Wichita, Kansas, has a new plan to stop trucks from striking a particularly problematic overpass — shoot them with laser beams.
The Waterman Street Overpass has been hit by trucks, on average, once every 6 months for the last 15 years. Last year alone, the overpass was hit four times.
In order to address the issue, the city is installing a new system that will shoot laser beams at oncoming vehicles which will activate warning lights if they are detected to be over-height.
Wichita City Engineer Brian Coon told local news station KAKE.com that the system will be installed within the next thirty days.
“We’ll be mounting two poles on either side of the roadway,” he said. “And as trucks pass through with their height they’ll block a laser beam that’s going to be shot from one side of the road to the other.”
The system costs the city approximately $10,000 dollars to install, but they say it’ll save them a significant amount of money in the long run.