Rebuild LIRR Bridge at Post Ave in Westbury

Amtrak7 wrote:Midday single track outages NASSAU 3 to DIVIDE in the September 5 timetable to support Post Avenue prep work, actual replacement with a full Main Line shutdown is October 21 and 22 as mentioned.

Trucks keeo striking the old bridge which has too low clearance for tractor trailers. Bridge is just another needed puzzle in the main line third track project.

Yes, truckers striking the bridges are almost a weekly occurrence in Westbury, Garden City and Merillon Ave. Post Ave. has signs, flashing lights etc, and they still don't get it. Wasn't like this years ago before GPS's.

I saw a truck wedged under the bridge - on the front window was the driver's face print.
I wonder if he remembered to go another way the next time. also, seatbelt?

Work is moving fast - 2 of the south girders are in place with the deck installed. I'm trying to locate my model railroader book on bridges - they would call it a through girder bridge - replacing a deck girder bridge. Interesting that they are being assembled on high stanchions.
The busses to the golf tournament should be busy tomorrow - Sunday.
Ray

The bridge is being assembled in the parking lot. All 4 girders are in place as is the deck.
Today the LIRR did ballast work in Westbury.
Ray

Photo from yesterday:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/150842256 ... 950347602/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The west 2 cars of both platforms are closed.

Another truck struck the bridge on Thursday.
I don't know if that prompted a visit by Governor Coumo but he came to talk about it. I don't remember his exact words but I think he said that there were 80 trucks that struck the bridge in 10 years. The Thursday strike caused delays of many trains. "this won't happen after Monday, October 22 at 6 AM".
They will post a time lapse video of the bridge replacement.

I'm betting that the new bridge will get struck within a month of its being put in place. It's only going to be 2 ft, 3 inches higher than the old one, which seems like only a marginal difference. We'll see, but I doubt this will be the cure-all that they think it will.

As long as the "new" bridge is at least 13' 7" or more in height from the road surface, the trailers will clear the span.
Is Post Ave a state route? What is the current bridge posted height?

Post Ave. is a Nassau County road. Current posted height is 11ft, 10 inches. New height should be 14ft, 1 inch. Also the road curves upward on the north side of the bridge adding to the problem.

The average "U-Haul and Ryder" rental truck wont fit under the current bridge! This bridge is not listed in any truckers Atlas,GPS units
that are made to use with class 8 trucks are few,and in need constant updating.
That road grade change/curve doesn't help.

Head-end View wrote:I'm betting that the new bridge will get struck within a month of its being put in place. It's only going to be 2 ft, 3 inches higher than the old one, which seems like only a marginal difference. We'll see, but I doubt this will be the cure-all that they think it will.

According to Wikipedia the minimum clearance for a highway overhead bridge is 14ft in urban areas (16ft in rural areas), so at the new height it will be as high as a typical highway bridge which means that any standard (not oversized load) vehicle including trucks will fit.

Look at Google maps 3D of the bridge. I can tell you, that when you are actually there, that slope up to the north from under the bridge is pretty significant. I can imagine a big-rig driver thinking that with the increased clearance they can fly through --- but, I wonder if it will make it a third of the way through and get hung up!

I do not live around there, so I do not know, but is it big rigs that strike the bridge? I would think that most of the rig drivers use GPS/maps for trucks and will rarely be around this location (of course, there is always exceptional individual drivers, but I suspect that after a strike or two they find themselves out of a job). I would have guessed that the problem is really the typical garden variety UHaul renter or small company truck that uses GPS/maps for cars and is not paying attention to signs for height restrictions.

Why have not passive warning devices gained much traction around low clearance bridges? In Europe, crossings where the rail has overhead wire have these beams installed ahead of the crossing with weights on them set at a lower height than the catenary. A tall truck that would strike the catenary would first bang on those weights waking up any distracted driver not paying attention to the height restrictions. That would seem like a very appropriate system for low bridges, especially ones that have had frequent strikes.

EuroStar you give the heavy-trucking profession way too much credit. In fact many of the bridge strikes have been tractor-trailers and other large trucks whose drivers should know better. And the answer is usually the same. They were using a GPS made for passenger car use, not for trucking. Week after week; no kidding.

And it's not just this bridge. The heavy truckers regularly enter the Long Island State Parkways which prohibit commercial trucks and have low arch-shaped bridges. A couple of times a week you can watch the State Troopers escorting them off the parkways by backing them up or turning them around. And sometimes they strike those bridges too. And it's usually the same story about following their GPS's and not seeing the posted signs.

The railroad bridge is well posted by signs and flashing lights; the truck drivers are oblivious to them. Maybe, like you said, some device over the road approaching the bridge would be the answer. But then the County who maintains the road and the State who owns the bridge would probably get into a pissing match over who should pay for any additional warning devices of the type you suggested.