Hiya in the early 80’s i did london for 4 years. i only had a 13’ 5. 4 wheeler. god their are some low bridges
around that east side of town . any how i go down one day, the idiots put a 4 inch speed hump right under a 13.'6
high bridge. i could just get under. well not any more.the bridge signs was’nt changed.never went that way
again, to hard reversing back in heavy traffic.
John
Ian58:
This is when it gets fun.0
What a ■■■■■■■ ridiculous trailer!!! What really is the point in making it 16ft 6, which they know full well is the minimum height of a bridge in the UK without it needing to be marked, why cut it that close.
There is a footbridge over the M1, near Luton I think it is, that looks right on the limit of 16ft 6.
Fb11, was that you running bobtail s/b along the A 34 this afternoon?
the maoster:
Fb11, was that you running bobtail s/b along the A 34 this afternoon?
No mate, I was bob tail on the A29 near Billingshurst today though.
FarnboroughBoy11:
Ian58:
This is when it gets fun.0
What a [zb] ridiculous trailer!!! What really is the point in making it 16ft 6, which they know full well is the minimum height of a bridge in the UK without it needing to be marked, why cut it that close.
There is a footbridge over the M1, near Luton I think it is, that looks right on the limit of 16ft 6.
Think you’d run into a lot of trouble with arched bridges on the n/s too on DCs I almost always forget about the one on the Oxford ring road until I’m on it.
FarnboroughBoy11:
the maoster:
Fb11, was that you running bobtail s/b along the A 34 this afternoon?No mate, I was bob tail on the A29 near Billingshurst today though.
Oh dear there’s a driver of a very shiny blue Scanyar who thinks I need therapy in that case! 
the maoster:
Winseer:
One in the eye for those out there who say in the RDCs :-“Yeh sure, 15’9” palletliners will go under a 15’9" bridge no prob!"
A 15’ 9" trailer WILL go under a bridge marked at 15’ 9". If for whatever reason it doesn’t then the bridge is wrongly marked and in no way is the driver culpable for it. I’m surprised an obviously sensible chap like yourself fails to grasp that.
The point I’m making is that if you push it, you won’t have a leg to stand on if it goes wrong, because the warnings are plain. “assuming” there is ample excess headroom when the bridge is marked exactly the same height as the trailer is not a good thing I think.
the maoster:
FarnboroughBoy11:
the maoster:
Fb11, was that you running bobtail s/b along the A 34 this afternoon?No mate, I was bob tail on the A29 near Billingshurst today though.
Oh dear there’s a driver of a very shiny blue Scanyar who thinks I need therapy in that case!
Winseer:
the maoster:
Winseer:
One in the eye for those out there who say in the RDCs :-“Yeh sure, 15’9” palletliners will go under a 15’9" bridge no prob!"
A 15’ 9" trailer WILL go under a bridge marked at 15’ 9". If for whatever reason it doesn’t then the bridge is wrongly marked and in no way is the driver culpable for it. I’m surprised an obviously sensible chap like yourself fails to grasp that.
The point I’m making is that if you push it, you won’t have a leg to stand on if it goes wrong, because the warnings are plain. “assuming” there is ample excess headroom when the bridge is marked exactly the same height as the trailer is not a good thing I think.
Can you clarify “push it”? Do you mean attempting to take a 15/10 trailer under a 15/9 bridge? If that’s the case then yes, I totally agree with you. If however you consider taking a 15/9 trl under a 15/9 marked bridge then no, that isn’t “pushing it”. The height on the bridge marker is the maximum safe height a vehicle can be to safely pass underneath the bridge. It isn’t the height of the bridge.
FarnboroughBoy11:
Ian58:
This is when it gets fun.0
What a [zb] ridiculous trailer!!! What really is the point in making it 16ft 6, which they know full well is the minimum height of a bridge in the UK without it needing to be marked, why cut it that close.
There is a footbridge over the M1, near Luton I think it is, that looks right on the limit of 16ft 6.
So car transporters and wide/high loads are ridiculous too ■■ Running at 16’6 is no big deal at all 
FarnboroughBoy11:
There is a footbridge over the M1, near Luton I think it is, that looks right on the limit of 16ft 6.
I’ve said it before… and I’ll say it again; your eyes are amazing.
the maoster:
Winseer:
the maoster:
Winseer:
One in the eye for those out there who say in the RDCs :-“Yeh sure, 15’9” palletliners will go under a 15’9" bridge no prob!"
A 15’ 9" trailer WILL go under a bridge marked at 15’ 9". If for whatever reason it doesn’t then the bridge is wrongly marked and in no way is the driver culpable for it. I’m surprised an obviously sensible chap like yourself fails to grasp that.
