1 lane closed at j8 southbound last night due to a bridge strike. the signs said accident but i would call it a bridge strike and a very lucky one i hope for the sake of the driver. with a lane coned off and no emergency vehicles i thought it was roadworks and the accident was further on. i saw what i thought was some kind of machinery. they do come in all sorts of shapes and sizes then i saw the FH12 on the front of what turned out to be a trailer. the entire right side was wrecked to the point where it didnt look like a trailer at first glance and it was wedged between the bridge and the support. luckily the damage appeared to be only along the side so hopefully the driver is ok
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspension 
i wonder if he is related to the guy who told me its illegal to drive without your landing legs handle secured to the trailer (a snapped bolt resulting in storing the handle in the cab is not legal 
)
or the shunter who says it is only illegal to send a defective vehicle out if the driver reports it before leaving. but if he doesnt report it, its still legal to drive 
or the guy who said the RAF were still using morse code 7 years after the MOD binned it
darkseeker:
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspension
I reckon he has only scored a 3 on this chart. Must try harder.
darkseeker:
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspension
Mmm…I would have thought all of the bridges on the M74 would be at 18ft…deckers run up/down there every day/night and they could easily all be 16ft in height. Incidentally, the minimum height for an unmarked bridge in the UK is 15’ 6" which would cover all of the M74 although I suspect all of the bridges on that motorway are considerably higher than this.
Scannyfanny:
darkseeker:
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspensionMmm…I would have thought all of the bridges on the M74 would be at 18ft…deckers run up/down there every day/night and they could easily all be 16ft in height. Incidentally, the minimum height for an unmarked bridge in the UK is 15’ 6" which would cover all of the M74 although I suspect all of the bridges on that motorway are considerably higher than this.
Indeed, all the bridges on that road will have more than enough clearance for deckers hence my post above. 
Scannyfanny:
darkseeker:
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspensionMmm…I would have thought all of the bridges on the M74 would be at 18ft…deckers run up/down there every day/night and they could easily all be 16ft in height. Incidentally, the minimum height for an unmarked bridge in the UK is 15’ 6" which would cover all of the M74 although I suspect all of the bridges on that motorway are considerably higher than this.
Presumably you mean 16’ 6"!!
darkseeker:
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspension
M74 or A74?
The only low bridge I know of is on the A74 at Mount Vernon that’s marked at 15’ 9" and there would be no point in trying to squeeze under as it’s easy enough to avoid it.
Taking into account the 3" safety margin that the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) Bridge Strike Prevention Group recommends then a 16’ would “scrape” through!
Would also be interesting to know how he supposedly lowers the trailer suspension while travelling along the motorway.
snab:
Scannyfanny:
darkseeker:
Lol, only last night I was talking to a driver who reckoned he takes 16’ trailers through a bridge on the 74 that shouldn’t go! Aparently, they “scrape” through (literally) if you lower the unit and trailer suspensionMmm…I would have thought all of the bridges on the M74 would be at 18ft…deckers run up/down there every day/night and they could easily all be 16ft in height. Incidentally, the minimum height for an unmarked bridge in the UK is 15’ 6" which would cover all of the M74 although I suspect all of the bridges on that motorway are considerably higher than this.
Presumably you mean 16’ 6"!!
Yes! Typo due to too many beers!
Coffeeholic:
Would also be interesting to know how he supposedly lowers the trailer suspension while travelling along the motorway.
that’s what I was thinking!!! Using the force probably.
must be more to it than meets the eye, recently done some agency work pulling deckers from dony to euro central and back, trailers were 16’ 1" so i doubt very much he’s actually hit the a bridge on the motorway, more likely dossed off and hit the stantion on the hard shoulder where possibly the bridge is lower? or maybe pulled onto the hard shoulder due to a problem and clouted the bridge not realissing it’s lower on the at that point?
FarnboroughBoy11:
Coffeeholic:
Would also be interesting to know how he supposedly lowers the trailer suspension while travelling along the motorway.
I heard the driver has arms that would make Mr Stretch jealous.