Prevention of Bridge Strikes

The number of reports of vehicles striking bridges continues to rise each year.

For the year to 31st March 2007, there were over 2000 reported bridge strikes, and this number continues to rise. On average about 6 bridge strikes are reported each day.

Bridge strikes are a significant risk to the safety of train passengers and railway workers, damage our bridges, and can cause significant delays to train services.

Bridge strikes can also result in the death or serious injury of the driver or passengers on the vehicle involved, and other innocent road users. Bridge strikes are financially costly to the vehicle owner as well as the railway.

A bridge strike can cause significant delays to the road user and disruption to the community.

The best way to manage the risk of bridge strikes is to prevent them occurring.

It is therefore essential that highway managers are aware of the consequences of bridge strikes and have guidance on the requirements for managing this risk for the road user in order that they may implement measures to prevent such incidents occurring.  Similarly managers of freight and passenger transport companies and their professional drivers should also be aware of the risks and consequences of bridge strikes and take steps to prevent them occurring.

As part of a concerted effort to raise the awareness of the dangers of bridge strikes amongst all those involved in highway transport and infrastructure maintenance, a protocol ‘Prevention of Strikes on Bridges over Highways:  A Protocol for Highway Managers and Bridge Owners’ has been developed jointly by the CSS (County Surveyors’ Society), Department for Transport (Traffic Signs Policy Branch) and Network Rail. 

Whilst there is no one solution to the prevention of bridge strikes, one vital ingredient is for a consistent approach to signing and road maintenance at bridges to be applied across the country.  The protocol recommends practices to be adopted by all highway authorities and bridge owners which should lead to a consistent approach across the country so as to increase driver understanding and awareness.  The protocol will be used by Network Rail staff in their discussions with local highway authorities as a basis for the standards and practices to be adopted.

Network Rail in conjunction with freight and passenger transport industry partners, has also developed a series of good practice guides to help raise awareness of the risks and consequences of bridge strikes, and to give guidance on how they can be prevented.

Two guides to provide guidance for transport managers and professional drivers in the freight and construction plant transport industry have been produced with support from the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association, Construction Plant-hire Association, Associations of Chief Police Officers, the Department for Transport, and Transport and General Workers' Union.

A further two guides have also been produced for operational staff and drivers in the passenger transport industry. The Organisations that supported the development of this second pair of guides included Road Operators Safety Council, Confederation of Passenger Transport, Department for Transport, Associations of Chief Police Officers and Transport for London.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport endorsed the guides for transport managers in the freight and construction plant transport industry and operational staff in the passenger transport industry.

By following the guidance, the freight and transport industry will be able to reduce the number of bridge strikes thereby avoiding unnecessary damage, costs, delays and disruption.

These documents are part of a series of actions under way to reduce the number of bridge strikes as part of our commitment to delivering a safe and reliable railway.