Bridge Too Low or 5th Wheel Too High

[mlsa3]

My wife and I discussed our camping plans for this year. She is a hiker and goes all over the state with hiking groups. My plan is to camp in as many Texas State Parks over the next couple of years as I can.

I'm in the process of planning our camping trips by breaking the state parks down by area. I got the info from the Texas State Parks and Wildlife book. I'll try to do as many in one area such as the Gulf Coast as I can and then the next area such as Hill Country parks.
In my planning one thing I don't have to worry about is low bridges because I'm towing an Aframe camper. But one day I hope to end up with a 5th wheel camper.

That got me to thinking. One of my biggest fears is running into a low bridge with a 5th wheel.

So I thought it would be fun to hear your stories about running into low bridges. I know most of you pre-plan but surely there are some out there that came unexpectedly upon a low bridge.

SO WHAT'S YOUR STORY? Did you realize it was too low BEFORE you tried to go under it? Did you have room to turn a round or had to back up quite a distance before turning around? Did you hold up traffic trying to find another route? DID YOU LEARN ANY NEW POTTY MOUTH WORDS when you found out you couldn't go under.


Have fun with this.

David

[5er_tom]

Low bridges are not an issue on highways and Interstates. We have a 13' 8" high fiver. Only once in traveling the country have we had an issue. In the TX panhandle there was a well marked 13' bridge. We stopped about 1/4 mile short and watched. Noticed 18 wheelers heading straight towards it. If they can, I can I thought. Turns out just short of the bridge was a road that went around the bridge. I just followed the big guys.
Most low clearances are well marked well in advance.
Be careful in Canada as they mark their clearances in meters, not feet, and I do not understand the metric system.


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[Jim34RL]

My GPS routes me around low clearance bridges and tunnels where propane is band. Will also route you around bridges that have low weight restrictions.


My full load out with truck and trailer is slightly north of 21,000 LBS.

[Rbertalotto]

Here ya go!

Lots of examples here:

11 FOOT 8 – The Canopener Bridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzkWTcDZFH0

[BamaBob]

X2 On the GPS. The Garmin 760RV is the best out there (there are others but I have always been biased towards Garmin)

[prairiecamper]

[QUOTE=5er_tom;1073338]Low bridges are not an issue on highways and Interstates. We have a 13' 8" high fiver. Only once in traveling the country have we had an issue. In the TX panhandle there was a well marked 13' bridge. We stopped about 1/4 mile short and watched. Noticed 18 wheelers heading straight towards it. If they can, I can I thought. Turns out just short of the bridge was a road that went around the bridge. I just followed the big guys.
Most low clearances are well marked well in advance.
Be careful in Canada as they mark their clearances in meters, not feet, and I do not understand the metric system. Quote

Most bridges are standard 13' 6" ft. or in Canada 4.15 meters. Anything lower or higher will be marked, at least from my experience in Canada. The best marked are in Saskatchewan where they let you know how high (clearance) at least 2 exits ahead before you arrive, again only from my experience!!

[5er_tom]

I may be wrong (can that be possible? Me?) but I believe that interstates in the USA have a minimum of 14' clearance. If not, they must be posted well in advance. I-95 in NC has a section where they say bridges are too low and they have height detectors to warn vehicles if too high. Our 13' 8" flies right through without issue.


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[joforbess]

I was listening to the nbc nightly news on the way home tonight and they did a story on this same bridge. Right after they finished their story, a truck hit the bridge!


2014 Salem 27RKSS - 2012 F150.

[asquared]

Originally Posted by BamaBob

X2 On the GPS. The Garmin 760RV is the best out there (there are others but I have always been biased towards Garmin)

X3. I'm more worried about branches and powerlines than marked bridges. I did hit a sign in the rv lane at a truck stop. It was the same roof all the trucks go under so I didn't think about the rv sign hanging down. Luckily I was going slow so only a scrape on AC cover. Cashier said they have that issue all the time there.

[bobfa]

I looked it up on google maps and did street view and positioned myself under under bridge to see all the scars. One tough bridge.


https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9990...8i6656!6m1!1e1

[Taranwanderer]

I didn't mind the delivery trucks in that video, but the RVs removing their roof ACs made me cringe. Wonder why?

[prairiecamper]

Apologies, in post #6 I stated that bridges in Canada have a 13' 6" (4.15 Meters) clearance, in fact what I should have written is the Maximum vehicle height cannot exceed 4.15 meters without being declared over height! So all RV's not exceeding 13'6" will have no problem with any of the overpasses, unless other wise posted!

[B and B]

A Tad overweight.....







https://www.facebook.com/Orange-Coun...5863831519306/

[Edmund]

In New England you must be careful of low hanging wires in campgrounds. After one instance of taking out one I didn't see in a CG I made a PVC pole with a "U" at the end. The length of the entire pole was the same as my RV height. Put a coupling connector in the middle so I could store it easily. Whenever we saw wire in a CG that looked to low I used the "U" to lift the wire while my wife drove through. Saved us several times. It also came in handy to measure the height of an overpass if you weren't sure. Never had a problem except in New England.

[j free]

I'm more concerned with some gas stations. That's were you will find low roof lines mainly when your off the interstate and in the country.

[Mr. Dan]

Service people at a dealership in Sherman, Texas, didn't tell me where this accident happened.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by j free

I'm more concerned with some gas stations. That's were you will find low roof lines mainly when your off the interstate and in the country.

Yes, I get out and look -- meaning I don't always trust DW's recommendation because she usually says, "I don't know... come and look."

[kraftengr]

The Federal Highway Administration stipulates a minimum vertical clearance of 14'-6" for all bridges. If a particular bridge does not have 14'-6" vertical clearance, two traffic warning signs are required. First, a Low Clearance Sign should be placed at the intersection prior to the lower than 14'-6' obstruction to allow motorists to choose an alternate route, and second, the actual obstruction feature must be marked with an overhead low clearance sign listing the clearance measurement.

[kraftengr]

I have no knowledge about the clearance laws in Canada.

[Myrle]

A great park on coast is Goose Island. Big Bend stayed in both during winter. If you go to Big Bend stock up on groceries and fill up with gas.