# The Undefeated Bridge (funny) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888 "2012-10-26T00:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/41 "2012-10-26T18:57:01Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > OK, after the fifth or sixth accident, why didn’t they hang a bang bar at 11’ 7" a couple of hundred feet from the bridge? You know, something that will make a helluva lot of noise but not actually rip the top off a truck? Exactly. There is a bridge like that in a nearby city, I e-mailed city council suggesting that, and maybe a sign that says “If you hit this bar you will hit that bridge.” ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/42 "2012-10-26T19:12:42Z")
I-96 in Michigan has a low bridge a little bit west of Novi. A few years ago, they installed an automatic sensor a mile or two before the bridge to detect any vehicles that won’t make it under. The first overpass after the sensor has a warning sign which lights up if something trips the sensor (I saw it activated once. It says “OVERHEIGHT VEHICLE.”) There’s also a siren next to the sign, which I’ve never heard. When they were first setting up the sensor, it wasn’t obvious what it was for. I though it was a speed camera, and I was royally pissed off about it, until they erected a big sign right next to it saying it’s an overheight device. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/43 "2012-10-26T19:15:09Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Exactly. There is a bridge like that in a nearby city, I e-mailed city council suggesting that, and maybe a sign that says “If you hit this bar you will hit that bridge.” That’s answered in the FAQ. > [@](#): > > \*\*Could they install a low-clearance bar? \*\* > > A low clearance bar is a bar suspended by chains ahead of the bridge. Overheight vehicles hit that bar first and the noise alerts the driver to to the problem. I understand that this approach has been successful in other places, but it’s not practical here. There are many overheight trucks that have to be able to drive right up to the bridge and turn onto Peabody St. in order to deliver supplies to several restaurants. Making Peabody St inaccessible from Gregson St would make the restaurant owners and the delivery drivers very unhappy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/44 "2012-10-26T19:30:56Z")
My favorite was the one which said “Two Men and a Truck” on the side. Afterwards, just Two Men. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/45 "2012-10-26T19:45:20Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > The FDR drive runs up the east side of Manhattan, which, as you all know, gets lots of traffic. It has several very low clearances and is completely closed to truck traffic. > [@control-z](#): > > Exactly. There is a bridge like that in a nearby city, I e-mailed city council suggesting that, and maybe a sign that says “If you hit this bar you will hit that bridge.” Storrow Drive in Boston sounds a bit like the FDR; limited access and intended for cars only. There are sensors and chains hanging down at bridge height, both about a mile before the first bridge. At the bridge is a turn-out. I have seen traffic stopped so that a truck can back up a mile and get off the road. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/46 "2012-10-26T21:26:40Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The have a sign that lights up and flashes as you approach the bridge if your vehicle is over 11’ 8". The drivers seem able to ignore that. [Here’s the bridge in Street View](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=peabody+%26+gregson,+durham,+nc&hl=en&ll=35.999205,-78.910031&spn=0.006684,0.009645&sll=35.999201,-78.910037&layer=c&cbp=13,219.95,,0,8.76&cbll=35.99924,-78.909997&hnear=S+Gregson+St+%26+W+Peabody+St,+Durham,+North+Carolina+27701&t=h&z=17&panoid=0C7yp4ZM7qtyE_gBiPKtDA). First 11’8" sign is 500 feet in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/47 "2012-10-26T22:02:39Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] A city councilman probably also owns “Bob’s Truck Roof Repair Shop” a quarter mile down the road. [/QUOTE] Thanks for that! Best and longest laugh I’ve had all week! (＾O＾) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/48 "2012-10-27T01:55:56Z")
At the grocery store I work at, we have electric scooters for our elderly/infirm/what-have-you customers. Unfortunately, we started having problems with them being stolen, or driven off the property and abandoned at a bus stop half a mile away. To stop it from happening again, our store manager had big steel bars welded onto the front of the scooters, sticking up in the air like a ship’s mast, thereby making it impossible for them to clear the exit door. On days when I’m cashiering, if I get assigned to a register near the door, I try to keep track of how many people try to drive out the front door only to be confused when the scooter stops in its tracks with a “k-THAAAAAAAAAANG!” as the bar hits the wall. This video reminds me of that. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/49 "2012-10-27T02:22:32Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Here’s the bridge in Street View](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=peabody+%26+gregson,+durham,+nc&hl=en&ll=35.999205,-78.910031&spn=0.006684,0.009645&sll=35.999201,-78.910037&layer=c&cbp=13,219.95,,0,8.76&cbll=35.99924,-78.909997&hnear=S+Gregson+St+%26+W+Peabody+St,+Durham,+North+Carolina+27701&t=h&z=17&panoid=0C7yp4ZM7qtyE_gBiPKtDA). First 11’8" sign is 500 feet in advance. Is it me, or does the Google vehicle look like it barely made it under? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/50 "2012-10-27T03:45:05Z")
