I crossed a 10 ton bridge

[flloyd]

Driving through Iowa recently, I missed a GPS turn and as usual, the Garmin "recalculated" and gave me a new route. Not to worry, I was barely off the interstate. The GPS is all knowing, sort of. Well, 10 minutes later I was in the middle of a corn field. Sure, it was paved, but the road was barely 20 feet wide with steep shoulders. No backing up, no turning around. The occasional farm house had a culvert into a narrow driveway. So, I kept driving.

15 minutes later, there was a small sign, "10 Ton Bridge Ahead". Ooops. What now? Again, it was a very narrow road, no backing up (I had a toad) and no place to turn around. I proceeded slowly with caution to see if there were any alternatives ahead.

When we finally arrived at the bridge, I saw that it was very short, perhaps 20 feet total, and really only a drainage ditch, perhaps spanning 3 feet. It was clear to me that although the coach weighs more than 20 tons, the front axle only about 7 tons and the rear, well... so we went for it.

Absolutely nothing happened. We crossed and went about our way. I didn't like it and hope to never do it again. But, this is a confessional so....

-fred

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Way to go Fred, it's all down hill from here on! :cool:

JIM:D

[Gary Carmichael]

Yep! GPS are famous for putting you where you don't want to be overpasses are scary when it says 13-4" and you are 13-5 I have learned that overpasses are measured from the lowest point .

[merle&louise]

Fred,

We have all done that at one time or another. Anybody who says they haven't has a poor memory. I have also driven under an overpass in Chicago that was so close to scraping the satellite dome it wasn't even funny. I had dumped all of my air and we barely squeaked by.

I was driving in New Orleans recently and I noticed a sign "weight limit 10 tons". A cop flagged me down at the next intersection and said how much does that thing weigh? I said, 9 tons. He flagged me thru! Whew!

You sure have a beautiful Liberty - I have admired it for years.

Enjoy!

[Will Garner]

Gary,

Why would you think that overpasses were measured from other than the lowest point of clearance? Beats me.

[Devin W]

Yep! GPS are famous for putting you where you don't want to be overpasses are scary when it says 13-4" and you are 13-5 I have learned that overpasses are measured from the lowest point .

Are there any good GPS devices or programs that let you put in specific parameters for clearance and weight? I know most let you choose interstate, toll roads, etc, but it seems like that would be a nice thing to be able to use in navigating unfamiliar territory. I'm pretty cautious about getting off the interstate in metropolitan areas for that very reason.

edit: looks like I found some info right here --> http://forum.prevostownersgroup.com/showthread.php?4945-Garmin-GPS/page2

[SteveCooper]

Just as a precaution, I always carry a truckers atlas. They show all low overpasses, bridges, etc. It highlights approved routes for large vehicles too. Not a bad investment

[Kenneth Brewer]

The Garmin Streetpilot C550 (an older model longer being manufactured) I have has a selection for type of vehicle; 'bus'. I would hope newer versions might, as well.

[hhoppe]

If you encounter a bridge that is rated near or below your coaches weight rating it is best to do it slowly. Or not at all.

[Sid Tuls]

If you encounter a bridge that is rated near or below your coaches weight rating it is best to do it slowly. Or not at all.
Harry you got to be kidding:) How ya been Harry? I love the e-mails they make my day:)

[lbriant]

I think last time I drove on a scale fully loaded fuel water etc I was around 55,000lbs