Snow and bridges?

I know this is going to sound weird. I also know there will be some that will say I am just trolling for a fight. However honestly as a driver you should simply do nothing. Make NO sudden changes ANYWHERE when you see you are on black ice. Snow by itself is not a serious hazard unless through ignorance you make it so. However Ice is a serious problem. I see you are from Canada. What are you going to do in regard to some of these answers if you are on a long extended bridge? There are some bridges in the US that are up to and beyond a 1/4 mile. You have to keep pressure on those drive axles AND make some small direction of travel changes. I suggest you install a thermometer somewhere on your rig. Learn how to interpret these readings. If you are driving and see the outside temps are close to 0C or 32F take extra care with wet roads especially when approaching a bridge with a history of being treacherous. If you are crossing a bridge under 200 feet long and see evidence of black ice just coast as has been advised. Also take note that this change over from wet to frozen black ice can be VERY quick. If you ever study latent heat you will see that a temp on a bridge or road surface can actually be at 32F and still be wet. The point I am trying to make is a 200 foot wet bridge can become a dangerous impassable hazard in a mere matter of a few seconds. I have seen it. If you are on such a bridge and this change over happens make NO control changes, NONE! Hopefully your momentum will take you across, if not you are going to crash. On black ice you are 100% helpless.

 

The "bridge freezes before road" signs are pretty much warning you about black ice, or melted snow re-freezing overnight. The thing I do on bridges in winter, when necessary, is drive on them as if they are a ice hockey surface. No lane changes, no slam acceleration, and no braking. When I'm really worried if the bridge surface is frozen, I turn off the cruise and/or lift my foot from the accelerator before reaching the bridge surface and "coast" across the length of the bridge. By "coasting" of course I don't mean shifting into neutral and letting gravity pull me. I mean I'm not applying any accelerator. My feet are on the floor with the "gas" pedal where it would be if I were not touching it. My momentum takes me across the bridge.

 

Many drive up against the governor which in case of any trouble leaves no out where a little extra boost can help. Always leave a little extra on the pedal so you can power up.

 

Just to be clear. Coasting is the BEST way to handle a situation when the bridge is 200 to 300 feet and you are going fast enough for your momentum to get you across. However there are some bridges that are much longer. They are also bowed in the middle and crowned off a bit for water flow. Keep this in mind. In these situations if you coast you are in fact creating a hazard. Thankfully the state DOTs across the country know these dangerous bridges and are working them once these temps get critical. However they are not going to get every bridge. This is why I HIGHLY recommend installing a thermometer and giving serious thought to staying put until at least the DOT has sufficient time to treat these bridges.

 

You would think there is a deep bag of tricks.

One of my favorites is having a spot mirror on my drives with at least one floodlight from the sleeper on it. The intent is that if its 34 on highway water coming off the tires all is well. But hit that bridge and no water spray? ICE. Your drives will tell you all about Mr Ice the moment they hit em.

We have a land of bridges in Charlestown WVa here in the USA. Sort of. I recall a westbound bridge that is one huge curve. If THAT is iced. NOTHING is getting on it. What you do is sit there prior to it waiting for WVaDOT saltie plow man. Follow him.



This second one has big trucks a rama with doubles Oh joy!!!

 

I have had MAJOR problems on those bridges you spoke of. I also saw a bad crash at the I 64 Bridge at Nitro. I have had issues during a bad snow/ice storm crossing over from Missouri to Kansas on I-70. These bridges are not made the same and some have bad reputation's as being dangerous. Like I stated before, these flash over points are very quick. One thing I looked for was spray coming from the tires of the vehicle ahead of me. Once that spray stops "Houston we have a problem". Rime ice in most situations is NOT an accurate indicator of black ice on a bridge or road.

 

I was heading into Indianapolis the other morning and traffic slowed way down.
As we creeped along I saw a few cars that had spun out.
It looked like a wet road, but there was black ice in spots. I lost traction and began sliding on one overpass, going around 15 MPH.

EASY does it. Can't apply power or brakes with no traction. All you can hope to do is gently guide the steers in the direction you want to go to try and check the slide a bit.

 

Theres some Really Great answers on here. Only thing I might add is dont travel in traffic packs when you are expecting to hit ice. Stay by yourself as much as is possible. That way, if you have to react, you have time and space to do it in. Thats important on dry roads but its doubly important on wintry roads.

 

Good advise and I did not see where anyone else mentioned the P/D. Just wondering about axle locks, the ones that lock the wheels together on both sides of the same axle. While I have never driven a semi with them in the ice and snow I would thank it would be similar to a four wheeler with a posi-traction. They require different driving techniques at times but you could not turn them off. Assume you would never want them locked on icy bridges or curves. Anyone have experience with those?