bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-37204050
A busy motorway carriageway has been closed in Kent after a bridge collapsed, Kent Police have said.
Officers said the bridge on the M20 had been hit by a lorry.
Travel disruption is said to be severe, with the motorway likely to be closed for some time.
The disruption is between Junction 4 for Leybourne and Snodland and Junction 3 for the M26. It is not yet known if anyone was hurt.
Reports say the footbridge collapsed onto the trucks. Is that an assumption, or did someone hit it?
The truck on the hard shoulder was carrying plant. Streetview shows that the bridge is quite low at the edges.
Must have been a hell of a plant to bring down a bridge.
eagerbeaver:
Must have been a hell of a plant to bring down a bridge.
Triffid.
This could end up being a VERY expensive day for the local council. Assuming the low loader driver is no higher than 16’ 6", if it turns out that he needed to use the hard shoulder and the mast has struck the concrete bridge bringing it down, he has ended up striking an UNMARKED LOW BRIDGE!!
The hard shoulder surely must still count as the carriageway.
Santa:
Reports say the footbridge collapsed onto the trucks. Is that an assumption, or did someone hit it?The truck on the hard shoulder was carrying plant. Streetview shows that the bridge is quite low at the edges.
There’s obviously no different height limits on the hard shoulder v live lanes.IE he’s either too high for all motorway bridges measured at any point or he’s not.
eagerbeaver:
This could end up being a VERY expensive day for the local council. Assuming the low loader driver is no higher than 16’ 6", if it turns out that he needed to use the hard shoulder and the mast has struck the concrete bridge bringing it down, he has ended up striking an UNMARKED LOW BRIDGE!!The hard shoulder surely must still count as the carriageway.
^ This.Motorway bridges are unmarked because their minimum height is a given.
Carryfast:
eagerbeaver:
This could end up being a VERY expensive day for the local council. Assuming the low loader driver is no higher than 16’ 6", if it turns out that he needed to use the hard shoulder and the mast has struck the concrete bridge bringing it down, he has ended up striking an UNMARKED LOW BRIDGE!!The hard shoulder surely must still count as the carriageway.
^ This.Motorway bridges are unmarked because their minimum height is a given.
Could be that the Digger hydraulics were not locked after loading
Looks like a bit of bad loading, trying to squeeze everything on.
toshboy:
Carryfast:
eagerbeaver:
This could end up being a VERY expensive day for the local council. Assuming the low loader driver is no higher than 16’ 6", if it turns out that he needed to use the hard shoulder and the mast has struck the concrete bridge bringing it down, he has ended up striking an UNMARKED LOW BRIDGE!!The hard shoulder surely must still count as the carriageway.
^ This.Motorway bridges are unmarked because their minimum height is a given.
Could be that the Digger hydraulics were not locked after loading
Then moved from it’s position when loaded.Sounds credible.Although it should be common practice to chain down moving parts on plant anyway.Bearing in mind the example some time ago of an arm swinging out side ways across a road hitting traffic travelling in the opposite direction.
Do you mean that any hydraulic fluid in the system could still have some ’ pressure ’ in it CF? That could indeed make sense as I am assuming slight bumping around could then extend a boom or something if it wasn’t locked.
what shocks me is the bridge was being worked on any way so must have had a fault
eagerbeaver:
Do you mean that any hydraulic fluid in the system could still have some ’ pressure ’ in it CF? That could indeed make sense as I am assuming slight bumping around could then extend a boom or something if it wasn’t locked.
yes, valves locked to prevent hydraulic movement in transit
I listened to the women giving her account of what happened.
The truck hit the bridge.
Must of hit it at some bang to take down the full bridge thou.
You would have thought it would have took the plant straight of the back of the flat beds.
Oh just throw up a sign that says “authorities aware of bridge damage” sign and be done with it, it works for the A12 
Nothing there looks overheight and id have to agree with Blue Estate that it’s possibly a bridge failure as opposed to a vehicle strike.
DJC:
Oh just throw up a sign that says “authorities aware of bridge damage” sign and be done with it, it works for the A12
Still?
weeto:
DJC:
Oh just throw up a sign that says “authorities aware of bridge damage” sign and be done with it, it works for the A12Still?
It was when I went through last time a few weeks back.
Looks like a bit of bad loading, trying to squeeze everything on.
The bucket looks like it’s below the level of the tracks here and therefore on the load deck.
youtube.com/watch?v=z1ZpDvHOPPM 0.24
So probably hasn’t moved since it was loaded and I’d guess the driver had checked his height for at least motorway bridge height clearance.Which seems to be confirmed having got that far. 
