It’s a last-ditch effort to prevent the frequent crashes of oversized trucks trying to pass beneath the Casho Mill Road railroad underpass in Newark.
Bright orange clankers are now suspended above the road heading into the one-lane underpass, which has an 8-foot-7-inch clearance and is the most-struck bridge in the state.
has been hit more than 70 times since 2005, according to Charles McLeod, director of community relations for the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT).
According to the Newark Police Department, there were 14 reported crashes at the site in 2021 and seven so far this year.
The new crash deterrents, called clankers, are a series of seven bright orange spheres suspended from chains. The clankers hang at the same height as the bridge and will jingle if hit, alerting a driver that their vehicle is too big.
“This was the best mechanism they have come up with to deal with this issue,” said Lieutenant Andrew Rubin of the Newark Police Department. “This is not unique to Delaware. This system of clankers exists in other places as well.”
The $240,000 project, which also funded larger warning signs in the area, comes on the heels of countless other efforts to minimize big vehicles colliding with the underpass.
Previous coverage:https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2021/09/29/delaware-bridge-underpass-newark-casho-mill-road/5813733001/
Approaching the bridge, drivers are faced with multiple warning signs about acceptable vehicle height along with a motion sensor that flashes when a vehicle higher than the clearance height is detected.
Despite the hassle of trucks crashing into the bridge or getting stuck in the underpass, closing the road would disrupt the route of 11,000 daily drivers passing through the underpass. Completely replacing the bridge would be a costly and complex project, McLeod said last fall when the new solution was introduced.
