Cabbage Hill INFO ...

Discussion in 'Truckers News' started by Giggles the Original, Mar 6, 2011.

  1. Giggles the Original

    Giggles the Original Road Train Member

    thought this was pretty cool...of course I know it "tracks you" but thats what prepass is good for anyway...but I think its a good idea...of course the original sign should be enough...but maybe this will help









    Downhill Speed Information System [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Truckers get a white-knuckle experience traveling Interstate 84 from La Grande to Pendleton as they lose 2,000 feet of elevation and twist through a double hairpin turn at a 6% downgrade on Emigrant Hill, also known as Cabbage Hill. Now a new advisory system is cautioning transponder-equipped trucks about the steep downgrade so drivers will slow to a safe speed. The system is linked with the Green Light preclearance system at the Emigrant Hill weigh station. If a truck is equipped with a Green Light transponder, a variable message sign displays a personalized message for the truck and a recommended speed that is based on that truck´s weight as recorded when it passed the Emigrant Hill weigh station. Watch an mpg movie of the sign in action.

    Emigrant Hill, from mileposts 219 to 228, has historically experienced a plague of crashes. In the five-year period from 2003 through 2007, the area had 51 truck crashes involving a fatality, injury, or disabling damage to any vehicle, including 31 in which a truck was at-fault. The crashes resulted in 21 injuries and 2 deaths.

    The new speed advisory system is designed to help inexperienced drivers who don´t realize how difficult it is to slow to a safe speed once they get started down this hill. When following trucks here it´s not uncommon to see smoke coming from the back of a truck as its brakes heat up. Emigrant Hill has a runaway ramp that trucks can use as a last resort to escape serious trouble.


    Recommended speed
    [​IMG]


    At Emigrant Hill, an Interstate 84 roadside sign shows recommended speeds for trucks with five axles or more on such downgrades, ranging from 37 mph for trucks weighing between 60,000 and 65,000 lbs. to 18 mph for trucks weighing between 75,000 and 80,000 lbs.

    The new advisory system displays one of these recommended speeds whenever it recognizes a transponder-equipped truck that was weighed in-motion upstream at the Emigrant Hill weigh station. However, a transponder-equipped truck that weighs less than 60,000 lbs. or more than 80,000 lbs. sees a personalized message with no indication of a recommended speed. The variable message sign just shows the company name and a STEEP DOWNGRADE warning. Eventually the system will be enhanced to show recommended speeds for other truck weights.

    [​IMG] International Road Dynamics (IRD), Saskatoon, Canada, worked with the Oregon Department of Transportation to install the system in December 2002. It´s the world´s first advisory system capable of displaying a personalized message that includes both a trucking company name and a recommended safe speed for the truck. IRD has installed a similar system in Colorado on Interstate 70 at the summit of one of the Rocky Mountains. It also uses weigh-in-motion scales to determine the recommended speed for each truck, but it doesn´t have transponder-recognition capabilities.

    A Downhill Speed Information System has long been a part of Green Light program plans. When Oregon administrators gathered in 1993 to write a strategic plan for using intelligent transportation systems for commercial vehicle operations, their vision included such safety enhancements: Site-specific highway warning systems could be installed at areas where weather-related hazards for trucks are common. Certain mountain passes will be equipped with devices that measure the speed of passing trucks and provide a variable message sign to indicate safe operating speed under existing weather conditions.
     
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  3. ‘Olhand

    ‘Olhand Cantankerous Crusty

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    Oh Great i can see it now--next time I head down--

    SIGN: Big Red/Black Peterbilt!!!
    REALLY? I MEAN NO--REALLY!!
    LMAO
     
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  4. otherhalftw

    otherhalftw R.I.P.

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    I'm sorry...but Cabbage never really impressed me as that much of a problem grade...steady equal down grade pretty much all the way down...and those "double hairpin turns", just exactly where is there such a tight turn on that grade?

    Now Donner on the other hand...(West bound)...that is a very deceptive run...a couple spots with a "steep slope" then a leveling out, approaching a few tight turns then a steeper drop again...add in some on ramps (Grass Valley, Auburn, to name a couple)...very deceptive especially to a driver with little experience!

    As I said...Cabbage ain't no big deal!
     
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  5. Y2K

    Y2K Road Train Member

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    I'm a rookie at 6 months but I'd agree,was over it twice in my first couple of weeks driving and a bunch of times since.
    In fact I'm heading there today and back tomorrow lol.
    I find The Siskyous on I-5 much more challenging myself.
     
  6. Giggles the Original

    Giggles the Original Road Train Member

    well I agree with you..when I first started driving 20 years ago...I heard horror stories about Cabbage....that IMO were not true..HOWEVER...if you get a supertrucker...then it can be bad....yeah I am capable of going down faster than I do...BUT DONT...because ya never know whats going on around that next curve....I have a healthy respect for all mountain passes..I usually end up with most of the mountain driving....wherever we are...lol but I still think the sign is a good idea to maybe advise some of the newer ones to not get carried away...we came across cabbage one time and a set of doubles was dang near all the way to the top of the the runaway ramp......Country Boy hates driving in the mtns cause he doesnt like to slow down...lol
     
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  7. otherhalftw

    otherhalftw R.I.P.

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    I still remember the first time I saw those new signs...I was impressed with the system...it does get your attention, with time to get your head back on the road where it should be. At least it shows they were thinking ahead when they decided where to place the sign!
     
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  8. otherhalftw

    otherhalftw R.I.P.

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    I have always thought that some of our mountain "trails" could have just as easily been marked using the Ski Resort system...

    I would rate Cabbage as a Blue Square!
     
  9. Giggles the Original

    Giggles the Original Road Train Member

    speaking of mtn passes...we crossed Stevens Pass on hwy 2 in WA , coming out of Everett WA ,going to south east WA (paterson) the other day....EMPTY...interesting....and GORGEOUS....the chain law was up on Snoqualmie...so we decided to hit 2..they only had traction tires advised...there was a big truck stopped going up the pass..WITH CHAINS ON ,STUCK....in the right lane....been in worse...but a loaded trailer versus empty sure woulda been nice...lol:biggrin_25525:
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2011
  10. ‘Olhand

    ‘Olhand Cantankerous Crusty

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    Honestly none of them are a big deal if you drive right and keep your wits about you. But as for Donner--I have always said if I ever die on a hill--it'll be Donner.
    As I follow the speed on their suggestion signs and never break Cali 55--I figure I'm gonna fall ASLEEP and run off the side of the #### HILL!!:biggrin_25513::biggrin_25521::biggrin_25521::biggrin_25513:
     
  11. Lilbit

    Lilbit Road Train Member

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    From what I have gathered with my hubby having driven Cabbage in the last few years, and my dad having driven it a long time ago, it's much easier now than it was. That being said, a super trucker thinking any mountain grade is no big deal is always going to be a problem.
     
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