I was delivering this bridge, and I ran outta gas.

And it wasn't Storrow Drive in Boston. Color me surprised.

Oh, wait... that's just students in their U-Hauls in September.

Came here for the Storrow Drive comments, leaving satisfied.

A semi truck got stuck under the Government Bridge just before 4 p.m. on Friday, stopping Illinois-bound traffic.

A tow truck is on its way and officials will decide whether to let the air out of the semi's tires or pull it out another way.

As of 5:45 p.m., the truck remained in place.

Why is letting the air out of the tires up to officials?

Why has the truck sat there for almost two hours before anyone tried letting the air out of the tires?

Isn't this an old brain teaser?

Stuff like this was a regular occurrence at the under pass by Baghdad International Airport between Camps Victory and Slayer.

Read the comments and one of them observed that every truck driver who gets stuck under the bridge blame it on their GPS. Garmin made me do it.

RoyBatty: A semi truck got stuck under the Government Bridge just before 4 p.m. on Friday, stopping Illinois-bound traffic.

A tow truck is on its way and officials will decide whether to let the air out of the semi's tires or pull it out another way.

As of 5:45 p.m., the truck remained in place.

Why is letting the air out of the tires up to officials?

Why has the truck sat there for almost two hours before anyone tried letting the air out of the tires?

Isn't this an old brain teaser?



I would guess they need to access the bridge for structural damage before removing what might be something holding something it broke in place.
Most likely an insurance thing.

this happens too damn often everywhere

I guess they are four times as stupid out there.

JohnAnnArbor: Not as bad as the double-decker bus from a year or do ago.

or the time a mobile crane ran under a bridge with the crane arm up

or a dumptruck with the dumpbed up a few months ago in dallas

They need to hang one of those warning bars like they have for parking garages. Put it a mile or so from the last exit before the bridge if you hit it you won't fit go around. Or better yet a beam like they have in liquor stores that makes the bell go off. If you trip the beam a light goes off on the side of the road that tells you yo exit.

Wow, I guess there's a first time for everything... Quick, we need to GreenLight this submission Stat!! Let people know about this dangerous new trend.

/Sarcasm off

Amateurs.

Dirty flat bedders think they can go under low bridges cause they usually have a lower clearance than dry van/reefer trailers. Guess he forgot that freightliner he's driving still has a 13' clearance.

But if it makes ya'll any less mad, he works for prime, which sucks and if I remember correctly they are strictly an owner operator/fleece operator outfit so there's a 99.9999% chance he's gonna be responsible for that insanely large fine DOT is about to give him....

I can do you one better: A month or two ago a flatbed semi driving out from Anchorage along the Glenn Highway was carrying a steam shovel.. The truck could clear the overpass, but the steam shovel didn't, and smashed into the side of the bridge, cutting into it several feet before finally stopping.

The bridge was closed off and the structural beams had to be replaced. Traffic had to be closed down to one lane and directed through the off and on-ramps while they repaired it. I wish I'd taken pictures.

Quick bit of warning, DON'T click on the 'A Brief History of Q.C.'s Truck Eating Bridges' link:

1. It's a slideshow

2. You have to click on the image itself to make the slideshow progress

3. Clicking on the thumbnail in the slideshow doesn't take you to that slide 'sometimes', it takes you to another page with just that image. Other times it works.

4. Some of the slides are about an inch and a half high and 3 inches wide.

5. It's a s-l-o-w slideshow.

Sometimes slideshows are OK, and in something like this, they would normally work out OK, but this one sucks donkey ass.

TripcodeMel: I can do you one better: A month or two ago a flatbed semi driving out from Anchorage along the Glenn Highway was carrying a steam shovel.. The truck could clear the overpass, but the steam shovel didn't, and smashed into the side of the bridge, cutting into it several feet before finally stopping.

The bridge was closed off and the structural beams had to be replaced. Traffic had to be closed down to one lane and directed through the off and on-ramps while they repaired it. I wish I'd taken pictures.

I think that's what fzumrk was posting pictures of

RoyBatty: Why has the truck sat there for almost two hours before anyone tried letting the air out of the tires?

Yesterday a truck ran off the road here so a tow truck was called to pull it out. He took up both lanes of traffic to position himself right in front of the vehicle. I said to my fiance that we should all just be going through the grass to get around the obstacle after all it was a section of highway that had 2 lanes going 1 direction with plenty of flat grassland dividing the highway. 15 minutes later and traffic getting back up the officers decided to let us go into the grass to make it around the tow truck.

TripcodeMel: I can do you one better: A month or two ago a flatbed semi driving out from Anchorage along the Glenn Highway was carrying a steam shovel.. The truck could clear the overpass, but the steam shovel didn't, and smashed into the side of the bridge, cutting into it several feet before finally stopping.

The bridge was closed off and the structural beams had to be replaced. Traffic had to be closed down to one lane and directed through the off and on-ramps while they repaired it. I wish I'd taken pictures.

