That went well...

[Tins]

Gotta love the planning that went into this. Wind tower stuck under bridge (https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-overpass-fears-overpass-could-be-closed-for-a-year-after-wind-turbine-jam/c8cfbfd8-e1df-4db4-83b1-9ad3525426f0)

[V8Ian]

You're a bit late to that party John, it started over forty-eight hours ago. As you know, it happened literally round the corner.
I have a theory on how it happened and it's not all the driver's fault, even though it is his responsibility.

[Tins]

I don't often watch the "news" but this caught my attention, for obvious reasons. I would think that the last person to blame would be the driver, depending on his involvement in the route planning. But heads will roll, I imagine.

[101RRS]

The dick head driver did not follow the route or the pilot vehicle - the pilot vehicle took the offramp to go around the bridge but stoopid driver thought he knew better and just went straight ahead, ignoring his briefing and the pilot vehicles.

100% driver fault.

[austastar]

Hi,
My reading of it was that he didn't follow the pilot up-and-over an off-and-on ramp . (Thus avoiding the height limit.)
I may easily be wrong, as I only saw a bit of it on the news.
Cheers

[V8Ian]

The dick head driver did not follow the route or the pilot vehicle - the pilot vehicle took the offramp to go around the bridge but stoopid driver thought he knew better and just went straight ahead, ignoring his briefing and the pilot vehicles.

100% driver fault.
And you know this how?

[austastar]

Hi,
Googled it.

Truck carrying wind turbine gets stuck under Mount Crosby Bridge closing Warrego Highway - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-16/truck-carrying-wind-turbine-stuck-bridge-warrego-highway/105302456)

Cheers

[Tins]

Well, if true that sure changes my opinion. Going off route in these circs is indefensible. Did a bit of oversize stuff, and the planning goes on often months in advance.

[V8Ian]

Hi,
Googled it.

Truck carrying wind turbine gets stuck under Mount Crosby Bridge closing Warrego Highway - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-16/truck-carrying-wind-turbine-stuck-bridge-warrego-highway/105302456)

Cheers
And fairly enough you prefaced your opinion with "my reading of it". That's totally different from some loudmouth 1200km away making a statement, calling the driver a dickhead, without all the facts. Heaven to Betsey, the cops are still investigating and they were on the scene.

[V8Ian]

Well, if true that sure changes my opinion. Going off route in these circs is indefensible. Did a bit of oversize stuff, and the planning goes on often months in advance.
John, these movements have been happening for over twelve months.
No-one is denying the driver failed to take off ramp, the question is why.
As you know, these jobs are not handed to kids who got their licence last week, so despite the accusations of the ignorant, the driver is not a dickhead.
I've seen dozens of these movements pass my front gate, I know how they are operating.
I've also been in roles that require police and pilots. I've learnt to never rely on the cops, their role is purely to legitimize the movement. The pilots do all the work, if you get a bad one the job can go to manure very quickly. I used to request my pilot by name, to ensure I only needed to drive the truck, not the pilot car too.

[austastar]

Hi,
For a glimpse inside the heavy haulage industry, browse the following link

megatruckers – Heavy Haulage Australia (https://hhagroup.com.au/megatruckers/)

I think this is what I watched on TV years ago, not positive, but close enough.
Myself? I've never driven anything bigger than a Rural Fire Service medium tanker .
Cheers

[Tins]

John, these movements have been happening for over twelve months.
No-one is denying the driver failed to take off ramp, the question is why.
As you know, these jobs are not handed to kids who got their licence last week, so despite the accusations of the ignorant, the driver is not a dickhead.
I've seen dozens of these movements pass my front gate, I know how they are operating.
I've also been in roles that require police and pilots. I've learnt to never rely on the cops, their role is purely to legitimize the movement. The pilots do all the work, if you get a bad one the job can go to manure very quickly. I used to request my pilot by name, to ensure I only needed to drive the truck, not the pilot car too.
All of this is why I prefaced my remarks with “if true”. I have some experience with police and pilots.

[V8Ian]

@austastar least said about John Kelly, the better. [bigwhistle]

[p38arover]

Any chance he was following a truckie GPS that knows bridge clearances, etc?

[V8Ian]

I doubt it Ron, I don't think there is a GPS that would accept his parameters.

[101RRS]

And you know this how?

It was in all the news channels.

[101RRS]

And fairly enough you prefaced your opinion with "my reading of it". That's totally different from some loudmouth 1200km away making a statement, calling the driver a dickhead, without all the facts. Heaven to Betsey, the cops are still investigating and they were on the scene.

