| Photo of the month – September 2002 |
Figure 1
Steel slabs mingling with traffic:
A truck was approaching a light-controlled two-lane junction and, due to traffic conditions, had to brake while cornering gently to the right. When the truck braked, the load of steel slabs slipped and smashed through the headboard and side wall of the flatbed swap body. The entire load of approx. 24 metric tons was scattered over the left hand lane. By some miracle, no-one was injured and the „only“ damage was to the asphalt road surface, which did suffer badly. The slabs were loaded on pallets without being secured in any way. [Dirk Wegener, Bremen police]
Further Figures:
Figure 2: The seventh slab didn’t quite make it onto the carriageway. While it did crash
through the swap body with the others, it came to rest on the chassis of the container trailer.
[Dirk Wegener, Bremen police]
Figure 3: Interior view of the destroyed swap body: the headboard and front, left hand
side wall are smashed, the slabs having been transported unsecured on pallets, with gaps
around them on all sides. [Dirk Wegener, Bremen police]
Figure 4: The road surface suffered considerable damage. The slabs had to be recovered
from the road using special lifting equipment. [Dirk Wegener, Bremen police]
Figure 5: Incalculable consequential losses: traffic creeping past the incident for hours.
[Dirk Wegener, Bremen police]
Figure 6: The gouges in the asphalt surface were 10 cm deep. A car roof would not
have been able to withstand such force. [Dirk Wegener, Bremen police]
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