Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Preventing overheight trucks from crashing into freeway overpasses.

This was a blog post that was going to start out as criticism, but as time has progressed, the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation has addressed the problem admirably and taken the wind out of those critical sails, so you will get to hear the story of what they did to improve the quality of one of BC's freeway overpasses to prevent accidents and protect infrastructure.

The story



In the 1960s, the overpasses above Highway 1 were built to similar design and varying clearance.  Perhaps in those days it was inconceivable that trucks would stretch 4.4 Meters (almost 15 feet) into the air, or perhaps years of additional paving shaved inches off of that clearance.  Whatever the case, we find clearance signs with various "heights" recorded on most of the overpasses East of Vancouver 4.6 Meters being the most common I've observed.

 

[caption id="attachment_565" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Overpass Clearance (one of many)"]Overpass Clearance (one of many)[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_566" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Overpass clearance - 2"]Overpass clearance - 2[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_567" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Overpass clearance - 3"]Overpass clearance - 3[/caption]

Year before last, some surprised trucker plowed into the Glover Road freeway overpass Eastbound on Highway 1 in Langley.  That particular overpass was a little lower than some of the others, so conceivably he might have driven quite some way before having his big rig stopped (the hard way).  The damage to the overpass was significant enough that traffic on Glover Road was reduced to 1 way alternating traffic for the several months it took for repairs.

I'm sure someone in the Ministry of Transportation thought "Wow, that was shocking, that guy's truck just hit the overpass.  Hope that doesn't happen again..."

Last year, another surprised trucker plowed into the same Glover Road overpass.  Same damage, same road closure with alternating traffic.  The repairs made one side of the overpass solid, presumably to lend additional strength to the bridge (under siege).  Since that second repair, there have been additional precautions taken, which together have formed a system to try and prevent this from happening again.







 

[caption id="attachment_569" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Overpass under siege (repaired again)"]Overpass under siege (repaired again)[/caption]

Preventing the collisions

 

First there were 2 signs positioned further up the road on either side which re-stated the clearance information printed on the bridge.  With advance warning a trucker could conceivably stop before hitting the bridge.  The signs used bright contrasting colours to draw attention.

 

[caption id="attachment_570" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Bright clearance signs (with enough room to stop)"]Bright clearance signs (with enough room to stop)[/caption]

 

Next, a bunch of yellow and black reflective signs were added to the bridge to draw attention to the bridge.  

So if a trucker was overheight, knew he was overheight, read the signs, did the math and stopped in time he could avoid hitting the bridge.  But what if he didn't know he was overheight? 

A series of bright yellow warning / informational signs were deployed, starting with a sign warning trucks to use the right lane for the overheight detection system. 

 

[caption id="attachment_571" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Truckers Keep Right for overheight detection system"]Truckers Keep Right for overheight detection system[/caption]

Then the overheight detection system which triggers a flashing overhead sign that would warn when a truck was overheight.

 

[caption id="attachment_572" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Glover Road Overheight detection system uses beams (of light) when interupted, flashing signals are triggered."]Glover Road Overheight detection system uses beams (of light) when interupted, flashing signals are triggered.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_573" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="When flashing give that overheight truck that isn't stopping lots of room"]When flashing give that overheight truck that isn't stopping lots of room[/caption]

 

Then a small pull-out was built where trucks could pull off the freeway to check their loads.  It had a large bright yellow "pull-out" sign for easy identification, and a series of bright yellow signs warning that the pullout was approaching.  At the pullout there is an informational sign intended for those who have used the pull-out (my eyes are good, but at 100km/h that font is too small even for me :-) ) 

 

[caption id="attachment_574" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="overheight truck pullout ahead"]overheight truck pullout ahead[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_575" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="overheight truck pullout ahead (getting closer)"]overheight truck pullout ahead (getting closer)[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_576" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="overheight truck pullout NOW! (no seriously, NOW)"]overheight truck pullout NOW! (no seriously, NOW)[/caption]

 

 

 

So now overheight trucks can be detected and "flashed", and there is an illuminated pullout available for these trucks.  Assuming that works and the driver notices he is overheight, this challenge remains for a driver who is overheight.  He either needs to back up the freeway for 2-3 miles, or he needs a crane to unload him so he can drive underneath the bridge.

