An eagle eye for over-height vehicles

State to install detection system to prevent low-bridge crashes

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The Eagle Avenue bridge, off exit 18 of the Southern State Parkway, isn’t just any old overpass. With a height of just 7 feet, 7 inches, it has one of the lowest clearances of any bridge on any Long Island parkway, and is struck from beneath by oversized trucks an average of three times a year, according to the New York State Department of Transportation.

“It’s one of the most struck bridges on Long Island,” said Beau Duffy, a DOT spokesman.

Transportation officials hope that won’t be the case much longer.

This spring, the DOT will award a contract to install infrared over-height vehicle detection systems in problematic areas around Long Island, including Eagle Avenue’s eastbound ramp. The installations are expected to be completed in the summer of 2017.

Thanks to an infrared sensor, an over-height commercial vehicles illegally entering a parkway ramp will trigger a large electronic sign that will instruct the driver to pull over and call New York State Police for assistance. The system will also send an alert to operators at NYSDOT’s INFORM Traffic Management Center, which will notify the State Police, so they can assist in getting the truck off the ramp or the roadway safely. The system will include closed-circuit cameras monitoring the detectors.

“The trucks that typically hit our bridges are tractor-trailers, and the trailers are typically constructed of sheet metal and/or fiberglass and break easily in the collision,” said Beau Duffy of NYSDOT. “So, for the majority of bridge strikes, the bridge is not damaged. The biggest danger is from the debris caused by the damaged truck. It ends up all over the roadway and can cause traffic accidents.” The mess can also tie up traffic for hours, Duffy added.

Large commercial trucks and tractor-trailers are prohibited from entering parkways in New York state because the roadways, which were built in the 1930s and 1940s, were designed for cars alone and have low bridge clearances, some as low as 7 feet.

In addition to Eagle Avenue’s eastbound ramp, sites proposed for the infrared systems include Routes 106/107 north and south to the Northern State Parkway, and Sunrise Highway to the westbound Southern State Parkway/Heckscher State Parkway.

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