Strange sign on side of road this morning

NIMAN

Noticed a sign on a wall along a road this morning, something along the lines of

" DL-R242-01.00 "

Anyone know what this was?

Is it the introduction of postcodes?
Or to help emergency services?

rightyabe

NIMAN wrote: »

Noticed a sign on a wall along a road this morning, something along the lines of

" DL-R242-01.00 "

Anyone know what this was?

Is it the introduction of postcodes?
Or to help emergency services?

Could it of been on a bridge? Was it like a number plate of a car?

muffler

NIMAN wrote: »

Noticed a sign on a wall along a road this morning, something along the lines of

" DL-R242-01.00 "

Anyone know what this was?

Is it the introduction of postcodes?
Or to help emergency services?

Sounds as if its a road identification number. Was it a full sign or something just chalked or sprayed on the wall?

CJhaughey

NIMAN wrote: »

Noticed a sign on a wall along a road this morning, something along the lines of

" DL-R242-01.00 "

Anyone know what this was?

Is it the introduction of postcodes?
Or to help emergency services?

It refers to a GIS reference.
R242 being the road.
http://gis.donegal.ie/gplan_donegalcc/genMap.aspx?gomap=91:_104

Senna

Where abouts was it? there's a mini rally on this weekend, maybe its to do with that.

danniemcq

Senna wrote: »

Where abouts was it? there's a mini rally on this weekend, maybe its to do with that.

if it was surely it would read DL R242 13.00. unless its a midnight stage

NIMAN

More or less answered?

It was like a car registration plate, black writing on white background.

On McSheffreys Bridge on Carndonagh / Malin road.

btw, I may have read it wrong, as I only seen it for a split second, so numbers may be wrong (except for R242 which is the road, so thats correct).

NIMAN

Took a look around this morning, and I got it mostly right, its
DL - R242 - 001.00

Also seen a few more, including one on a small bridge that was on the horizontal wall, so it was pointing up to the sky.

??

Cee-Jay-Cee

NIMAN wrote: »

Took a look around this morning, and I got it mostly right, its
DL - R242 - 001.00

Also seen a few more, including one on a small bridge that was on the horizontal wall, so it was pointing up to the sky.

??

DL - Donegal (obviously)
R242 - Road Number (R= Regional)
001.00 - Height above sea level perhaps.

McShefries bridge is near enough sea level so the 001.00 could mean 1m above sea level.

muffler

NIMAN wrote: »

so it was pointing up to the sky.

That would be the highway to heaven :pac:

danniemcq

muffler wrote: »

That would be the highway to heaven :pac:

or



its one or the other

rightyabe

CJC999 wrote: »

DL - Donegal (obviously)
R242 - Road Number (R= Regional)
001.00 - Height above sea level perhaps.

McShefries bridge is near enough sea level so the 001.00 could mean 1m above sea level.

I think it could be just a way to ID bridges. I believe they have to be assessed every few years to check on there condition. Could be wrong.

NIMAN

rightyabe wrote: »

I think it could be just a way to ID bridges. I believe they have to be assessed every few years to check on there condition. Could be wrong.

You may be right, as the 3 I have now seen have all been on bridges.

Penfailed

They are bridge reference numbers.
DL - Donegal
N56 - Road Number (N = National)
052.00 - Bridge Number

They have left the decimal point there incase they discover another bridge between number 52 and number 53. It will then be numbered DL-N56-052.50 for example.

NIMAN

OK, but why are we labelling these bridges?

Btw, my count now at 6.

echo beach

We are labeling these bridges because everything now has to have a number. Every one of these bridges already has a name, the name that that was used by the people who walked over them and later described their journeys to family and friends. There is less need for a name when you are driving, a number will do just fine, and the practice of having names for every bridge, stream, hill and sharp corner will soon go, just like we have already lost most of the names of our fields.

Not so long ago the council put up signs with numbers on every boreen in the county, giving them the letter L (for link) and four or five digits, so obviously the bridges are next.
Then they will put numbers on the houses, as you have to do in Northern Ireland, even if no.4 is miles away from no.5.

Penfailed

echo beach wrote: »

Then they will put numbers on the houses, as you have to do in Northern Ireland, even if no.4 is miles away from no.5.

Yeah....and if they build a house in between, it'll be No.4a

NIMAN

Sad but true Echo Beach.

echo beach

Does it have to be true NIMAN?
In a county famed for resistance to officialdom will nobody take down these silly signs and replace them with the 'real' names of our bridges?

In Brian Friel's Translations we get the story of how the original names were translated from Irish into English. Now we are seeing another translation by the digital mapmakers into some meaningless numerical language. At least the English translations usually give us some idea of the original meaning but there is no way of translating DL-R242-001.00 to tell us who built a bridge or fished from it.

GismoBaby

Its like on the CIE bridges where they have an ID number and a telephone number in case someone hits the bridge so when you ring them you give them the ID number so they know exactly what bridge your on about and they can then assess it for structural damage. Are the bridges your seeing old CIE bridges from the old rail line by any chance?

echo beach

GismoBaby wrote: »

Its like on the CIE bridges where they have an ID number and a telephone number in case someone hits the bridge so when you ring them you give them the ID number so they know exactly what bridge your on about and they can then assess it for structural damage. Are the bridges your seeing old CIE bridges from the old rail line by any chance?

Yes, hitting a bridge in Donegal could cause terrible disruption to our rail service.:rolleyes:

GismoBaby

echo beach wrote: »

Yes, hitting a bridge in Donegal could cause terrible disruption to our rail service.:rolleyes:

Oi!! I said old rail bridges... ya know from back in the day when there was a rail service!

Penfailed

GismoBaby wrote: »

Are the bridges your seeing old CIE bridges from the old rail line by any chance?

No.

Kevwoody

Every single bridge in Ireland have these numbers, including motorway flyovers.
The contract for maintaining these bridges is broke up into 2 contracts, with 1 or 2 companies responsible for hundreds of bridges. With detailed inspections and paperwork it would be impossible to use a local name, hence the ID numbers

echo beach

Kevwoody wrote: »

The contract for maintaining these bridges is broke up into 2 contracts, with 1 or 2 companies responsible for hundreds of bridges. With detailed inspections and paperwork it would be impossible to use a local name, hence the ID numbers

I know ID numbers are useful and practical but given that this contract must run into millions could we not have stretched it to include names as well as numbers, especially on the R roads? It would be a useful heritage project for some jobs bridge intern.
Is the bridge maintenance no longer the responsibility of the council, or was it always with NRA?

danniemcq

echo beach wrote: »

I know ID numbers are useful and practical but given that this contract must run into millions could we not have stretched it to include names as well as numbers, especially on the R roads? It would be a useful heritage project for some jobs bridge intern.
Is the bridge maintenance no longer the responsibility of the council, or was it always with NRA?

you will run into problems with names as you will end up with multiple bridges named the same.

at least with the code then you know you are going to have a unique id for every bridge

It would be handy for giving people directions and that would be about it.