The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate has installed a new high-tech warning system at the infamous “truck-eating” railway bridge on Atlantic Road, Muizenberg.
The new over-height and length warning system makes use of two Lidar units to measure the height and length of westbound vehicles to gauge if they will fit through the bridge.
If a vehicle is found to exceed the parameters, the system sends a signal to a signalised pedestrian crossing which turns red to stop the oncoming vehicle. In addition, three in-ground red stop lane lights are activated and a Variable Message Sign (VMS) flashes a warning to the driver.
The system will hold these conditions until the target vehicle leaves the detection zone to provide the driver enough time to turn around and take an alternative route.
“In the past, vehicle crashes into Muizenberg’s railway bridge in Atlantic Road have continued unabated. We have had to come up with solutions to warn drivers of a possible or impending crash,” said Councillor Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility.
“The new VMS and Lidar detectors are now up and operational. I am urging drivers to please be aware of the new warning system, to pay close attention, and to take measures to avoid crashing into the bridge.”
Internet celebrity
The Muizenberg bridge has become somewhat of a niche internet celebrity over the past few years as residents and visitors of the area started to document the many overheight trucks that crash into the fixture, earning the railroad crossing the nicknames “Bridget” and “Biddy”.
The bridge has its own Facebook group with 6,700 followers and when typing its name into Google, it has an information panel where it’s described as “Bridget – Muizenberg’s Famous Truck-eating Bridge” with an impressive 4.4/5 stars from seven reviews consisting of six five-star ratings and only a singular one-star, presumably from a driver or fleet operator who fell prey to her unforgiving maw.
According to her dedicated fans, the road passing under Bridget can not be lowered as it could have “far-reaching consequences” messing with her foundation due to her age, and lowering the road will make the incline up to Main Road steeper which comes with its own set of issues.
The dozens of posts on the bridge’s Facebook group go as far back as 2015, suggesting it has been a serious imposition to trucks and overloaded bakkies scraping their tops on its bottom for eight years at the very least. Justin P. Borgen Fang, one of Bridget’s devotees, quipped “The Bridge has had more hits than ABBA.”
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