Low Bridge Enough to Ruin Your Whole Day
A gentleman pulling a fifth wheel through Winnipeg, Manitoba found out the hard way that it pays to know how high your rig is. While reports suggest the vertical clearance at the bridge was somewhere less than 10', the man was able to firmly wedge his Wildwood fiver under the overpass.We had a somewhat similar, but far less disastrous experience in Bakersfield, California. Pulling under a freeway overpass our wind turbine blades managed to meet up with the low-slung (and unmarked as to height) bridge. Since we can clear anything over 12' 6", we were a bit surprised (and genuinely displeased) when we wound up repairing damages.
When measuring clearance, be sure to take into account the HIGHEST object on your roof, be it air conditioning unit, solar panel on the highest point of the rig, what-have-you. It's not too far off to "add" a little bit to your clearance, as if there's a change in grade under the low-slung object, your practical height can rise just a smidge.
Photo from www.winnipegfirst.ca
posted by Russ and Tiña De Maris at
12:43 PM
6 Comments:
In my case it was a very tight rock tunnel in Custer State Park, SD. I scraped up my brand new awning.
By
rich2350, at 1:24 PM
Also, if you travel in the Northeast, they have rounded corners on the tunnels/bridges. So take this in to consideration. The posted height is usualy for the center not the corner edges.
By
Anonymous, at 6:07 AM
Another thing to think about is if they repave the road the true height could be shorter than what is posted.
By
Anonymous, at 9:30 PM
Keep in mind too that the posted height on bridges are padded. yes, the idiot factor is built in. actual height is higher for safety's sake. How many times have you taken a curve at 50mph with no problems but it is marked 35mph. That's right. same factor built in.
By
Anonymous, at 10:00 AM
If you ever plan to go to Long Island N.Y., you need to know that the "Parkway's" are only for cars.
We almost had a disaster on the Belt Parkway a few weeks ago. And, even at 4 am there is alot of traffic racing along the road. We were lucky that a nice couple of guys with tow trucks blocked that traffic, while 2 nice police officers escorted us to the Sunrise Hwy.
By
Anonymous, at 3:27 PM
Happened in St John New Brunswick. Saw the underpass okay but never seen the the I Beam about two feet lower. Needless to say there was not much left up there.Four people in the truck but no one saw the height sign.
By
Anonymous, at 11:22 AM
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