Yes the facts as reported on various news feeds. And dont call me a loudmouth before you know the facts. A moderator should know better - personal abuse and all that.

[RANDLOVER]

Perhaps the pilot vehicle/s roared away from the truck so he couldn't see which way they went, so thought it was safe to go under the bridge if they weren't waiting to lead him around it.

I went past there today and there was a diversion in place this afternoon but that seemed to have been cleared this evening. According to Qld traffic the highway is open but the overpass is not.

[V8Ian]

Perhaps the pilot vehicle/s roared away from the truck so he couldn't see which way they went, so thought it was safe to go under the bridge if they weren't waiting to lead him around it.

Precisely my theory. All except the truck driver are on job and go, so they are moving at a decent rate. The previous bridge, over the Bremmer, has restrictions and a 60kph, camera enforced limit. After the bridge the limit immediately increases to 100kph. All the pilot cars will out accelerate a ~100 tonne truck.
The missed exit is following a sweeping left hand bend, obscured by scrub. The exit is a left right ess coming to a roundabout that is obscured by the southern overpass approach. The pilot has raced ahead to close/control the roundabout. The roundabout is totally invisible from the eastern side of the affected overpass.
I have seen these movements on the highway, in my experienced opinion they are travelling too fast with the pilots way too far (<2km) in front.
This is my educated opinion, not merely relying on notoriously poor and inaccurate media reports.

[Tins]

How many pilot vehicles are usually with these things, Ian? When I was moving bridge beams ( not quite as high, but far longer, 95 tonne ) we had police as point, VicRoads second, and a couple of pilots front and rear, with VicRoads ( magenta flashing beacons ) last. In these movements the pilot always stayed near. Admittedly, in my case, there was never a time when I was unsighted, at least one pilot stayed with the truck. They also closed the Burnley tunnel for our passage.

One of the things famously came off, but that's another story in which, thankfully, I was not involved. When these things go wrong they are usually spectacular.

[V8Ian]

One police car and two pilots John. I suspect both pilots were holding the out of sight roundabout.

[Tins]

One police car and two pilots John. I suspect both pilots were holding the out of sight roundabout.

Strewth. With the bridge beams you could probably have seen us from space. The lights were like that scene in Apocalypse Now. Full on convoy. They moved four of the things at a time, each with its own entourage, about 15 minutes apart.

Gotta admit, I wouldn't have been comfortable in this driver's situation. A pilot is supposed to pilot. Still, I suspect it will all come out in the wash. But "opinions" is why I avoid the "news".

[V8Ian]

John, you know my driveway. When they pass my joint, the cop car is out of sight before the load comes into sight, the pilot is a good 1.5~2 km in front of the truck with the back door pilot 6' behind the truck.
Ultimately the truck driver should be setting the pace, but as we all know it's hard to hold your ground when you are outnumbered, particularly when the law is the lead escort and wants to get finished as early as possible.

[Tins]

John, you know my driveway. I thought you had moved up the range.


When they pass my joint, the cop car is out of sight before the load comes into sight, the pilot is a good 1.5~2 km in front of the truck with the back door pilot 6' behind the truck.

Why so far in front? With more than one, sure, warn the oncoming etc., but surely one should stay with the truck. The backdoor guy I get, keep the muppets from impatiently overtaking ( as you know, they will ). We always had a tail end Charlie a way back as well.


Ultimately the truck driver should be setting the pace, but as we all know it's hard to hold your ground when you are outnumbered, particularly when the law is the lead escort and wants to get finished as early as possible.

The truck will only do what the truck will only do. Imo the whole show should revolve around those limitations. And bugger the law, they're probably getting paid more than anyone else in the convoy, and protecting the public is their job ffs. But yes, they do get impatient, as if they have better things to do. In our case they were HP cars. We were probably too slow for them.

Seems that there are a number of problems with these movements. Dunno about you, but I'd like to think that I would have simply stopped and asked where the **** are you guys, but it's easy to say, sitting here. But of course the media will hang the driver out to dry. They definitely have form. Now it's off the "front page" so to speak, we'll probably need to hunt for the reports.

That overpass how busy is it? The one that got away here struck the centre support for the Ferntree Gully Road on ramp to the Monash. THAT caused some issues for the traffic. They obviously had to check its structural integrity, as it was a big hit. I reckon the poor bloke in the cement tanker coming the other way would still have nightmares, but he kept it upright, so kudos to him.