Now the Ministry has added a "detour route" informational sign West of the 200th street interchange in the same bright yellow colour, warning drivers of overheight vehicles to detour off of the freeway.

Good job guys, hopefully we don't see another accident at that freeway overpass like the last two.

 













The unmeasured cost

Glover road was reduced to single lane alternating traffic next to a university on the main road leading from Langley to the Albion ferry crossing (on the Fraser river).  Thousands of people had to wait each day while traffic changed direction to cross the freeway.  This took them away from their families, their jobs, their volunteer engagements.  This time was simply lost.  Add to that unmeasured cost, the construction costs and the real cost of not putting signage up after the first incident becomes more apparent.  The albion ferry is reported to have moved about 4,500 people per day, so this number would be reasonable for forming an estimate. Assuming a 1 minute delay for 4500 cars per day for 180 days (2 years 3 months out of service each year), with commuters earning $25/hour, the inconvenience could have cost citizens. $337,500 over 2 years.  That number will never appear in a government balance sheet, but it is a cost that was paid by citizens, and it is a cost we may be able to avoid paying in the future thanks to the improvements brought by the Ministry of Transportation.

 

[caption id="attachment_577" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Traffic congestion HWY 1 Eastbound"]Traffic congestion HWY 1 Eastbound [/caption]

 

I find it ironic that the train bridge overpass to the East of Glover Road (bearing scars from previous impacts) is even lower...  We'll wait and see if that has been taken into account. 

[caption id="attachment_568" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="The "even lower" railway overpass to the East (notice the repairs from past collisions...)"]The "even lower" railway overpass to the East[/caption]









Cheers,
Greg 












Friday, May 15, 2009

Bad Design

Things are designed for their beauty, their cost, their useability and sometimes just for fun.  It is surprising how often we come across things that seem badly designed given the possibility for greatness in design.

At my work we have all struggled to use our very beautiful entry doors.  They are polished and shiny with hidden hinges.  They are completely symetrical, so that from either side of the door, the door appears the same.  So we are all pushing and pulling when we should be pulling and pushing.  I expect some designer won an award for the doors, but it wouldn't be a useability award.  Here they are:

symetricalEntryDoors

My co-worker tackled the challenging doors with an office labeler and some discretely placed hints that have so far not been disturbed by the interior design police.

labelled entry doors

Sometimes the ingenious methods people come up with to deal with bad design are as enjoyable as good design would be.  How many cents did it take to solve the design problem. 5?

In this next photo, can you spot the problem with the card swipe instructions here:

gas-station-card-swipe-confusion

Thats right, the diagram adjacent to the cardswipe indicates that the magnetic strip needs to be on the left...  BUT in the digital image on the right, the orange screen clearly displays the magnetic strip on the right.   Left? or Right?  Well I assumed the hardware was more closely tied to the diagram attached to it and believed the diagram.  "wrong!"  It was the digital image on the orange screen that got it right.

Now how many thousands of dollars go into deploying something like a gas pump, and how many people reviewed the design etc. before it got to me the customer.  (And how many thousands of people a year have to re-swipe their card because of this bad design?)

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did, I'll post more as I find them, so be sure to check back.

Cheers,
Greg.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

British Columbia's Provincial Election May 12th 2009

We are in the last days going into the May 12th provincial election here in BC.

I thought I'd share some final thoughts...

[caption id="attachment_544" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Vote Here (flickr credit: myJon)"]Vote Here (flickr credit: myJon)[/caption]

If you care about the environment, and have concerns about the unbalanced power held by corporations, especially in light of what appears to be the Liberal agenda to sell out public infrastructure / legacies to corporations, then you should definately watch the video here: http://www.callingfromthecoast.com 

In the last election I Did not vote Liberal because they basically said "You don't want the dishonest NDP do you?", and I didn't vote NDP because they basically said "We hate everything the Liberals stand for", so I voted Green because they spoke of a triple bottom line of Economic, Ecological and social responsibility.  It was the freshest thing I had heard in Canadian politics since the Reform party was formed.  

