The time has come to standardise on road closures whilst demolition takes place overhead?
It is less than two years since a US company was fined for its part in the death of two young parents and their infant child, all killed by debris falling from a bridge onto a car travelling on the road which remained open beneath.
And yet, just this week, we have brought you two further stories involving debris from bridge demolition and its real and possible impact.
First came the report that demolition had been halted on the Bayonne Bridge in New York after chunks of debris had fallen onto cars below. And now today there is another video – filmed not a million miles from the Bayonne Bridge – of cars and trucks driving on a highway whilst the Goethals Bridge on Staten Island is demolished using heavy equipment overhead.
Here in the UK, the demolition of a bridge over a road means that road in closed. In extreme circumstances, some rail bridges are demolished while the track beneath remains “live”; but only after extreme protective measures have been put in place.
Whether it is by regulation or just the application of common sense, surely the UK model should set the standard globally?
