Essex rail bridge named as one of the most-hit in Britain
Ipswich Road Bridge in Manningtree has made the top ten.
A bridge in Essex has been named as one of the most-bashed railway bridge in the UK last year.
Ipswich Road bridge, in Manningtree, was hit 10 times in 12 months, Network Rail reported.
Network Rail also say there were a total of 1,624 bridge strikes across Britain in 2020/2021, costing over £5.5 million in delay and cancellation fees.
That number has decreased by 6% since the year before, but there were still at least four strikes on average a day.
Topping the list was the Coddenham Road rail bridge in Suffolk.
Here are the railway bridges struck the most times in 2020/21:
- Coddenham Road bridge, Needham Market, Suffolk (19 strikes)
- St John's Street bridge, Lichfield, Staffordshire (18 strikes)
- Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire (16 strikes)
- Stuntney Road bridge, Ely, Cambridgeshire (15 strikes)
- Bromford Road bridge, Dudley, West Midlands (13 strikes)
- Watling Street bridge, Hinckley, Leicestershire (11 strikes)
- Warminster Road bridge, Wilton, Wiltshire (11 strikes)
- Ipswich Road bridge, Manningtree, Essex (10 strikes)
- Thames Street bridge, Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey (10 strikes)
- Lower Downs Road, Wimbledon, London (10 strikes)
"Wise Up, Size Up"
Network Rail say they're re-launching their "Wise Up, Size Up" campaign, encouraging lorry drivers to regularly check whether they can fit under bridges.
Sir Peter Hendy, Network Rail Chairman, said: "Bridge strikes cause unnecessary delays, costs and safety issues for road and rail users.
"To compound matters, they drain public funds which should be used on upgrading and improving our network.
"In recent years we've done a lot of work with partners across the industry to tackle this problem and whilst it's encouraging to see numbers on the decline, there's a lot more work to be done.
"With Black Friday and Christmas fast approaching, we urge professional operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and look out for road signs warning of oncoming bridges."
Read some more quirky stories:
Whilst their owners have been adapting to life working from home, dogs have been able to increase their understanding of a host of new words through Zoom. Research has found that our furry friends have been able to learn words such as "meeting", "muted" and "boss".
A flying car has flown between two cities for the first time, leading its developers to talk of a "new era" of transport.
Travel company WeThrift has revealed the top 10 most Instagrammed places in the UK, with spots from Glasgow and Edinburgh down to London and Brighton making the list. If you want to give your friends and family travel envy, you need to visit all ten!
Nando's had to temporarily shut 50 of its 400 outlets after running out of chicken. The food chain says supply shortages were widespread across England, Wales and Scotland.
James Bond actor Daniel Craig has been appointed honorary Commander in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
A Hertfordshire man completed 100 fancy dress work calls a day after raising nearly £10,000 for charity.
Out of the doom and gloom of the pandemic, Cambridge Dictionary editors chose their 2021 Word of the Year. Primarily space travel-related, the word has a meaning that also described the world's efforts to carry on as normal in uncertain times.
In Berkshire, a gardener had a smelly shock when 'human excrement' fell from the sky into their back garden.
His whole garden was splattered by 'toilet sewage' discharged from a plane landing at Heathrow airport.
Two new species of dinosaurs have been discovered, that may have once roamed what is now the Isle of Wight 125 million years ago.
Actor Hugh Jackman is hunting down the owner of a missing hat in London! The star of The Greatest Showman and Wolverine was mistakenly given the item when he picked up his laundry in Chiswick.
There are lots of different camera apps to check on your pets while you are at work, but now it's time for the pets to check up on you! New technology developed at the University of Glasgow means that dogs can call their owners from home. The call is made when the dog plays with a ball that, when movement is sensed, connects pet and owner.
Dartmoor Zoo allowed its visitors to name one of their cockroaches after an un-special (or special) someone in their life for Valentine's Day!