Double Decker versus aqueduct. Aqueduct wins!

[NickF]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42435613

I think this is an aqueduct on the Worcester and Birmingham

 

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by NickF

[Mike Hurley]

Now it is a open top tour bus.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Very appropriate advert on the side!

[Dave Payne]

says railway bridge?

[NickF]

1 hour ago, Dave Payne said:

says railway bridge?

Looking at Google maps the bridge carries a canal and a railway. I guess the canal got there first so I think we can call it an aqueduct.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Bournville,+Birmingham/@52.4280488,-1.9270315,120m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4870bdd4289aab93:0xc2826e28f3f8f6b2!8m2!3d52.4244044!4d-1.9338974

[Sea Dog]

24 minutes ago, NickF said:

Looking at Google maps the bridge carries a canal and a railway. 

Maybe that explains it - "double duct" appeared to be double Dutch to a dyslexic bus driver?

Edited December 21, 2017 by Sea Dog
Cocked up the quote!

[Peter X]

1 hour ago, NickF said:

Looking at Google maps the bridge carries a canal and a railway. I guess the canal got there first so I think we can call it an aqueduct.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Bournville,+Birmingham/@52.4280488,-1.9270315,120m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4870bdd4289aab93:0xc2826e28f3f8f6b2!8m2!3d52.4244044!4d-1.9338974

Some (rather pointless) detective work solves this I think:

By comparing this Google image to a photo in the BBC's article, it appears that the photo is taken from the aqueduct side showing a car coming towards the camera on a road only wide enough for one vehicle. But the road markings on Google show it's not a one way street, just single working under the bridge, so the bus could have hit either the railway bridge or the aqueduct depending on its direction.

However the bus would have stopped just after going through, so the houses in the background of the BBC's photos which look like some in the Google picture tell us that the bus had hit the railway bridge first.

[X Alan W]

With a fixed stucture & a DD bus it's  always going to be a  no contest the way buses have lightly built body work stands no chance  a decent tree branch can inflict a few £1000's worth of agro  wonder the reason bus on wrong route new to area driver thers usually a warning notice in the drivers cabin saying if it's a high bridge vehicle

[Chewbacka]

As the bus was out of service at the time the driver may have taken a short cut.................

[Horace42]

It looks like a single-decker to me....!

[Schipper]

Now I seem to remember  a mister Bond,doing a far better job then this driver!

[Athy]

Thank the Lord that, as it was not on a service run, there were no passengers on the top deck.

[john6767]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Thank the Lord that, as it was not on a service run, there were no passengers on the top deck.

Of course if it were on a service run it would not have been going that route.

[Athy]

I don't know, but for the sake of future passengers I sincerely hope not.

[cereal tiller]

25 minutes ago, Athy said:

Thank the Lord that, as it was not on a service run, there were no passengers on the top deck.

Yorick was on the Top Deck , S'pect he Was OK. and a Lass who knew him?

Edited December 21, 2017 by cereal tiller

[Ex Brummie]

There is another famous bus decapitator in Birmingham at Sandy Lane, Highgate. The road passes over the Grand Union, and under the old GWR main line. The road took out a congested junction for traffic from the Stratford Road returning to Liverpool Street Bus Depot, and was not on any route, but still managed to capture about 4 - 5 buses a year running out of service. I was a driver at the garage in the 70's, and all the running records detailed the in, and out of service routes to be followed. Where there were routes operated by single deckers, an out of service return often bought you back that way. As drivers often covered a multitude of routes on overtime runs away from their usual rota, it was not surprising that accidents occurred.  

[roland elsdon]

Probably on the phone texting and Facebook simultaneously as well as bong coffee  fag and stubby. That's why buses like 95% of cars round here are automatic and trees are afraid.

bring on driverless cars 

[alan_fincher]

6 hours ago, Chewbacka said:

As the bus was out of service at the time the driver may have taken a short cut.................

Exactly this.......

Accidents like this generally occur when drivers try to take out of service buses back to depot, (or maybe are delivering a replacement bus to a location to replace one that has failed in service).  At such times there is no need to run on a scheduled route, but you do need to make sure the route you choose can accommodate it!

Years ago as a newly qualified bus driver, not initially allocated to a specific route, I was involved in many such moves of empty vehicles, and the potential for getting it wrong is considerable.  However looking at the height of the bridge involved here, their mind must have been on another planet, I think!

[dor]

8 hours ago, Schipper said:

Now I seem to remember  a mister Bond,doing a far better job then this driver!

I seem to remember that to pull off this stunt in the bond film, the upper deck pillars were all drilled through so that there was next to no metal still holding up the roof.  As mentioned, buses now are built to be as light as possible now so no need for any assistance in removing the roof.  I think there was a similar incident a year or so ago.

[BruceinSanity]

7 hours ago, dor said:

I seem to remember that to pull off this stunt in the bond film, the upper deck pillars were all drilled through so that there was next to no metal still holding up the roof.  As mentioned, buses now are built to be as light as possible now so no need for any assistance in removing the roof.  I think there was a similar incident a year or so ago.

Are the chances of survival of top deck passengers better if the roof is cut clean off, rather than being crushed down onto the deck?

[Rob-M]

44 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Are the chances of survival of top deck passengers better if the roof is cut clean off, rather than being crushed down onto the deck?

Only if they duck 

[Mac of Cygnet]

19 hours ago, Athy said:

Thank the Lord that, as it was not on a service run, there were no passengers on the top deck.

Unfortunately this has happened more than once in Scottish cities in recent years, with passengers on board.  The latest only 3 months ago: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/eight-injured-after-bus-hits-bridge-at-western-general-1-4562626

[LadyG]

I know that bridge, its quite distinctive, very narrow, plenty of reasons to be cautious in a car, never mind a bus! 

[Murflynn]

I used to go to school on the no.234 bus which terminated in Wallington in Surrey, just before the low railway bridge.

There was also a 234B service that carried on down the main road.

You can guess the rest.   Luckily the few passengers were on the rear platform, waiting to get off where it should have terminated, so the top deck was empty; it took the roof clean off leaving broken windows littering the seats.

[Peter X]

It amazes me that these accidents are as frequent as they appear to be, when the two simple precautions of using a map to plan a route and drivers looking where they're going should prevent them. There's even less excuse now if a satnav can know about bridge heights and the vehicle's height. I don't know whether the various satnav programs do include this, but surely the technology ought to be capable of it. The same would apply for weight restrictions.