadway traffic was apparently still flowing. Something that this family will never forget, but what a nightmare for bridge owners everywhere.
Car Jumps Drawbridge – A distracted driver jumps a Palm Beach Florida drawbridge blaming his GPS for taking his attention away. Kudos to the bridge operator who stopped the lift very quickly.