Low Clearance Alerts?

The sign:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/368098969516860604/

The main route you would take from I-87, the Adirondack Northway, to visit Lake Placid - Site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics is by taking Exit 30.

The first and only time you see this sign is at the end of the off ramp as you make your turn towards Lake Placid.

Sometimes it pays to plan ahead a little and not just rely on the signs.

I don't agree.

If the original road surface was concrete and a layer of asphalt was added, then the clearance could be lower because concrete is not normally removed - just scratched and grooved so the new top layer will adhere. Agree that they remove asphalt prior to repaving.

Never seen a sign that says 'actual'. Just the numbers. IMO that would be a crazy idea to do that. How would anyone know what the real clearance is for all the other places ?

And FYI - My Allstays app gives low clearances for all roads as far as I can tell. As an example, it shows low clearances for streets that go under interstate highways.

Tim

CANAMKID wrote:
Ok what would everyone do in this situation
You are driving down the freshly paved road the sign, gps, map
book all say 13' 6"???:S

I wouldn't even slow down, since it's highly unlikely they added 18" of fresh pavement. :W

Usually, repaving an underpass involves removing the old pavement for some distance, so there's virtually no change in the clearance. There may also be a safety margin built into the number posted unless the sign says "Actual" or similar.

Ok what would everyone do in this situation
You are driving down the freshly paved road the sign, gps, map
book all say 13' 6"???:S

noe-place wrote:
I just read the signs that tell how low the clearance is. :W

We have relied on that for years, however, 3 years ago while traveling the Great White North, we came across a tunnel on our way back to the highway from gassing and other normal chores at Costco when we encountered a tunnel with a clearance sign in French with metric measurements.

I get it, when you're facing a tunnel, a sign with numbers is probably the clearance, but when your doing 35 mph in an only lane and you're not used to converting meters to feet and where inches are very important, accuracy is very important. Oh yeah, the ONLY clearance sign for that tunnel was above the keystone.

Just saying observing signs is not always a good method of determining safety.

Would you like to have a bunch of French Canadians yelling at you in French and honking their horns?, try stopping on a main arterial ramp to a tunnel in Quebec City in a motorhome with California plates.

Low clearance app's,GPS and Atlases are fine for numbered highways. Unfortunately, county ,town and tertiary problem spots rarely are logged.
Learn to find the sign that counts in the jungle of sign poss.

Are there any Android apps that will show height restrictions for Google Maps?

Ron W.

jeomelia wrote:
Do not soley rely on the software once you get off the truck routes you are on you own keep your eyes open. Advice from an old bridge engineer.

I have a Garmin dezl 560 LMT trucking GPS that I've used for several years. It has a very visible icon that stays up on the screen as long as you're on a road for which it doesn't have clearance/bridge capacities. Of course, nothing beats common sense and attention.

Like AdirondackJack, I have the motor carriers atlas. Since my 5th wheel is almost as tall as a semi trailer, I know I'm good as long as I stay on the yellow highlighted roads. Makes life easy.

The atlas also has a database of low clearances listed by state. The clear winner in the low clearance derby seems to be Texas, followed by the northeast in general.

This atlas was an eye opener. Highly recommend it. I got mine (laminated version so I can plot trips)at a Loves or Pilot (don't remember). Surprisingly, these are much cheaper in a truckstop then if you use Amazon.

And - It is wishfull thinking if you are tall and not concerned about low clearances. Knowledge is power.

* Just so I don't sound like a Neanderthal, FWIW, I also have TWO GPSs for plotting purposes.

** Sorry - one more thing. I also have the Allstays Low Clearance app on my Iphone - This also will open your eyes if you think low clearances are few and far between. I like it a lot. When opened, it auto-locates your location on a map. You can zoom in or out to look at low clearances in close-by cities/locations. Or look over your entire planned route for the day.

Ok, done now. I promise.
Tim