Bridges hit by a boat

[Forty29]

There's been a bridge strike by a boat today 17/6 near Totton, services around Southampton disrupted. Think I've heard of this happening before but can't think where or when....or is it a first?

 

[Harpo]

There's been a bridge strike by a boat today 17/6 near Totton, services around Southampton disrupted. Think I've heard of this happening before but can't think where or when....or is it a first?

Barmouth used to have special bridge strike instructions.

 

[Merle Haggard]

There's been a bridge strike by a boat today 17/6 near Totton, services around Southampton disrupted. Think I've heard of this happening before but can't think where or when....or is it a first?

It's why the (original) Severn Bridge closed.
There seems to have been some maritime get out clause where if damage is caused by a boat no recompense can be obtained from the responsible party .

 

[DelW]

There's been a bridge strike by a boat today 17/6 near Totton, services around Southampton disrupted. Think I've heard of this happening before but can't think where or when....or is it a first?

Goole swing bridge has been struck and put out of action at least twice, as discussed here:

Goole swing bridge

Yesterday a train at our local station was delayed by over 30 mins, and on checking the reason it was 'due to a bridge being open for river traffic' and it was the swing bridge at Goole, where 20+ minutes were lost. Given the fact that most trains at our local station pass through Goole it the...

www.railforums.co.uk

Post #2 by @John Webb says:

I have a book which looks at Network Rail's traditional signal boxes and the entry on Goole Swing Bridge box, which NR operate, says that the bridge has suffered two serious collisions from ships, one of which in December 1973 closed the bridge and line for 7 months!

 

[Gloster]

I believe that the Kingsferry Bridge to the Isle of Sheppey has been hit a number of times.

 

[D6130]

....and also Selby swing bridge, at least once, IIRC.

 

[Iskra]

Leeds station once got closed due to a loose pontoon upstream. Absolute carnage.

 

[Lloyds siding]

Hawarden railway bridge had a yacht wedged under it in 2021, caused disruption for a while till it was released (i.e. low tide).

 

[jfollows]

47 people were killed and 103 injured in the Big Bayou Canot bridge strike on 22/9/93

Train derails in Alabama swamp | September 22, 1993 | HISTORY

An Amtrak train headed to Miami derails near Mobile, Alabama, killing 47 people on September 22, 1993. The accident, ...

www.history.com

An Amtrak train headed to Miami derails near Mobile, Alabama, killing 47 people on September 22, 1993. The accident, the deadliest in Amtrak’s history, was caused by a negligent towboat operator and foggy conditions.
The Sunset Limited train travels from Los Angeles through Texas to New Orleans before arriving in Miami, Florida. It is known for carrying older people who prefer not to make the trip by air or car. In the very early morning hours of September 22, the train was traveling through Alabama. Three locomotives pulling eight cars left Mobile at 1:30 a.m. heading toward Birmingham across a swampy area.
Meanwhile, the Mauvilla, a towboat operated by the Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company, was pulling six barges of coal and wood through the Alabama marshes. Andrew Stabler, the captain, was sleeping as the towboat and barges made their way up the Mobile River. Willie Odeon, another employee of Warrior and Gulf, was driving the boat, but did not know how to use the radar system. The boat had no compass or nautical charts to assist in navigation on the foggy night and, without realizing it, Odeon turned into the Big Bayou Canot, an area where barges are prohibited.
At 2:45 a.m., the Mauvilla struck a rail bridge. The bridge was only seven to 12 feet above the water (depending on the tides) and was in place so that trains could pass through the swamps. When the boat collided with the bridge, it knocked the tracks out of alignment by three feet. Several minutes later, the Sunset Limited came down the tracks at 70 miles per hour, hit the misplaced tracks and derailed. The three locomotives and the first four cars of the train plunged into the water.
The crew of the Mauvilla did not make a rescue call until 3:08 a.m., but did manage to pull seven survivors out of the swamp. Those who did not drown were put in even more danger when a fire broke out. Two of the disaster’s 47 victims died from burns. The Coast Guard did not arrive on the scene until 4:25 a.m., and it was another hour before the first helicopter arrived to assist in the rescue efforts.
The crew of the Mauvilla was severely criticized for their actions but escaped criminal liability.

