Tag Archives: railroad underpasses

how tall is your truck?

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From IrishEyez ChesCo

The above photo came out yesterday afternoon with the following message from IrishEyez ChesCo:

5:31pm – Roadway is now open

West Whiteland – 1:21pm – 11/19/2024

S Whitford Rd & Spackman Ln – Accident

PD on scene with a vehicle vs bridge with the iron safety beam collapsed and down on a truck. This is at the Amtrak Bridge. Roadway will be closed for an extended period of time.

S Whitford Rd is closed between Clover Mill Rd & Spackman Ln

westwhiteland #irisheyezincidents #accident

Submitted Photos

This is right next to the Whitford Train Station. Whitford is pretty busy. I think somebody told me a few hundred people use this train station every day or almost every day. And the thing about it is commuters have to use this railroad tunnel to get from one side of the station to the other, depending on where they get on and get off.

Old Google Photo

I even found a video from August that some train spotter who post videos of trains on YouTube posted:

Trains are a mode of transportation and anywhere there are train stations and train tracks, there are underpasses.

And people always say things like “why can’t they change the bridges and tunnels” no matter where it occurs whether it’s Exton like yesterday or the center of Wayne in Radnor Township like a few days ago. The railroads can’t just magically lift and rebuild tunnels everywhere and they won’t because that isn’t going to solve the problem of people in trucks that don’t know the dimensions of what they are driving.

Other things to be considered or when the roads are done when the roads are done, the distance in the tunnel might get a little shorter, but again, most of these people don’t seem to pay attention to the dimensions of the trucks. They’re driving so they don’t even take that into consideration.

But the tunnel like this one on Whitford? It also affects commuters, who have to use the tunnel as pedestrians to cross from one side to the other of the station.

No matter what happens or doesn’t happen with the railroad underpasses, no matter how many warnings or low beams or warning, beams or signs are put up, it’s still up to the truck drivers knowing the dimensions of what they are driving and where it is safe to travel with what they are driving.

I remember when the Waze app came out how it wreaked havoc with railroad underpasses everywhere because the app just saw a better route with less traffic congestion, it didn’t see the underpasses. I don’t know if any of these direction apps have evolved enough to recognize there are railroad underpasses or not. So again, drivers can’t depend just on the app, directing them where to go. They have to know the areas in which they are driving, and that includes the heights and depths of railroad underpasses versus the dimensions of their freaking vehicles.

The driver yesterday could’ve killed himself with that beam coming down or a pedestrian or another car.

So I’m going to get off my soapbox now, but this is as infuriating as the people who drive through our covered bridges with trucks that are too big and destroy them.

Rant over.

From IrishEyez ChesCo

drivers need to learn underpass heights…

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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.