This election, I think I must stop the Liberals who seem to want to sell everything they can to greedy corporations. BC-rail, BC-Hydro transmission, BC-Gas, BC-Tel... "What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?" There is more to life and government than money. Much more. Justice, compassion, vision, planning, responsibility, leadership, inovation.  Money? come on some of the things being sold are irreplacible.

I'm not impressed with the green party this election, because our local candidate keeps mentioning the legalization of marajuana on par with other issues.  Serious hit to your credibility guys.  THAT green agenda is something entirely different than the one I'm concerned with.

This leaves me with the NDP.  I don't think their record is much worse than the Liberals, and when I look at the Millenium line and much of the provincial land reserves, the NDP deserve full credit.  

The only thing I'm excited about this election is the STV, the "BC-STV" to be precise.  After researching it, I've now blogged about BC-STV here, and here.

BC-STV in 3 easy steps. (video)

1. At the polling station you mark your choices 1,2,3,4....   instead of marking an X by only one candidate.

2. Your riding or electoral district is joined with others to contain more than one MLA. (same total number of MLAs)

3. Your vote goes to your first choice.  If there is a surplus of votes for that candidate, or if that candidate is eliminated, then your second choice comes into play (and so on).  Your vote goes farther.  The BC Citizens Assembly on electoral reform explains this in detail in their website.  Read their PDF "how the votes are counted"


BC-STV gives British Columbia the opportunity to have proportional representation in the legislature.  It will likely weaken the "2 party pendulum effect" we have been seeing where policy swings far to the left and far to the right.  This should lead to more moderate and stable government policy.  This should reduce the party rhetoric because MLAs are going to have to work WITH each other.  

By the way "The Corporation" is pretty much required viewing if you want to be informed about the world around you. Check out the copy at your local library.


Cheers friends, make me proud, vote for BC-STV and give that firsvideo a watch
Greg. 

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Save Money - Give your things away!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...  The beauty of this secret is that it scales really really well, so the more people you tell, potentially the more people who can contribute and benefit.

[caption id="attachment_538" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="freecycle logo"]freecycle logo[/caption]

I'm talking about free-cycle.  You probably have a free-cycle group operating in your area.  The concept is really simple.  If you want something, you ask for it, and if somebody wants to give you that thing, they will contact you to come and pick it up.  If you have something you want to get rid of, you post it and people will contact you to come and pick it up.

Our family started with a micro-wave stand.  We probably could have got $15 bucks for it, but really... I don't want to operate a garage sale, I don't want to fight with someone over whether I'll take $12.50 rather than $15, and well I really just want to get rid of it so it doesn't waste my space.  My "interest" is unloading something I don't want to keep in my house.  The other person's "interest" is in getting a free microwave stand.  The environment's "interest" is that a piece of furniture did not need to be manufactured, stored, shipped and sold. (We've previously talked about "The Story of Stuff") The object's "interest" is that it becomes useful rather than just wasting space.    Sound "interesting?"  

This truly is "re-cycling" something useful to another person.  Because there is no exchange of money or other consideration, the opportunity for fraud / theft etc is super low (making this safer than other systems where money is exchanged for goods).

It works quite well, and I'm really pleased with the free wooden rocking chair I'm looking at across the room.  Not everything you ask for will be given.  "Lego" is a hard sell.  Nobody wants to give up their "Lego"!  It is an email group.  So don't use your work email. use a "junk email" that can receive a steady stream of offers.  

Getting started with free-cycle.

1. Chose a "junk" email address to use, because you are going to get lots of emails.

2. Find a group in your area by visiting free-cycle.org and typing in your city

3. Read the "rules" (guidelines) so you learn what kind of behaviour fits with free-cycle

4. Start reading and respond to items that interest you.

 

It is better to give than to receive.  Freecycle helps you do both in a way that is responsible; socially, fiscally and environmentally.

Cheers! Enjoy the free stuff.

Greg.