MOBILE, AL (WPMI/CNN) - Bales of hay were spilled all over the Bankhead Tunnel after a semi, clearly too tall to go through the tunnel, tried to defy the 12-foot clearance rule, getting stuck on the way in, its rooftop peeled back like a can of sardines.
The stuck truck meant the Bankhead had to shut down shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, closing the tunnel for hours. There was a similar scene the previous Sunday, when the driver of an RV tried to go through the tunnel. That driver was able to back out.
Warning signs and dangling chains notifying drivers that they’re too tall to enter are on both sides of the Bankhead Tunnel, but some question if more could be done to prevent incidents like this.
“You need to put a ‘go/no go’ device way before you get to the tunnel, and it could just be a bar across the road,” one Mobile resident said. “If those tractor-trailers hit it, it will make a noise, and they know they’ve got to exit prior to getting to the actual tunnel.”
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