Often people tend to think that using electronics or technology automatically falls into the realm of an “engineering control” rather than an administrative control. Today’s local news story is a perfect example of this. We have this overpass in Cincinnati that is notorious for catching trucks. I have a local client that I would spend 1-week each month doing work for, and to get to their facilities, I would pass under this overpass twice daily. I lost count of the number of times I saw a truck stuck or parts of a truck lying in the roadway. So today, the city announced plans to “prevent problems at the troubled bridge.” But their language and actions are in conflict, as one says “engineering”, when in reality it is just an administrative control.
They plan to install a sensor that will detect a truck that is too tall; when this is detected, a series of flashing/strobe lights will actuate. They claim this to be an “engineering solution” when it is a fancy administrative control using technology.
To truly engineer out this problem, the city would have to dig up the existing roadway and lower the roadway such that proper clearance will be provided. They could go up a notch and just ELIMINATE ALL vehicles from passing under the bridge. Keep in mind that if they just intended to eliminate trucks from passing under, that would most likely entail administrative controls.
