Ship Road Underpass . Reader submitted photo.

Whether it’s the railroad underpass in Radnor Township at the train station on King of Prussia Road, or the underpass at Old Lancaster Road in Lower Merion Township, or any of the multitude of railroad underpasses and tunnels that dot Chester County, why can’t drivers read and comprehend the height limits?

It’s crazy. In the past one could argue back in the day that these railroad bridges and underpasses weren’t marked. BUT THEY ARE MARKED TODAY!

Malvern Borough 2018. A friend sent photo to me.

LOOK at the photo above and below! The underpass is MARKED CLEARLY! How can you miss the giant yellow painted steel beam with the height on it??

Photo found on Google attributed to Abel Bros Towing.

Someone told me once that the giant painted yellow steel beams are a few thousand a piece installed? I think they are a great idea in these locations because it keeps the truck from hitting the structure it hits the beam. Mind you it doesn’t necessarily stop trucks from getting stuck under the underpass or tunnel but it does help with the initial hit.

Every time a truck does this everything comes to a halt. Why? Because engineers have to look at the bridge to make sure it’s structurally sound after each accident.

How do companies allow truck drivers who don’t know the height of what they are driving? If they have a hard time remembering, why not have a big sticker on the dashboard that says your truck is X feet X inches tall?

I think a lot of this has to do with driving apps like Waze. Waze doesn’t include tunnel heights or even warn of tunnels and/or underpasses that I know of, do you?

How many years of hits from trucks can these old railroad tunnels and underpasses take?

I have gotten stuck on Ship Road before when they were removing a truck from under the railroad underpasses / tunnels there. You really get stuck because when you end up behind one of these trucks then everybody wants to turn around immediately and not pay attention to any of the other vehicles around them.

It’s just one of those things that keeps happening in our communities. And it’s not because these places aren’t marked. They are marked. And in a lot of places they are also marked with giant yellow steel beams with the height attached.

I don’t get this any more than the people that destroy Chester County’s iconic covered bridges by also not reading the height limits and running into them.

Please note that both Ship Road photos are from last week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ship Rd last week. P.k. Ditty photo.