 

[Lloyds siding]

Somerleyton swing bridge stuck open after after boat wedged last year. Link to BBC news article

A railway line was blocked after a boat collided with a swing bridge and became wedged.

The incident happened at the Somerleyton crossing over the River Waveney on the Norfolk-Suffolk border at about 11:00 BST.

Greater Anglia said train services between Lowestoft and Norwich would be cancelled, delayed or revised "until further notice".

Network Rail staff were at the scene investigating before the boat was removed and the lines reopened at 16:20.

 

[Medicy]

The Frisian Bridge on the Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway (connecting Groningen in the Netherlands and Leer in Germany) was hit by the cargo ship Emsmoon in December 2015. The railway line still hasn't reopened, with rail-replacement buses running for over a decade. I believe that one German station, Weener, was served solely by Dutch trains for some time (though back to RRBs now) as it was severed from the German network.

However, when the bridge does reopen (it already has for pedestrians and bikes), rail journey times between Bremen and Groningen will reduce from 2h43m to 2h15m - a very small silver lining!

 

[Purple Train]

Blackfriars station has been hit before if I recall correctly.

 

[EYFanatic]

I see a bridge being hit by a boat and raise you an entire station being hit by a paddle steamer

1974, New Holland Pier was struck by the Lincoln Castle quite hard which closed it for 24 hours as BR examined the damage

 

[Snow1964]

There's been a bridge strike by a boat today 17/6 near Totton, services around Southampton disrupted. Think I've heard of this happening before but can't think where or when....or is it a first?

Those bridges are very low, wouldn't get much more than a rowing boat under them when tide is in, and would hit bottom when tide is down. There are two bridges over river Test.

The Railway is nowadays back on original alignment, sometime back about 140 years ago (don't know date) was on newer bridges on this side, then in mid 1960s as part of Bournemouth line electrification current bridges were opened and the older bridges alongside subsequently removed.

The road behind is A35, originally crossed an old stone bridge (still there) but the higher level road bridge eliminated the level crossing. Road was later dual carriageway by adding the section on stilts between railway and older A36 bridge

Here is a streetview

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[Gloster]

Denmark has quite a few bridges over inshore waters and just about all of them have been hit at one time or the other. Probably the most serious in recent years was the bridge over the Limfjord on the northern edge of Aalborg which was hit on 28 March 2012, cutting off the lines north of the bridge. It took thirteen months to repair it, although this was longer than expected due to the welding carried out on the new sections in Poland being of such poor quality that it had to be completely redone.

 

[sharpener]

It took thirteen months to repair it, although this was longer than expected due to the welding carried out on the new sections in Poland being of such poor quality that it had to be completely redone.

Friend I saw at the weekend worked for Rendell, Palmer and Tritton and spent 18 months in Korea rebuilding a bridge that failed catastrophically from poor welding (penetration on 18mm plate varied from 2 to 8 mm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seongsu_Bridge_disaster). Whole thing was replaced with a design that used friction grip bolts instead.

 

[norbitonflyer]

A pier rather than a bridge, but Hythe Pier has been hit several times, the most serious being in 2003, when a dredger demolished a span just after a train had passed full of Southampton United supporters returning home after a match. The master of the dredger was jailed for "an act likely to cause the death of or serious injury to any person while under the influence of drink and causing damage to a structure while under the influence of drinking."

 

[swt_passenger]

I was surprised when travelling down the Grand Union canal years ago, in the area around Weedon, and also the Oxford up by Brinklow, that various WCML bridges had the usual signs about phoning Railtrack if there was ever a bridge bash.

