Railway bridges struck by road vehicles - merged topic, ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Bmblbzzz]

A fairly undramatic one from Suffolk a couple of days ago.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/van-stuck-under-railway-bridge-in-pound-hill-bacton-1-6827699

[Bmblbzzz]

Also in Suffolk but back in July, some van acrobatics.

https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/bramford-road-ipswich-car-transporter-hits-bridge-1-6732897

[paul7575]

Doesn't the railway still use "Chains" to measure distance along the track?

Fortunately a chain is 20 m, unless you're being really picky.

Or Twenty Two Yards  just like a Cricket Wicket,if you still use English 😁

Cricket and other sporting comparisons are useful, I was told years ago that to visualise an acre you should either use a wicket by a furlong, or alternatively an acre would be about 10 cricket squares...

Paul

[Red Squirrel]

I was told that if you want to visualise a hectare, try to think of something 100m x 100m...

[ellendune]

I was told that if you want to visualise a hectare, try to think of something 100m x 100m...

Back in 1976 I was working with a metric skeptic who objected to my using hectares. So we pointed to the plan of the site on the wall and asked him to estimate the area in acres and we would do so in hectares. He asked how we did it so quickly and we simply pointed ou that the plan had 100m grid squares drawn all over it and that each one corresponded to a hectare.  He was a convert after that.

[TonyK]

I was told that if you want to visualise a hectare, try to think of something 100m x 100m...

By definition, therefore, a hectare is square, although any shape could constitute a hectare. I can relate that to around the length of a football pitch, squared.  An acre, by definition, is long and narrow, so harder to visualise. The M32 from where the traffic from Eastville roundabout meets the inbound carriageway to behind the White Swan?

[Red Squirrel]

Indeed. I'm sure 200x50 would work, or 400x25 if you wanted something more obviously oblong. I think even a round hectare is allowed; a radius of around 56.42m ought to do it. Which goes to show that even the metric system can throw up an untidy number if you push hard enough.

[MVR S&T]

An Hectare. kilometer of railway ten metres wide?

[GBM]

It is no wonder I'm totally confused; hence clinging on to what I know 'Imperial units'   

[paul7575]

I was told that if you want to visualise a hectare, try to think of something 100m x 100m...

By definition, therefore, a hectare is square, although any shape could constitute a hectare. I can relate that to around the length of a football pitch, squared.  An acre, by definition, is long and narrow, so harder to visualise. The M32 from where the traffic from Eastville roundabout meets the inbound carriageway to behind the White Swan?

I don?t think a Hectare necessarily needs to be square though.  It?s derivation used to puzzle me, and it turned out ?Hect? is the prefix meaning hundred of, and ?Are? was intended to be the derived unit for a supposedly useful area of 100 sq metres.  Has anyone seen ?Are? in use?

Some sources I looked at reckoned ?Are? quickly fell out of use as it was either too small, say for land measurement, or unnecessary for day to day interior measurement, people just used square metres for areas up to a few hundred...

Paul

[Bmblbzzz]

I was told that if you want to visualise a hectare, try to think of something 100m x 100m...

By definition, therefore, a hectare is square, although any shape could constitute a hectare. I can relate that to around the length of a football pitch, squared.  An acre, by definition, is long and narrow, so harder to visualise. The M32 from where the traffic from Eastville roundabout meets the inbound carriageway to behind the White Swan?

The acre would have been easy to visualise at the time and place of its origins; a certain number (presumably 22) of standard length furrows in the open field system. Absolutely in tune with its application. Less relevant now as a result of enclosures, mechanised agriculture, few of us being farmers, etc.

[Oxonhutch]

Has anyone seen ?Are? in use?

Some sources I looked at reckoned ?Are? quickly fell out of use as it was either too small, say for land measurement, or unnecessary for day to day interior measurement, people just used square metres for areas up to a few hundred...

Paul

In my mining days, contract miners were paid per centiare - though I swear we spelt and pronounced it 'centare'. One hundredth of an are or one square metre.

Prior to metrication the unit used was the square fathom, which was not 6 feet x 6 feet, but 3 feet x 3 feet - or square yard. I could never fathom out how they got fathom out of that.

[Bmblbzzz]

First Bus are considering installing devices in their double deckers to give audible warning in advance of low bridges.

"We know where all the low bridges are located in the West of England and our operating instructions for staff fully encompass the routes that avoid the need to go near such bridges with double-deck vehicles.
...
"We are also working with technology suppliers to come up with an audible automatic warning device in cabs to warn drivers of approaching low bridges.?

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/first-bus-looking-install-audible-4514655

[stuving]

First Bus are considering installing devices in their double deckers to give audible warning in advance of low bridges.

"We know where all the low bridges are located in the West of England and our operating instructions for staff fully encompass the routes that avoid the need to go near such bridges with double-deck vehicles.
...
"We are also working with technology suppliers to come up with an audible automatic warning device in cabs to warn drivers of approaching low bridges.?

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/first-bus-looking-install-audible-4514655

It had occurred to me that most buses by now are equipped to know where they are, as well as which bridges are too low and where they are. So are we talking about a bleeper for the GPS? And don't the relevant ones already have one? Or does it need a bit more - linking the GPS to the odometer and steering to allow dead reckoning through coverage gaps? Or is it really a Doppler radar looking ahead for those approaching low bridges, and no doubt telling you how fast they are moving too?

[GBM]

There have been odd occasions when on a route to see "Road closed ahead" sign and not being advised to depots.
That will take you off route of course.
Drivers are told that in those circumstances to contact control before going off route.
The answer has always been "Don't know anything about that mate, news to me".  End of call!
As control were not aware, they will also not be aware of the diversion route.

Back to the driver to decide