OTTAWA, Ont. — A collision at a railway crossing has prompted the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) to issue an advisory for trucking companies operating low boy, gooseneck trailers.

Following this collision, which involved a tractor trailer carrying a 12 ton backhoe, the TSB conducted a simulation on the site to assess the truck’s operating situation, using the same backhoe, with a similiar tractor and “low boy” trailer. Two test runs resulted in the low boy trailer making hard contact on the south side road surface whether travelling from north to south or vice-versa.

The TSB has expressed concern to Transport Canada that the vertical alignment of the roadway, combined with the horizontal alignment of the super-elevated (banked) CN tracks and the site topography present an engineering challenge in providing for both a suitable road approach and a smooth crossing surface. The TSB is concerned that such design issues may pose a problem at crossings throughout the country.

The TSB warns Transport Canada that because low boys must travel across such crossings at very low speeds, there appears to be no chance of safely clearing such a crossing within 26 seconds of warning ahead of an approaching of a train.