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Call for change to parapets De liver vacancies me by 20%
Page 14
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AN INQUIRY INTO the death of driver Richard Pantry on the A92 Lochgelly interchange in Fife last August has led to a call for changes in the way bridges are designed.
The inquiry at Kirkcaldy sheriffs court last week heard that Pantry's vehicle plunged off a bridge and burst into flames after it hit a broken down car. Attention was focused on the condition of the metal bridge parapet.
The Scottish Executive declared that the parapet complied with UK standards and was designed to contain a L5-tonne vehicle travelling at 70mph.
It added that the nature of the bridge, which crossed a farm track, did not justify a stronger parapet.
Sheriff McSherry will give his verdict on 8 September.
In the meantime, a CM reader has written in to express his concerns: "I, like many other truck drivers, have viewed with concern the flimsy structures that pass as guard rails on many of our highways. I have felt for years that on many high-level crossings and bridges there is virtually nothing to prevent an HGV from passing straight through a supposed guard rail.
'Are HGV drivers' lives so worthless that they don't even merit a crash barrier rail running along the inside of the pavement for the length of the crossing?"