What was he doing with a steam shovel? Taking it to a museum? Was Mike Mulligan the driver? He should know better, I sure hope Mary Anne is OK.

Bunnyhat: I would guess they need to access the bridge for structural damage before removing what might be something holding something it broke in place.Most likely an insurance thing.

I think you're right, but it's surprising from the photo, because it's just the top of the cab. It looks trivially crushable. I'd be amazed the bridge can't handle that.

/Not a civil or mechanical engineer

Gyrfalcon: You need someone with a good background in hot air to decide if the tires should be deflated.

Damn! I have a good background in hot air! Finally a job I am qualified for, and I am miles away.

We know how this one is going to end....

loonatic112358: this happens too damn often everywhere

I'm not saying this applies here, seeing as that looks to be a metal decked bridge, but there's a lot of occasions where this isn't the truck drivers fault. Cities/states repave roads three, four even five times without ever thinking to change the clearance signs, its not uncommon for them to be as much as 6-8 inches off.

http://11foot8.com/

Obligatory.
=Smidge=

I guess there's a truck driver who will be posting his resume to Monster and Craigslist on Monday and filing for unemployment.

Bunnyhat: RoyBatty: A semi truck got stuck under the Government Bridge just before 4 p.m. on Friday, stopping Illinois-bound traffic.

A tow truck is on its way and officials will decide whether to let the air out of the semi's tires or pull it out another way.

As of 5:45 p.m., the truck remained in place.

Why is letting the air out of the tires up to officials?

Why has the truck sat there for almost two hours before anyone tried letting the air out of the tires?

Isn't this an old brain teaser?



I would guess they need to access the bridge for structural damage before removing what might be something holding something it broke in place.
Most likely an insurance thing.

Nah the cops just love inconveniencing people. Don't let them tell you otherwise. That's why the SOBs close down an intersection for four hours during rush hour for "investigations"; really, they just get a kick out of the fact that thousands of people are going to be late getting to their destinations.

MAYORBOB: Read the comments and one of them observed that every truck driver who gets stuck under the bridge blame it on their GPS. Garmin made me do it.

Who wants to bet that the driver was on his cell phone?

Bunnyhat: RoyBatty: A semi truck got stuck under the Government Bridge just before 4 p.m. on Friday, stopping Illinois-bound traffic.

A tow truck is on its way and officials will decide whether to let the air out of the semi's tires or pull it out another way.

As of 5:45 p.m., the truck remained in place.

Why is letting the air out of the tires up to officials?

Why has the truck sat there for almost two hours before anyone tried letting the air out of the tires?

Isn't this an old brain teaser?



I would guess they need to access the bridge for structural damage before removing what might be something holding something it broke in place.
Most likely an insurance thing.

Not to mention, tow trucks capable of moving a semi-wedged semi are not necessarily a dime-a-dozen. You're not calling Triple-A to change a tire here.

Aren't we all stuck under Government Bridge?

RoyBatty: Bunnyhat: I would guess they need to access the bridge for structural damage before removing what might be something holding something it broke in place.Most likely an insurance thing.

I think you're right, but it's surprising from the photo, because it's just the top of the cab. It looks trivially crushable. I'd be amazed the bridge can't handle that.

/Not a civil or mechanical engineer

It's just fiberglass. It isn't any stronger than the crap they make those tub surrounds out of. It would probably collapse if you walked on it.

ReapTheChaos: loonatic112358: this happens too damn often everywhere

I'm not saying this applies here, seeing as that looks to be a metal decked bridge, but there's a lot of occasions where this isn't the truck drivers fault. Cities/states repave roads three, four even five times without ever thinking to change the clearance signs, its not uncommon for them to be as much as 6-8 inches off.

Took my van into a parking garage with no height listed. I saw the problem coming before it got "bad" though.

I see others aren't surprised to see this was Prime. I honestly know nothing about them, but they're the trucks I avoid the most on the highway, based on the driving I've seen from them.

I am an insurance certified tire deflation official.

Anyone else notice that the tag at the bottom of the article is "Truck Eating Bridge"?

MAYORBOB: Read the comments and one of them observed that every truck driver who gets stuck under the bridge blame it on their GPS. Garmin made me do it.

It's quite possible that if he was using a GPS, it was one meant for a car that came on his phone or something. 99% of the time, that works out OK. But that 1% can be a real doozy if you're not paying attention.

I'd say it's his fault for not springing for a truck-route specific GPS (and it's certainly his fault for not watching the signs), but if he's a fairly new driver, there's a ton of stuff you have to buy and a GPS won't necessarily be at the top of the list, especially if you've already got a stopgap in place on your phone.

sinanju: And it wasn't Storrow Drive in Boston. Color me surprised.

Oh, wait... that's just students in their U-Hauls in September.

Came here to say this.

/have personally seen 3 such incidents
/ not all students

Why doesn't he just transform?

What? Oh, not that Prime.