[RANDLOVER]

Precisely my theory. All except the truck driver are on job and go, so they are moving at a decent rate. The previous bridge, over the Bremmer, has restrictions and a 60kph, camera enforced limit. After the bridge the limit immediately increases to 100kph. All the pilot cars will out accelerate a ~100 tonne truck.
The missed exit is following a sweeping left hand bend, obscured by scrub. The exit is a left right ess coming to a roundabout that is obscured by the southern overpass approach. The pilot has raced ahead to close/control the roundabout. The roundabout is totally invisible from the eastern side of the affected overpass.
I have seen these movements on the highway, in my experienced opinion they are travelling too fast with the pilots way too far (<2km) in front.
This is my educated opinion, not merely relying on notoriously poor and inaccurate media reports.

I'm liking this theory more and more as the bridge layout is exactly as you've described it and fresh in my memory and is the route they diverted us around yesterday.

[RANDLOVER]

The latest news is the bridge overpass has opened one lane to cars....Mount Crosby overpass reopens after truck crashes into bridge on Warrego Highway - ABC News (https://amp.abc.net.au/article/105318374)

[V8Ian]

It's had one lane (the northbound) lane open for a couple of days. I think it has traffic control to alternate direction.
Its chaos on the westbound highway at pm peak, with a kilometre of stationary traffic trying to head toward Mt. Crosby.

[RANDLOVER]

Any chance he was following a truckie GPS that knows bridge clearances, etc?

This GPS looks like it can programme truck routes.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Bluetooth-Navigation-Australia-Updates-Postcode/dp/B0C2YMNQS6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=3NJZST17GP569&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U4c03ASPnNX0nWvZPbgpa-YjxQ6nrULp9wPy-tBYHI516_0WGaK6-xtDeT8ZAFmBB4lgqB8TyKo-yFBWvnbVgUZP60-9txrcmR0zONrP2HzwRMc1vCHiUjs7zptQ7E2fhic1Yl4sP5D84 ORRYFebGDGiSvGxDoKd9Z_smvtEWhwCcvp4MiZs2Qf4IVzkCMP 0SV1TJpT3BTtGWIOb5j7Evg.5fQM0IduiUPCx0NxFqy30In3rD PsJub-9CI031RJ6W8&dib_tag=se&keywords=gps+navigation+for+car+australia&qid=1748545988&sprefix=gps%2Caps%2C480&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

[Tins]

This GPS looks like it can programme truck routes.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Bluetooth-Navigation-Australia-Updates-Postcode/dp/B0C2YMNQS6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=3NJZST17GP569&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U4c03ASPnNX0nWvZPbgpa-YjxQ6nrULp9wPy-tBYHI516_0WGaK6-xtDeT8ZAFmBB4lgqB8TyKo-yFBWvnbVgUZP60-9txrcmR0zONrP2HzwRMc1vCHiUjs7zptQ7E2fhic1Yl4sP5D84 ORRYFebGDGiSvGxDoKd9Z_smvtEWhwCcvp4MiZs2Qf4IVzkCMP 0SV1TJpT3BTtGWIOb5j7Evg.5fQM0IduiUPCx0NxFqy30In3rD PsJub-9CI031RJ6W8&dib_tag=se&keywords=gps+navigation+for+car+australia&qid=1748545988&sprefix=gps%2Caps%2C480&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

There's a few of them around. Certainly not Google or Apple maps. I have one for my phone from Sygic. They made the first turn by turn mapping app I ever used, and they also offer a truck one (https://www.sygic.com/truck) where you enter the dimensions and mass. It's good, but it's global in nature. Pretty big database to keep up to date. Would I trust it? NO.We've all seen the amusing vids of muppets who drove into a paddock, or a river, or the North Sea because the GPS "told" them to. It's not so funny in something big.

[RANDLOVER]

There's a few of them around. Certainly not Google or Apple maps. I have one for my phone from Sygic. They made the first turn by turn mapping app I ever used, and they also offer a truck one (https://www.sygic.com/truck) where you enter the dimensions and mass. It's good, but it's global in nature. Pretty big database to keep up to date. Would I trust it? NO.We've all seen the amusing vids of muppets who drove into a paddock, or a river, or the North Sea because the GPS "told" them to. It's not so funny in something big.

Thanks for the link Tins, I sent it to my mate who is worried about driving his massive camper van around.

I also don't trust GPS's and like to have a rough idea of where I'm going when following one.

I nearly drove into a swamp once following a GPS that came with the D3, the dirt road became a muddy track and then I saw water lilies at the bottom of the slope and managed to do a three point turn without getting bogged.