I-35 bridge collapse at Salado Texas

First, prayers and condolences to the families of the dead driver.

Second, this might be on the construction company as well.
How did that skateboard clear the rest of the beams, but not the last two? IF he's too tall to clear those two, he should have been stopped by the first ones. There is plenty of blame to go round here.

 

The questions are
#1 what height was he permitted for if permitted for over-height?
#2 was this permit height CORRECT?
#3 what did the bridge clearance sign say was the height ahead of the bridge? Unless they put up a temporary sign, there has never been a sign indication anything less then about 14'6 as I recall. Why would any job superintendent allow for something as low as 13'6" even for only a few minutes?

I would hazard a guess that load was probably between 14' and 14'6", probably closer to 14'. Saying all that. Haven't been through there in a month or so, but is there a bypass exit ahead of the bridge he could have taken if he might have been doubt? hard to assign any blame on any driver at this point.

Terrible tragedy for all concerned.

 

or just bad reporting

 

You don't run overheight on flats, thats what steps are for.

 

Looking at some other pics of the flatbed. I'm walking back my statement. he was taller then 14'6. Yes, that cherry picker should not have been on a flatbed in the first place.

 

He has a point how did he clear all but the last two beams

 

Excerpt from the story (link) provided by FatDaddy:

Not sure why Sheriff's Office didn't know if truck/load was taller than bridge clearance, after the fact.
One look at the top of the cherry picker boom would show that 'cut and dry' evidence.

Sounds like discrepancies over the actual bridge clearance, since it appears there's conflict on the signage.

The last bolded line leaves one saying "What??".
Surely I hope they mean the news media's particular contact at Lares may not have known the truck/load actual height, but the driver surely had to know it.
If not, major fault on the driver, and/or the Lares person handling the permitting.

 

Bridges are marked for the lowest height, they are not all level. Texas is one of few states that mark all their bridges. There is no excuse.

 

DMV: Truck that hit bridge lacked permit for ‘over-height load’

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/dmv-truck-that-hit-bridge-lacked-permit-for-over-h/nkgY6/

My guess is the load was never measured, earlier the owner said there was a permit but didn't know where his driver was headed.

One dead, small company will be out of business and driver will probably face manslaughter, all of which could have been prevented by using a tape measure.

My rule when pulling a flat was if I could not reach the top of the load standing on the trailer, MEASURE.

 

That never happens in the media..... They always get it right