Mock sign fitted to Chelmsford viaduct after boat situation
A tongue-in-cheek road sign has been fitted to the side of a railway viaduct where a £1m yacht was wrongly suspected of getting stuck.Photographs of the 15m (50 ft) vessel passing through arches on the A1060 in Chelmsford city centre last April were posted online and viewed hundreds of thousands of times.The company that transported the boat said it did not get stuck, it was simply passing through slowly.Essex Highways urged against unofficial road signs being installed.
"We're aware of the unofficial sign that was placed on the viaduct," an Essex Highways spokesperson added."We kindly urge the public to not install unofficial signs, as they can mislead people and cause confusion."James Barke, joint managing director of the Essex-based boat dealership that transported the vessel, said he saw the funny side of the sign being fitted."Anything that makes people laugh in January is a good thing - and anything to do with boats is fun anyway," he said."I don't condone people putting up unofficial road signs but someone in Chelmsford clearly has a great sense of humour."
Mr Barke said no damage was caused to the yacht as it passed through the arches, and that there was a 5cm (2 inch) clearance either side of the hull.The viaduct was built between 1840 and 1843 and is used by Greater Anglia trains heading in and out of Chelmsford.
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