M20 Pedestrian bridge struck and collapses

[Johnathan404]

BBC News

[Lockwood]

Lucky that there was only one injury there.

[DavidB]

This tweet from the account of 'Kent 999s' has a video from a car on the opposite carriageway which looks like it was taken just after the event occurred:

https://twitter.com/Kent_999s/status/769497132835405825

[c2R]

Presumably this one: https://www.google.ie/maps/@51.3088113, ... 56!6m1!1e1

[J--M--B]

There is a video on Twitter of someone driving under the remains of the bridge on the other carriageway, presume before emergency services arrived.

They are in a line of slow moving traffic, not sure if I would want to do that.

[frediculous_biggs]

Here's the report from the local news site.

They seem to suggest the lorry hit something then hit the bridge.

Either way, this is going to cause a lot of disruption. I guess the rest of it will need to de demolished overnight in case it falls further. I wonder how similar this is to the bridge failure (but not collapse) on the M25 near J9 about a decade ago.

[Norfolktolancashire]

Presumably this one: https://www.google.ie/maps/@51.3088113, ... 56!6m1!1e1

Looking at the images on Google Earth I note that there is a higher crash barrier protecting the overhead signage just before the bridge but stops beside it so maybe the lorry has been shunted sideways into the bridge support?

The bridge itself has temporary fencing attached to the actual railings, will be interesting to see if this bridge has been identified as weak.

[Haydn1971]

Very lucky that no one has lost their life here. I'm puzzled that the bridge "just" collapsed, it would be a very unusual thing to happen given our standard of regular bridge inspections, so I expect that something has indeed hit the bridge causing it to collapse.

Interestingly, we were looking at a departure on the slip road type and lengths at this location for the forthcoming ALR scheme because of the bridge, so that's a redesign coming up for us

[Conekicker]

Fortunately no one would, for a single solitary second, suggest that "someone" had engineered the incident to make their scheme easier...

[Johnathan404]

I'm puzzled that the bridge "just" collapsed, it would be a very unusual thing to happen given our standard of regular bridge inspections, so I expect that something has indeed hit the bridge causing it to collapse.

It was originally reported as collapsing on its own, but the revised news article suggests the lorry carrying the JCB was moving on the hard shoulder when it struck the bridge. This would fit you suggesting the bridge is unsuitable for ALR.

Who pays for that? Was the lorry driver to know he fits under some lanes only?

[Haydn1971]

Fortunately no one would, for a single solitary second, suggest that "someone" had engineered the incident to make their scheme easier...

Coughs, especially as in in London today

[Haydn1971]

It was originally reported as collapsing on its own, but the revised news article suggests the lorry carrying the JCB was moving on the hard shoulder when it struck the bridge. This would fit you suggesting the bridge is unsuitable for ALR.

The departure is for lack of width for the slip roads not for 4 lanes of running - as far as I'm aware, the height above the hardshoulder is sufficient.

Who pays for that? Was the lorry driver to know he fits under some lanes only?

'

Drivers insurance - I'm guessing the jib wasn't lowered sufficiently to clear a standard bridge over the motorway - probably the other bridges he passed under were a tad higher

[roadtester]

Should it collapse like that even if it is hit?

How much punishment should it be able to take before coming down?

[Mark Hewitt]

Reports that a lorry was carrying a digger and driving in the hard shoulder. So question being why was it driving in the hard shoulder?

[Mark Hewitt]

Should it collapse like that even if it is hit?

How much punishment should it be able to take before coming down?

I would guess ped bridges are pretty light compared to road bridges so building them to survive impact would be overkill?

[J--M--B]

I would guess ped bridges are pretty light compared to road bridges so building them to survive impact would be overkill?

Would you say that if you were on one that was hit.

[J--M--B]

Most of the images don't show very much, just lots of debris from the lorry in Lane 1 which seems to have the top of its trailer ripped off as the bridge came down.

A lot of conflicting stories, one witness was quoted as saying the motorcyclist threw himself off his bike and slid under the bridge but others say he was trapped under his bike which would fit better with broken ribs.

This Tweet suggests the lorry was from a recovery company?

This appears to show the diggers arm over the top of the bridge

[Conekicker]

Most of the images don't show very much, just lots of debris from the lorry in Lane 1 which seems to have the top of its trailer ripped off as the bridge came down. But this oneappears to show the arm of the digger that hit the bridge, it seems raised but that could have been because of the collision.

A lot of conflicting stories, one witness was quoted as saying the motorcyclist threw himself off his bike and slid under the bridge but others say he was trapped under his bike which would fit better with broken ribs.

This Tweet suggests the lorry was from a recovery company?

This appears to show the diggers arm over the top of the bridge

Your first link is clearly that of a piece of machinery involved in night time work on a bridge - nothing to do with this incident.

Your third link shown the span has been broken, which will help to speed the clear up. A bit.

The bridge in question is this one:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.30894 ... 6656?hl=en

The span over the westbound has fallen. The one over the eastbound seems to still be up according to a photo on the BBC website, though goodness knows how.

It might be possible to prop the eastbound side if they take out both offside lanes, but only after they've cleared the debris from the westbound. I'd guess we're looking at it being closed until at least sometime on Monday, maybe later.

Looks like there's an emergency central reserve crossover close by, so the trapped westbound HGVs will be able to escape fairly easily:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.30889 ... 6656?hl=en
(once someone can find a spanner that fits...)

Good opportunity to demolish the whole thing and start again, especially if it's causing problems for the ALR scheme. Designing, sourcing and placing a replacement beam is going to take ages, probably not less than a year. A new steel bridge, with a greater clearance, wouldn't take much longer to sort out.

[LeedsKing]

Unclear whether the height of lorry+digger would have cleared the bridge if in Lane 1 instead of on the shoulder. But it could probably only do 38mph with such a load? so it crawled along the shoulder? (not legal) Vehicles that can't do 50mph aren't allowed on mways? Or maybe it would have struck the bridge regardless of what lane.

I have a feeling the driver or company are about to be fined a lot of money. Maybe even prison? Possibly the cost of clearup or bridge replacement. People stuck in jams never get any compensation.

[roadtester]

This reminds me very much of this one on the A180 near Grimsby which was hit in 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-29175294