This happened Sunday at about 1 PM. We were on SB I-25 just north of the Spanish Peaks and the crosswind from the west was as strong as I’ve ever been in. There were RVs of every sort stopped under all the bridges and on all the ramps. I never had wind whip my fiver around like that so I pulled off the road just like the rest of them. We took an exit ramp that looked like it had some space for a couple of more RVs. We stopped and then we looked a little farther south down the ramp and down the road a couple hundred more yards and there was a small traffic jam. There was an F150 still hook to a travel trailer that was every bit as long as my 32 foot fiver. The wind was so strong it turned that truck and trailer a perfect 90° across the bar pit and the truck was still up on the road heading straight west. The trailer was on its side andnthe back wheels of the pick up we’re about 6 inches off the road. There was just enough room between the front bumper of the truck and the ditch on the west side for traffic to get by so I jumped in line and got past that wreck before the cops and wreckers got there and close down the entire lane.I only have my phone and I will try to post the picture. If I can’t I will post it in early January when I get back to my PC at home. Luckily all the people were standing in the bar pit behind the trailer, out of the wind, and I don’t think anybody got seriously hurt. PTL! CraigiZSUn9il

Coming across I-80 in Wyoming today, we were down to 45mph...on the flats and I had no desire to go faster. The semis were passing us but they weren't pulling away very quickly. The signs indicated 40mph winds with gusts to 60mph in the afternoon.Saw an enclosed utility trailer and a boat on a trailer in the ditch. No idea where the tow vehicles were.We called it an early one at the first campground we came across. After we got settled in with the stabilizers down, the trailer was still rocking and rolling for most of the afternoon.

Bar pit = median. Wyoming is no fun place, sometimes, either. I was on I 80 across Wyoming a lot when I was trucking...Gag!

We travel I 80 across Wyoming twice a year and at least once each year we see a truck and trailer blown over. There have been a few times we have slowed to 45mph and looking for a place to pull off.

Another reason of why you should have more truck than you need.

1/2T/huge TT vs strong cross wind = BAADDD DAY | Good Sam Community

dedmiston
Moderator
Oct 18, 2020
CavemanCharlie wrote:
The center one is called the medium (I'm not sure why).

The word is actually "median", which also means middle.

My wife is in landscape construction and she has built thousands of miles of medians.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/median%20strip
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Oct 18, 2020
Grit dog wrote:
CavemanCharlie wrote:
What's a bar pit ????

Old Railroad slang for borrow pit....or median I spose if the median was a borrow pit for the road grade.

Thank you as well.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Oct 18, 2020
mowermech wrote:
joshuajim wrote:
Bar pit, Bar ditches are a shortened phrase for barrow. When older highways were built they “barrowed” soil from the side of the road to elevate the roadway and provide a place for rain water to collect.

I guess it depends on the source. I was always told it was a "borrow" pit because of the dirt "borrowed" from there to make the road bed.
If it is a "barrow" pit, it is because of the dirt that was hauled from there in wheelbarrows to build the road bed.
Whatever...
As for the OP, near Livingston, MT on I-90 the winds can be so strong that the freeway is closed to "high-profile" vehicles. Semis and RV trailers often get blown over along that stretch of highway. If an 80,000 pound truck/trailer rig must stop, your RV behind a pickup doesn't have a chance. I don't care if your truck is a half ton gasser, a 3/4 ton diesel, or a one ton diesel dually, you better get off the road!

Well, here is another explanation and I am only up to page 2. I guess it is one of those things we will never know for certain.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Oct 18, 2020
joshuajim wrote:
Bar pit, Bar ditches are a shortened phrase for barrow. When older highways were built they “barrowed” soil from the side of the road to elevate the roadway and provide a place for rain water to collect.

Ohhhhhh. Hum. Around here we just call them ditches. The center one is called the medium (I'm not sure why) .

And we borrow stuff to take from one place to another not barrow.

Thanks for letting me know.
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2020
The reason we don't travel when it's windy.
Ron3rd
Explorer III
Oct 16, 2020
The wind is a powerful thing. 1500, 2500, 3500 probably would not have made any difference. The major forces would have been exerted against the trailer which would have acted as leverage against the tow vehicle
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Oct 15, 2020
drsteve wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Another reason of why you should have more truck than you need.

I don't think an extra thousand pounds would have saved this guy...

Maybe maybe not. Point is it's never good to be on the edge.

I know this from personal experience.
drsteve
Explorer
Oct 15, 2020
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Another reason of why you should have more truck than you need.

I don't think an extra thousand pounds would have saved this guy...
dedmiston
Moderator
Oct 15, 2020
Dtank wrote:
CavemanCharlie wrote:
What's a bar pit ????

One of my cronies from the South would regularly say, "Lets go to the bar pit tonight".

By "bar pit" he meant the BEAR PIT - a BBQ joint on Sepulveda Blvd in the San Fernando Valley, So.CA....:W

.

That place hasn't changed in... ever. It's been the same as long as I can remember.

Parking stinks. The place looks super sketchy from the outside. It doesn't look much better on the inside.

But man oh man is their barbecue amazing. We make most of our own barbecue at home (and love it), and we don't usually even bother ordering it when we go out since it's never quite good enough. The Bear Pit always hits the spot though.

Pic stolen from Google Images (not mine):
Dtank
Explorer
Oct 15, 2020
CavemanCharlie wrote:
What's a bar pit ????

One of my cronies from the South would regularly say, "Lets go to the bar pit tonight".

By "bar pit" he meant the BEAR PIT - a BBQ joint on Sepulveda Blvd in the San Fernando Valley, So.CA....:W

.