With construction season hitting high gear, transportation industry members are warning and being warned about collisions with overhead structures due to raised truck beds and other oversized structures.
If you’ve been around construction sites long enough, unfortunately, you’ve probably witnessed, heard, or seen damage to bridges, powerlines, signs and other overhead structures as a result of negligence operating industry trucks and machinery.
“Virtually any time a truck has its bed up in the air this hazard exists,” said John R. Jurgensen Company Director of Safety & Risk Keith Clay.
ODOT District 12 District Construction Engineer (DCE) Jason Young agrees. “… I’ve seen electrical lines hit and those lines jumping and sparking and seeing workers running. It’s just a scary situation.” The 20-plus-year ODOT veteran has also worked on bridge repairs needed because of trucks striking overhead structures. “Construction is scary enough, and if there is something we can do to help make it safer, help people get home safely to their families, I want to be a part of that,” he said of raising safety awareness.
While Ohio isn’t seeing an increase of overhead structure damage according to ODOT’s Central Office, the state’s inventory of bridges – second most of any state; roadway lane miles – ninth most; and traffic volume – sixth most, makes for plenty of scenarios for overhead hits to occur. “Bridge strikes and damage to overhead structures is not becoming an issue, it has always been an issue …” said Sean Meddles, a more than 30-year veteran of ODOT who began serving as State Bridge Engineer in May following the retirement of Tim Keller.
Though ODOT doesn’t specifically track overhead structure strikes resulting from construction events, unless damage is severe enough to warrant repair, Ohio’s amount of current construction and truck activity are good reasons for safety reminders. “… Truck traffic has steadily increased in recent years,” Meddles said. “In terms of construction traffic, our annual construction program has also steadily increased. So, one could infer the number of vehicles, such as dump trucks and heavy and wide loads that can cause damage, has increased.”
The combination of an increase in work and decrease in personnel are also reasons for concern that construction encounters with overhead structures might be on the rise.
“… There just aren’t enough people – especially in the trucking industry,” Young said. “So, they are trying to do as much as they can. There is a lot going on out there that you need to keep an eye on – other traffic and things, and (overhead structures) are just an overlooked item.”
“Our organization hasn’t seen an uptick, but shared information from industry partners tells us: ‘Yes,’” said Clay of increased incidences around overhead structures. “The pace or speed of work has increased due to efficiencies in machinery and technology.” However, technology doesn’t always prevent human error, as Clay added, “Drivers sometimes drive several hundred to a thousand feet not knowing their bed is still up.”
Human error results in most overhead structure accidents, which Meddles said for a bridge – depending on variables such as speed of impact, what hits the structure and the type of structure – can result in escalating levels of damage, from steel coating damage, bent steel, detached bracing members, steel tears, concrete reinforcement damage and failed main structural members to partial collapse. “All ODOT-owned structures are above the legal operating height for the traveling public,” he said. “Unfortunately, bridge strike incidents typically happen due to driver behavior and their lack of attention.
“… Contractors, or anyone else operating trucks on our roadways need to make sure their load is secure, they know their load dimensions and they put truck beds down and secure them before they drive away,” Meddles added.
“Since 2015, there have been at least five instances where dump truck beds were left up and struck a bridge or overhead sign on state highway projects in ODOT District 12 …,” said ODOT District 12 Deputy Director John Picuri. “These types of crashes are 100% avoidable by ensuring that safety features in the trucks are functioning correctly, warning signs are in place, and watching out for each other … Ensuring dump truck beds are lowered fully is just one way to help us achieve that safety goal.”
From Ohio’s northeast, where ODOT District 12 is located, to Ohio’s southwest, where John R. Jurgensen is headquartered, project owners and contractors are making it a point to remind project teams to be vigilant around overhead structures.
“At our pre-construction meetings and our pre-pave meetings we bring it up to the contractors to remind their brokers (trucking services) of lowering their beds after cleaning and keeping an eye out on overhead structures,” Young said. “So, it’s a point of emphasis for us to the contractor.”
Clay said contractors continually stress safe work environments as well, as John R. Jurgensen has been “increasing awareness through communication and training with laborers, operators and drivers.”
“How do we make sure that these things are being paid attention to?” ODOT District 12 Transportation Engineer 3 Mike DeLisio rhetorically asked. “On a project-by-project level having ODOT and the contractors work together when we have these big operations going on; looking at our work zones, making sure everything is set properly; identifying any areas where things can be improved. When we are looking specifically at operations where there are a lot of dump trucks going in and out of the zones, are there areas where we can put up signs warning of things overhead? I know there are a lot of times we do that for powerlines, but maybe we can add signs at the exit of the work zone, so when you are pulling out you see it one last time: ‘Hey, watch out for overhead obstructions. Put your bed down …’”
Along with discussion of where “overhead obstruction signs” should be located, contractors and ODOT have discussed consideration of other safety measures on the jobsite to decrease structure strikes. As a member of the OCA Safety Committee, Clay said the group has worked with ODOT on improving signage acknowledging overhead obstructions and making them more noticeable. “… The devices need to be bigger and possibly illuminated,” he said. “Underpasses and bridges and overhead signs are probably the most struck overhead hazards on the road.”
Clay also noted the importance of lighting on the jobsite to assist in the off hours of the day when construction work is taking place. “Illumination of the structures themselves needs to be considered,” he said. “Most of these incidents when they have occurred on our jobs are at low-light times of the day – early morning, late evening and at night.”
Young, who was named District 12 DCE in 2022, wants to keep the spotlight on the topic of safety around overhead structures. “What we’re doing right now is a good start,” he said of this Ohio Contractor article. “I am stressing (awareness of overhead structures) to my area engineers, who are stressing it at the pre-cons and pre-pave meetings – and hopefully they are cascading that information … I think like anything, after a few years if you aren’t talking about something it gets placed on the backburner. I think if we just keep this push, and keep reminding, hopefully it becomes second nature …”