The point I’m making is that if you push it, you won’t have a leg to stand on if it goes wrong, because the warnings are plain. “assuming” there is ample excess headroom when the bridge is marked exactly the same height as the trailer is not a good thing I think.
Can you clarify “push it”? Do you mean attempting to take a 15/10 trailer under a 15/9 bridge? If that’s the case then yes, I totally agree with you. If however you consider taking a 15/9 trl under a 15/9 marked bridge then no, that isn’t “pushing it”. The height on the bridge marker is the maximum safe height a vehicle can be to safely pass underneath the bridge. It isn’t the height of the bridge.
There are a number of 1959 bridges up the M1 (J5-J18) with chips and chunks knocked out of them over the years.
Let’s say a bridge marked 16’ is actually 16’2" thus giving a couple of extra inches clearance;
Road re-surfacing, road underland warping up, bouncing the trailer as one drives up the road, (eg. near NB A34 near Oxford Peartree), jacked up the 5th wheel too high, or even a strong wind giving the trailer a slight list can all lead to “clipping” the bridge.
Even now, following high tops going under the bridges on the 1959 stretch of the M1 you can see there’s barely 2" of clearance. This would argue in the face of these unmarked bridges being over the 16’6" that one “assumes” is the minimum height for all unmarked bridges…
With the M1, it’s too much of a diversion to take an alternative route. You just get on with it, and go for the safety in numbers aspect.
When driving through town though, if you have the choice of 15’9" bridge ahead - turn left for road avoiding low bridge
it would be prudent to take the (expected) short diversion rather than “assume” anything, especially in adverse road conditions.
THen there’s the argument about “Do most bridge bashers just go down the wrong road, having not noted the warning signs, OR did they think their height was somehow less than the marked height for the bridge”? Either way, bashing a bridge=BIG trouble, and possibly a loss of one’s license. Plod doesn’t give a ■■■■ “I thought” or “I assumed” or “this height indicator says” etc. One’s arse just gets busted large. 
billybigrig:
FarnboroughBoy11:
Ian58:
This is when it gets fun.0
What a [zb] ridiculous trailer!!! What really is the point in making it 16ft 6, which they know full well is the minimum height of a bridge in the UK without it needing to be marked, why cut it that close.
There is a footbridge over the M1, near Luton I think it is, that looks right on the limit of 16ft 6.
So car transporters and wide/high loads are ridiculous too ■■ Running at 16’6 is no big deal at all
you have missed my point i was trying to make. Im saying there is no need to build a 16ft 6 double decker as you can do what you gotta do with a 16ft 2 decker say, there is just no need for that unless you have a specific product on pallets that are that exact specification to warrent the extra 4,5,6 inches over 16ft which i doubt there is many.
Contraflow:
FarnboroughBoy11:
There is a footbridge over the M1, near Luton I think it is, that looks right on the limit of 16ft 6.I’ve said it before… and I’ll say it again; your eyes are amazing.
I know, it amazes me how good they are. Im like Arnie in the terminator when hes looking around and downloading all the info through his eyes.
kr79:
Prehaps that trailer is over 15.9
It isn’t anymore
I set off the “vehicle overheight” matrix sign on the A429 in Warwick yesterday. Bridge is marked 13:6 and my FM was 13:3. I turned around and went in via Leamington but if I had hit the bridge, where would I stand legally? I was underheight but had been warned, but those signs aren’t exactly reliable.
Just spoke to one of our drivers who pulls a trailer that’s 15.7 and that goes under with about 5 inches to spare so that makes the actual height nearer 16 foot.
Muckaway:
I set off the “vehicle overheight” matrix sign on the A429 in Warwick yesterday. Bridge is marked 13:6 and my FM was 13:3. I turned around and went in via Leamington but if I had hit the bridge, where would I stand legally? I was underheight but had been warned, but those signs aren’t exactly reliable.
Blackwall tunnel northbound used to be marked as 13’4", but the ever-continuing load of (mostly foreign) vehicles that needed to use the special escape sliproad wasn’t going away.
I recall running a aluminium box trailer marked 13’ 3" through there no bother in the mid-90’s. You could trust the height detector to warn you if your vehicle was prodding a bit higher than it should be, so I thus trusted the infrastructure back then.
Nowdays though, that same height will set off the overhead warnings on the approach road “overheight divert”.
The tunnel is constantly being closed for maintenance, so for all I know, there could be an extra layer of masonry around the arch edge, that actually does indeed make it the few inches lower that is implied!
Whatever happened to that place that smelled like a dogfood factory on the left just before the tunnel entrance btw?