Now that I know about this website, I have an odd desire to mess with this guy’s mind a little bit. And I think I know how. We get a big flatbed truck. On the bed, we build a large mannequin, clearly too tall to fit under the bridge. Drive toward the bridge. And then, just before we get to it, press a button and the mannequin bends over backwards and _limbos under the bridge!_ We could probably fund this on kickstarter, but I’d hate to give away the surprise. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/51 "2012-10-27T04:40:19Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Considering it’s a railroad trestle, it ought to be designed to outright destroy trucks passing under it before suffering any damage, since a train derailment would be much more destructive. > > [Case in point](http://www.exponent.com/kentucky_train_derailment/). Sure, they can figure out what derailed the train but they can’t spell Shepherdsville. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/52 "2012-10-27T16:43:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > We get a big flatbed truck. On the bed, we build a large mannequin, clearly too tall to fit under the bridge. Drive toward the bridge. And then, just before we get to it, press a button and the mannequin bends over backwards and _limbos under the bridge!_ Bwhaaaa… That would be stupendous. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/53 "2012-10-27T18:36:12Z")
> [@Indian](#): > > Shouldn’t they be putting up regular warning signs starting a couple of miles before? That is the best way to warn even the careless drivers. A traffic-control solution would involve a photoeye-type light barrier about 100 yards BEFORE the bridge; one that triggers a stop signal, or better yet, a gate, with a sign that informs the driver that he has just proven that his vehicle isn’t going to fit. A somewhat more expensive traffic control solution would be to dig a dip into the road, to create a higher clearance (the problem with that would likely be that now even TALLER trucks would be involved in the disasters). ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/54 "2012-10-27T19:31:30Z")
I live in Durham, and didn’t know about this bridge. These crashes must be so common they don’t even make the news. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/55 "2012-10-27T19:32:57Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Bwhaaaa… That would be stupendous. Only if the limbo guy was Super Dave Osbourne. Somebody noted the first sign 500 feet before the bridge. Thats enough time to stop but its not exactly a buttload of warning either. The real problem is that dangerously low bridges are rather uncommon. Enough that for the vast majority of the time its something that you never have to worry about. IMO they need a giant flashing sign on that bridge…flashing “LOW ASSED FUCKING BRIDGE!” with maybe an alternating neon pole stripper thingy to make sure they notice it. 🙂 That might do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/56 "2012-10-27T19:59:37Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > IMO they need a giant flashing sign on that bridge…flashing “LOW ASSED FUCKING BRIDGE!” with maybe an alternating neon pole stripper thingy to make sure they notice it. 🙂 > > That might do the trick. There already **is** a sign with flashing lights that start flashing if your truck is too tall, plus there are at least three cross-streets before the bridge in that distance - if you are going too fast on a non-highway residential road to not be able to stop in 500 feet, you’re a dangerous driver. I backed up further in street view - there’s a higher-mounted sign back at 1000 feet from the bridge, too, just past the Gregory/Lamond intersection. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/57 "2012-10-27T20:23:00Z")
I can believe people are stupid enough not to understand that those flashing lights mean them, but I am stunned at how many just kept going after the roof of their truck got peeled off. WTF, dude? Best example of karma coming back at you instantly that I’ve seen. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/58 "2012-10-27T22:38:21Z")
When I was a kid, there was a railroad bridge right next to my parent’s business. This bridge was relatively low, but the real problem was that it sat at the foot of a hill, and the incline started right at the bridge. Short trucks could go under no problem. However, longer trucks of the same height would hit the incline, and wedge themselves under the bridge. I remember watching workmen attempting to free one such long truck. They let the air out of the tires, took sledgehammers to the roof of the truck (nowadays the roof of the box is often lightweight, translucent plastic, as seen in the video. Not so much then.), disconnected the tractor, etc. By the close of business, it was still stuck. I’m not sure how they did manage to free it. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/59 "2012-10-27T22:48:13Z")
I imagine the ghosts of the bridge construction workers are all sitting on the bridge, high-fiving each other as another one bites the dust. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888/60 "2012-10-27T23:07:19Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > When I was a kid, there was a railroad bridge right next to my parent’s business. This bridge was relatively low, but the real problem was that it sat at the foot of a hill, and the incline started right at the bridge. Short trucks could go under no problem. However, longer trucks of the same height would hit the incline, and wedge themselves under the bridge. > > I remember watching workmen attempting to free one such long truck. They let the air out of the tires, took sledgehammers to the roof of the truck (nowadays the roof of the box is often lightweight, translucent plastic, as seen in the video. Not so much then.), disconnected the tractor, etc. By the close of business, it was still stuck. I’m not sure how they did manage to free it. KY? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-undefeated-bridge-funny/638888.md?page=4)