Which would be quite an impressive feat for a canal boat to leave the water and cross the towpath… I guess you could sometimes scratch the offside abutment if you could get through the weeds and shallows, but hitting the bridge span itself would definitely be a challenge…

 

[JamesT]

It's not a railway bridge, but Osney Bridge in Oxford was hit by an Environment Agency boat in 2021 and still isn't fixed. Though this is partly due to the work on the Botley Road rail bridge meaning they can't do a full road closure for repairs as it would cut off everyone between the two bridges.

 

[Horizon22]

Suffolk has a few. I think the Oulton Broad swing bridge in Suffolk has been hit a few times.

Somerleyton swing bridge has been hit too, as already reported as has the one in Reedham - https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/24768829.boat-crashes-reedham-swing-bridge-norfolk-broads/

Basically anything going over the Broads is at risk!

 

[WestCountry]

I was surprised when travelling down the Grand Union canal years ago, in the area around Weedon, and also the Oxford up by Brinklow, that various WCML bridges had the usual signs about phoning Railtrack if there was ever a bridge bash.

Which would be quite an impressive feat for a canal boat to leave the water and cross the towpath… I guess you could sometimes scratch the offside abutment if you could get through the weeds and shallows, but hitting the bridge span itself would definitely be a challenge…

Some rail-over-canal bridges are very low - the one north of Stoke-on-Trent station has caught out a fair number of people with chimneys, bicycles and other general clutter on the roof. I don't think anyone bothers reporting it!

 

[swt_passenger]

Some rail-over-canal bridges are very low - the one north of Stoke-on-Trent station has caught out a fair number of people with chimneys, bicycles and other general clutter on the roof. I don't think anyone bothers reporting it!

Yes, I think that’s par for the course, people on boats away from their usual home territory must get caught out all the time. I kept my boat on the South Oxford originally, and had a couple of very low bridges nearby, and kept stuff on the roof to a bare minimum.

 

[StoneRoad]

The old bridge at Potter Higham, whilst a road bridge, has such limited clearance that there should be a pilot available to take visitor's / hired boats through !
As the underside of the arch shows, not everybody gets it right.


bri[16] - fits under (just!) par StoneRoad2013, on ipernity

[Image is of a small yacht, with the mast down, about to pass through a low arch - Potter Higham, Norfolk Broads]

 

[Cambrian359]

I only clicked this topic as I swear I initially read the thread title as being ‘bridges hit by a goat’ and thought to myself interesting

 

[Dstock7080]

Fulham railway bridge, carrying the District Line was hit by the Thames Bubbler 5 July 1991.
Services suspended Putney Bridge-East Putney.
Four trains trapped on the Wimbledon side operated a shuttle to East Putney.
Services resumed with a speed restriction on afternoon of 16 July.

 

[Harpo]

A pier rather than a bridge, but Hythe Pier has been hit several times,

Southend pier and railway also. Link to a Pathe News reel here:

 

[Forty29]

I was correct then has happened many times before but didn't realise so many. No doubt it will occur many times again!
Thanks for everyone supplying information.

 

[The exile]

I was surprised when travelling down the Grand Union canal years ago, in the area around Weedon, and also the Oxford up by Brinklow, that various WCML bridges had the usual signs about phoning Railtrack if there was ever a bridge bash.

Which would be quite an impressive feat for a canal boat to leave the water and cross the towpath… I guess you could sometimes scratch the offside abutment if you could get through the weeds and shallows, but hitting the bridge span itself would definitely be a challenge…

Somewhere at home I have a small piece of M6 that I “extracted” with a narrowboat about 40 years ago. Less damage was inflicted on the boat and clearly the damage to Britain’s strategic road network was also somewhat less than crippling.

 

[matchmaker]

Alloa Swing Bridge was hit by river traffic three times.

 

[Bodiam]

I believe that the Kingsferry Bridge to the Isle of Sheppey has been hit a number of times.

Mainly with the earlier (pre 1960) bridge - closed for a considerable period after it was hit by the SS Gyp in 1922 and several times subsequently. The bridge is over a navigable channel with commercial traffic to Ridham Dock, rather than smaller craft.