The primary purpose of Snooper Truck equipment is underbridge inspection, cleaning, maintenance, and repair. However, it may be employed in many scenarios involving difficult-to-reach structures.
This work is carried out on highways, automotive bridges, railroad bridges, pedestrian bridges, and most other types of bridges that the federal or state governments manage.
A specialized vehicle, namely a snooper truck, is generally employed to reach the underneath of bridges because access to the underside of these structures is frequently not feasible directly from beneath.
The access point on the bridge deck and the task at hand often dictate the size and reach of the boom lift required.
Following the invention of under-bridge platform equipment, under-bridge access
- When inspecting bridges in 1968, there weren’t many simple ways to get inside the difficult-to-reach places.
- For instance, conventional access equipment in the past comprised ladders, rigging, and scaffolds. Nowadays, there is a wide range of under-bridge access vehicles and other equipment. The employment of man lifts, bucket trucks, and under-bridge inspection vehicles, among other access vehicle types, increased later in the early 1970s.
- Moreover, “climbers” may also be employed sometimes, as noted in a publication by the Minnesota DOT. Mobile inspection platforms or cages known as climbers may “climb” truss members or steel cables. They are ideal for inspecting tall piers and other lengthy vertical faces of bridge components.
- There are a wide variety of under-bridge platforms, including self-propelled, trailer-mounted, truck-mounted, and high-capacity “bucket” vehicles.
- For example, there are vehicles like the Anderson Hydra HPT66 truck-mounted platform that can reach 4,100 square feet of the under-bridge area from one location with its 66-foot-long work platform suitable for those huge highway bridge constructions with deck lengths surpassing 200 feet wide.
- Highway bridges, regardless of size, height, or relative low profile, will always require inspections as well as maintenance and repair work, which is why snooper trucks are the way to go.
When It is Needed
Inspectors and technicians employed by state DOTs, civil engineering corporations, highway construction businesses, or independent contractors with a focus on bridge projects frequently perform under bridge access.
Therefore, having dependable under-bridge access is a frequent aspect of your job.
A bridge’s physical and functional condition will be evaluated during the routine inspection. The main technique employed to do this in routine bridge inspections is a visual inspection.
Because of this, a variety of equipment for cleaning, probing, sounding, and measuring as well as mechanical visual aids like borescopes, microscopes, and other optical devices are frequently utilized.
An underbridge platform vehicle provides professional inspectors with hands-free access to the instruments needed to perform visual inspections. Accessing ships below the pier’s “deck,” or pavement level can occasionally be difficult.
However, a “snooper” can frequently be utilized like that a bridge. However, the operator merely positions the work platform over, down, and then out from the pier rather than “over, down, and under.”
Conclusion
Snooper trucks are pretty important. Contact a company to learn more and get your snooper truck. Follow the rules while using aerial equipment.
