While commonly recognized as an underbridge inspection and maintenance vehicle, not every such truck can be called a SNOOPER®. This term has been colloquially used for nearly half a century to describe articulated boom lift trucks, yet “SNOOPER®” is a protected trademark specifically denoting the renowned series of vehicles produced by Paxton-Mitchell Co., LLC. As […]
If you need some special equipment to access a bridge project, you might be thinking of renting a bucket truck. But where can you find one? McClain & Co., Inc. – The Right Place for Utility Truck Rental and Bucket Lift Truck Rental You may not need to search online for “Bucket truck rental near […]
There are several methods for gaining under bridge access for bridge inspections. And, until the advent of the so-called snooper truck or under bridge access vehicle, these methods were somewhat tedious, inherently risky, and time-consuming. Today, thanks in large part to the introduction of the Paxton-Mitchell under bridge inspection and maintenance truck almost 60 years […]
When it comes to inspecting highway bridges, there is a wide variety of equipment available to facilitate the inspection process. However, when the region alongside and underneath a highway bridge deck must be accessed, safely reaching and working in the areas can be a challenge. Because bridges can have spans hundreds of feet above the […]
The term “bucket truck” is one that is often applied to a wide variety of vehicles that are technically known as aerial work platforms, or AWPs. These specialized work vehicles are also called by several other names and nicknames including cherry pickers, boom lifts, or even elevated work platforms. Broadly speaking, they are simply a […]
The United States is certainly not the oldest nation in the world and there are few structures still standing here that are more than 400 years old, which is incredibly recent by European standards and those of other parts of the globe. A bridge in Greece, for example, is purported to be the oldest bridge […]
Bridges, like people, require maintenance as they get older. And the United States has plenty of aging highway bridges. According to the most recent Infrastructure Report Card published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), there are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. However, more than 42 percent of those bridges are […]
Anyone who works with highway bridges, whether constructing them, maintaining, repairing them, or even inspecting them, their biggest fear is a bridge failure. Keep in mind that a bridge “failure” does not always entail the collapse of a bridge span but can mean the presence of a significant degree of damage. If the damage, regardless […]
Asking what it is about Snooper™ trucks that make them so ideal for bridge inspections might seem like a trick question to veteran bridge inspectors. For many DOTs, engineering firms, and highway contractors, a Snooper™ truck is the epitome of the ultimate bridge inspection vehicle. In fact, the legendary Snooper™ has become almost synonymous with […]
Routine bridge inspections are often anything but “routine.” For most people, engineers included, there is nothing routine about being suspended 175 feet above a green, valley floor. And this in a metal basket attached to the end of a thin, steel boom that’s been lowered from the relative safety of a bridge deck! When you’re […]
