Miracle on the N7

Dodgykeeper

This Gantry:



Fell on this car:



And these people walked away:




More Here

amacachi

Not a chance I would've walked out if that was me in that car.

Sherifu

Thread on this in motors too. Really lucky escape.

Run_to_da_hills

Sherifu wrote: »

Thread on this in motors too.

Also in AH.

Chris_533976

Makes you wonder how well this gantry was put in? I know the things act like giant sails but I'm sure they should be designed for higher winds than what we've had. I know its been bad but I've seen worse.

BrianD

I am sure some idiot TD/councillor will call for the immediate removal of all signposts everywhere in the interests of public safety!

Most of the Irish overhead gantries seem to be built like battleships when compared with their counterparts in UK and mainland Europe. I am surprised it fell but fortunately no serious injuries.

jhegarty

Luck they were not driving slower. But speed kills. I am so conflicted.

Dunne.Drift

Very lucky people to escape from that!

wounder will the state pay for a new car + compinsation for shock ?

Ham'nd'egger

I was around Tallaght this afternoon and the winds were something else at times.

Davy

I think its mad how well the Golf handled it

Davy

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Makes you wonder how well this gantry was put in? I know the things act like giant sails but I'm sure they should be designed for higher winds than what we've had. I know its been bad but I've seen worse.

Hamndegger wrote: »

I was around Tallaght this afternoon and the winds were something else at times.

The weather station at Belmullet, Mayo recorded record wind speeds of 174km per hour today.

murphaph

For reference, the downed gantry is the partially obscured one in the following pic. It simply should not have fallen in the wind today, severe as it was.

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10077/IMG_2450.JPG

BluntGuy

BrianD wrote: »

I am sure some idiot TD/councillor will call for the immediate removal of all signposts everywhere in the interests of public safety!

I wouldn't put it past some of them...

What concerns me is that this gantry is very new... how did it topple so easily? We had winds of up to 140 km/h, but surely it was built to withstand more than that.

Loveless

davton wrote: »

I think its mad how well the Golf handled it

not even a broken backseat window.

Victor

From this, it would appear that the joint between the foundation and the vertical of the gantry held, but the foundation moved - the foundation was possibly undersized.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergusmcnally/3203775099/in/set-72157612682219932/

Davy

Victor wrote: »

From this, it would appear that the joint between the foundation and the vertical of the gantry held, but the foundation moved - the foundation was possibly undersized.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergusmcnally/3203775099/in/set-72157612682219932/

How do you say the foundation moved? To me the foundation is still in place. It the bolts between the two....

dbyrne

Victor wrote: »

From this, it would appear that the joint between the foundation and the vertical of the gantry held, but the foundation moved - the foundation was possibly undersized.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergusmcnally/3203775099/in/set-72157612682219932/

looks like the bolts sheered, as the base isnt connected to the cement support anymore. nearly saw 2 crashes on the m50 between finglas and blanch due to cross winds.... remember when they used to close the toll bridge if the winds were very high, used to think it was very funny that a new road couldnt handle high winds..

Victor

Apologies, yes. I only now zoomed in on the picture (difficult with flikr).

I though that the concrete had turned on its side.

1huge1

That'll be an interesting story for the insurance company

They were extremely lucky

DWCommuter

As was already stated the Gantry shouldn't have fallen. No doubt this will lead to more money being spent inspecting similar gantries and possibly replacing a load on the basis that they weren't put up properly.

The potential is there for more inquiries, money, time, inconvenience and general messing around because somebody somewhere got it wrong.

But of course I could be wrong.:D

Really glad to see that nobody was killed or harmed by this.

Davy

Would be good to see a video of this

BluntGuy

Looks to me like the gantry in question was one of those new-style cantilevers that was introduced back in 2005.

That particular cantilever was put up within the last year. That's not good...

Davy

BluntGuy wrote: »

Looks to me like the gantry in question was one of those new-style cantilevers that was introduced back in 2005.

That particular cantilever was put up within the last year. That's not good...

I was trying to think when it was put up, and i was thinking it would be since august or so...? Making it up a max of 5 months

steve-o

dbyrne wrote: »

looks like the bolts sheered

Most of the bolts appear to still be in place so it's probable that the nuts came off under pressure. While it's possible that below-spec nuts were used (and broke), I'd put my money on nuts that were a size too big for the bolts. A lucky escape. Time for a rapid inspection of all similar gantries!

Buffman

As the gantry is so new I'd imagine the building contractor's insurance will be picking up the tap for this one, and any further inspections of others which will be required now.

Another split second earlier and they were seriously injured, if not dead.
The car held up very well.

testicle

amacachi wrote: »

Not a chance I would've walked out if that was me in that car.

Would you have stayed in it, and looked for more money in your insurance claim?

anotherlostie

I drove by yesterday afternoon and saw the gantry on the ground with the solitary squad car to stop people from trying to access the M50 northbound that way. When driving down to join the M50 South, the wind was as fierce as I ever experienced while driving. They were very lucky.

Amtmann

It was windy yesterday. But, not this windy:

craiginireland

Furet wrote: »

It was windy yesterday. But, not this windy:

And that children is why you don't undertake!

Guy:Incognito

jhegarty wrote: »

Luck they were not driving slower. But speed kills. I am so conflicted.

If they were driving slower it might have fallen well in front of them.:)

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

KevR

Stekelly wrote: »

If they were driving slower it might have fallen well in front of them.:)

Or directly on top of them. Or a little bit in front of them and they wouldn't have been able to stop in time before smashing into a giant solid steel gantry..

Anyhow, very lucky that they were able to walk away unharmed.

As others have said - it should not have fallen.

amacachi

testicle wrote: »

Would you have stayed in it, and looked for more money in your insurance claim?

Yup, that's what I was trying to get at.

AugustusMaximus

Stekelly wrote: »

If they were driving slower it might have fallen well in front of them.:)

The first thought that came through my head was Gaybo turning up at the scene and proclaiming this as a reason to slow down.

vibe666

a million things sinc ethey woke up that morning would contribute to them being exactly where they were at exactly that time and anyione one of them could have put them a couple of feet further forward, or back.

blind luck was obviously on their side that day.

Guy:Incognito

amacachi wrote: »

Yup, that's what I was trying to get at.

How comforting.

Richie75

Hi All,

That was actually me and my girlfriend in the car. Very lucky escape as a number of you have noted. If any of you can tell us who is responsible for looking after those gantries it would be much appreciated. A game of pass the parcel started about 45 minutes after it happended, while we were left standing there.

Will probably be 2/3 years before someone owns up, but will let ye know what happens! Thanks be to God the only injury was to my girlfriend who's broken foot was further crushed so she has a possible additional four weeks with her foot up as if it were not initially bad enough.


Richie (& Emer)

Victor

Richie, how are the nerves?

Responsibility is likely to be between the contractor and the council, but they may wish to recoup the money from a sub-contractor or designer. You should talk to a solicitor.

Take care of yourselves.

murphaph

You were blessed their incompetence didn't kill the pair of you. Definitely need to speak to a solicitor before anyone else. The responsible party or parties needs taking to the cleaners and in any normal country would probably face criminal charges too. Main thing is you are alive. I wouldn't say any more on a public forum about this as it may harm your case.

Richie75

Thanks for that.