Drawbridge Fatalities

In this week’s “Drawbridges in the News” section, I link to a story out of Florida that accounts the tragic death of an elderly man who was trying to cross a bascule bridge. The sad and frightening experience is made altogether worse by the story relating that four other deaths have occurred in similar fashion on just two bridges.

Drawbridges are extremely large machines and can easily injure or kill not only pedestrians but people traveling both in automobiles or boats. It is incumbent upon the maintenance or operations departments responsible for these machines to install adequate training and supervision metrics to ensure the safe operation of each drawbridge.

Twenty-some years ago as I was starting out in drawbridge maintenance, the system in place was for all new bridge operators to be trained by whichever bridge operator was on duty at that time. While we certainly had a few very proficient operators back then, we also had a number who were barely tolerable. This led inexorably to a decline in the average bridge operator competence much as making photocopies from other photocopies will inevitably lead to poor quality reproductions.

I remember being called one day and having the bridge operator on duty inform me that he was opening the bridge and number 9 would not work. What is number 9, I asked…and of course the bridge operator had no idea. Turns out that little squares of paper with numbers were taped to the control desk identifying which button or switch was next in the sequence. The operators had no knowledge of what each button or switch actually did, only the ability to count correctly to at least 25.

Fortunately we were able to scrap the old system and set up a training and certification program that more effectively ensured the quality of our bridge operators. We also periodically observed bridge openings and required all operators to pass re-certification review every year. By using our most skilled personnel to train each new operator, we got the highest quality results instead of the poorest.

I do understand that given the right combination of circumstance and distraction, accidents can always happen. But I cannot fathom the circumstance that would allow for a second fatality of the same type to occur on the same bridge, let alone a third and fourth. I sincerely hope that the responsible department has made changes to the operating procedures and supervision practices in place to ensure that there is never a number five.

I would be interested in hearing any stories you have of drawbridge accidents or ways that you have addressed safety issues on your bridges. Please feel free to share your comments below.