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On Storrow Drive, it's go big or go home; of course, if you go big, you're not going home
By adamg on Fri, 05/10/2024 - 9:20am
Workers try to figure out how to get trailer out from under overpass. Photo by roving UHub photagrapher Brian C.
The driver of an 18-wheeler tried to get on Storrow Drive outbound from the Bowker Overpass this morning only to learn that like the house in poker, the bridge always wins. Bright-eyed and bushytailed NBC Boston photographer Mark Garfinkel was on the scene shortly before 6:30 a.m. and posted some photos of what it looks like after the overpass is done teaching its latest lesson.
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Comments
Especially love the...
"Wanted: Drivers" notice on the back of the truck. Yeah, I'm going to guess the trucking company has a new opening.
As does the truck. *rimshot*
As does the truck. *rimshot*
Impressive
I can't figure out how the cab got through undamaged.
Yeah
That was my first thought too. Is the top made of rubber?
I'm going to award that an 8. Nothing spilled onto the road but the trailer did get destroyed.
Slope past overpass
I think the road slopes up after the overpass, so the cab made it under mostly ok and then as the tractor went up the slope, the effective clearance decreased until the trailer got jammed.
7. The back is intact
7. The back is intact
Truck Height
There is a rising grade after the bridge where the bridge is high enough to clear the height of the truck but as the cab hits the incline the top of the trailer moves vertically as it moves horizontally. You can see the exact pinch point in the angle of the trailer remnants. Your headline is spot on...impressive.
it is damaged
The top of the cab has a fiberglass airflow spoiler that's totally destroyed, you can see the top part sheered off.
Because the road has a sudden incline after the bridge, the truck cab itself made it mostly ok, but the trailer is so long it started to incline based on the fulcrum point at the back of the cab. So the trailer is totally F'd, the truck has a few thousand in damages.
Trailer is a total loss. Those go for anything from $15k to $50k.
Driver will be cited for operating a Class 8 truck on a restricted road. You get 2 citations in a given time period (I think 2 years?) before you lose your CDL, but that driver doesn't appear to be an owner operator and it's pretty much guaranteed they will be fired for that, in addition to points on their license and insurance surcharge of 20% on their personal and professional insurance policies for the next 7 years.
The cab isn't as tall as the
The cab isn't as tall as the truck box.
What you see on the top of the cab is a lightweight material tapering up and back to encourage a bit of streamlining.
Definitely one for the best-of list
How long until a gas truck does this and puts Storrow out of its misery once and for all (we can only hope).
Like I-95 in Norwalk last
Like I-95 in Norwalk last week?
Solid 3/4 roof peel, truck
Solid 3/4 roof peel, truck still upright. The East German judge gives it 8.7/10.
The Best Was
When the Boston Fire Department storrowed one of its engines days after it was delivered.
The Best Was
When the Boston Fire Department storrowed one of its engines days after it was delivered.
Another idiot
I just don't understand driving a truck and not always being on the alert for low bridges. I drive a box truck which isn't nearly as tall as this 18-wheeler, and I'm always getting upset when there's no number posted at overpasses and bridges. Look at the size of that 10'9'' sign. Someone was daydreaming at the wheel.
Overpass Height
Has anyone asked this question before: is there a reason they can't simply increase the height of the overpass, so Storrowing becomes a thing of the past, a distant memory, a piece of nostalgia?
All of the overpasses?
There are a lot of them, starting with the Blossom Street pedestrian bridge near Mass. General Hospital and going all the way to the Anderson Bridge (JFK Street / North Harvard Street) near Harvard Square and Stadium. I count at least 12 and may have missed some.
Why would we want to …
… encourage more trucks to drive next to a well loved park? It’s bad enough with all the other motor vehicle noise and exhaust.
Sure
They could spend $100 million to replace all the bridges, thus making it another unfettered highway for large trucks instead of just dealing with the dopes who ignore the signs once in a while.
Remove the overpasses altogether
And remove the blight that is Storrow, too.
If you know your history, you will know that it was built over the Widow Storrow's dead body. It was never supposed to be a highway.
Huh?
So we just keep rearranging the world, at all costs, to accommodate dumb asses who refuse to get with the program? If it's not this, it will be something else.
I just do not understand why
I just do not understand why these keep happening over and over again!
Two words
Google Maps
... and the dumbasses who blindly follow what Google Maps tells them without previewing the route or looking at the effing signs.
Both Google and Waze should
Both Google and Waze should both include overpass heights and let the route settings take that into account -- they already do that with tolls!!!
I drive a handicap lift van that is 10' 2", so overpass heights is a big concern of mine.
Here's a thought: what if we
Here's a thought: what if we put signs saying something to the effect of "THE AVERAGE PERSON WHO DRIVES A BIG TRUCK DOWN THIS ROAD ENDS UP PAYING $X TO REPAIR AN OVERPASS", where I'm guessing X is a pretty big number. Seems like this might get people's attention.
Let some air out of the tires.
She'll be out of there in no time!
This truck looks like the
This truck looks like the bridge fell on it.