A truck. A low ceilinged underground parking garage. A dilemma.
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There's a historic covered bridge in a town not too far from us. It keeps getting hit:
Of the more than 26,000 bridges in Illinois, one stands out for what you might call its tenacity.
The Long Grove Covered is known, not only for its historical significance but for its ability to withstand near-constant assaults by careless drivers.
Residents say collisions are practically a weekly occurrence.
Built 1906, it was initially called the Buffalo Creek Bridge, named after the waterway over which it spans. The wooden cover was added in 1972. The bridge measures 8 feet 6 inches.
Some have nicknamed her the Queen and the Protector of Long Grove.
But this queen has needed some protection of her own.
In June 2018, just two weeks after the bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a box truck demolished the structure.
“It gets hit a couple of times a year, but this was by far the worst hit, ended up closing the bridge for a year or so,” historian Aaron Underwood said.
It was restored but 23 hours after the official reopening in August 2020, another driver in a chartered school bus not only hit it, but got stuck. This time, however, there was only minor damage to the bridge.
I-beams were installed as part of the bridge’s more than $1 million renovation two years ago. Since then, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has recorded 32 strikes by vehicles.
Yet the bridge stands strong.
It baffles residents. How can drivers miss all the signs posted in front, back and on top?
Despite a boost to some businesses, residents aren’t particularly thrilled about all the media attention following a bridge strike but each hit solidifies the reputation of this stately and strong jewel of the Village.
“I guess I tolerate the continued run-ins it has,” Underwood said. “I know it’s not doing much damage to the bridge if any so it’s the ‘little bridge that could.’”
Drivers don’t want to make that mistake. Fines for striking the bridge start at more than $700.
This was hit #65. There have been two more hits since then.
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In Boston we call it getting "Storrowed" because every fall during college move-in several somebodies run their rental trucks into the overpasses on Storrow Drive.
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It would seem the obvious solution to take it out the way it came in, which obviously cleared.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”
― Douglas Adams -
The next move was to load up the bed of the truck with random people who were walking by to lower the truck. They packed eight people in the bed, and while it seemed strange, it did the trick.
Alright, how many of these people are
illegalundocumented? -
It would seem the obvious solution to take it out the way it came in, which obviously cleared.
But where is the fun in that?
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@Axtremus it looks like they did that too.
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It would seem the obvious solution to take it out the way it came in, which obviously cleared.
@Mik The owner said there was too much inbound traffic that way.
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The next move was to load up the bed of the truck with random people who were walking by to lower the truck. They packed eight people in the bed, and while it seemed strange, it did the trick.
Alright, how many of these people are
illegalundocumented?@Axtremus said in A truck. A low ceilinged underground parking garage. A dilemma.:
The next move was to load up the bed of the truck with random people who were walking by to lower the truck. They packed eight people in the bed, and while it seemed strange, it did the trick.
Alright, how many of these people are
illegalundocumented?Yeah, I wondered where he got them. It’s not like it was a Home Depot garage. If I’m leaving a casino and someone asks me to sit in his truck bed so he can get out, when he obviously got in, we’ll, I’d have to decline.
