I can't imagine what kind of physics kept this truck from going over the edge of the bridge. I know its from the rear tire and gas tank that kept it on, but still...how did the rest of the truck going over not pull up the tire and tank off the cement guard?
Maybe it's that little ledge in the bridge that supports the container (do you use that word for that?) from underneath. The lorry must've been driving with a tilted container.
See how that one tire is kind of looped over the guard railing? It's pushing the opposite way as the rest of the truck. Looking at it from the front of the truck (you can see the grill): The tire tries to move to the left (<~~) The rest of the truck tries to swing to the right (~~>) The opposing forces keep the truck stationary, kind of how you can pick up a can of soda horizontally by pressing on the top and bottom ( ~~>[\\\\\]<~~~ )
It seems obvious to me how does it stay on especially using the photographs 4, 5 and 6. I think the bigger elephant in the room is: How the hell did it get up there in the first place?
Fenix your explanation sounds plausible but the nubmers still don't match. One single tire keeping the whole bulk of that truck? For something to be balanced far from its centre the smaller part has to have a much greater force to counter the bulk of the bigger part, which doesn't seem to be the case here, seeing as how for the smaller part we have one tire and part of a tank, the latter of which doesn't even have a grip on the guard rail. ps dark, read my post again
There is a possibility the image is fake you never know these days I've seen images that were proven fake that look more real than this one. I think Fenix is on the right track of how it is able to stay stuck like that. The nature of the accident or how it got stuck there in the first place could also be part of the reason it is staying up there like that. It could have lodged it there in the exactly right way to keep it up there.
@ kuvasz - It's not balanced per say. More like the opposing forces are equal. Um. It's the kind of thing I'd explain with body language, text is...ineffective for what I'm trying to get across.
The truck must not have been going very fast when it flipped. That's intense... could you imagine having to climb out of that?
Well, couldn't the top (now bottom?) part of the truck be pushing against the bridge as the tire caught on the guardrail, which causes enough friction to keep it held on?
There is friction there but I doubt concrete and steel would result in anything measurable, since both are rather smooth, especially the latter. For the time being I keep to my original hypothesis that the container touches that ledge, providing upwards force for it.
