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I know that it was reported about a fortnight before I did - by someone who noticed the fallen sign and doesn't have the means to have struck it. Whether it was actually struck, or the sign just fell off from the state of the wooden supports, is a moot point. The stonework looks 'in the style' of the original bridges, but without the usual arch span. There is a much more modern concrete bridge a bit up from there, where the Coolowley level crossing was replaced - in the 80s (?).

Normally, any instance where a vehicle hits any part of a bridge, even the warning chevrons, should be reported and is recorded as a 'bridge strike' by IÉ. This then triggers a follow up structural inspection outside of the normal cycle. It could have just fallen off though as you said. The height signs and chevrons are normally fairly lightly fixed with timber, so that they will give way if hit, and not damage the bridge itself.  The few times I've been there I have seen turf loads coming in and out (for personal use only of course 😄) but it is a very lightly used road as you say.  I'm not sure what age the bridge is. Steel troughing bridges are very common throughout the network as they were relatively quick and cheap to install without requiring large machinery. The concrete bearing shelf over the masonry abutment, does suggest that the bridge may have been raised in height at some point in its history - the original deck could have been replaced at this point.

A late start this morning as I was up late watching Match of the Day. The weather forecast for Murren was for clouds and frankly there is no reason to do that walk if you cannot admire the Big Three on the other side of the valley. So Plan B was to do one of the mountain railways which run out of the Rhone Valley and over into France. Having mapped out a route and choosing a suitable bus I found that we made better progress than the Interrail planner thought I would achieve and we ended up on an earlier train in the form of one of the very ugly Class 503 trains which work through to Italy. You can see from the photograph below why I have such a such an aversion to them. Nonetheless the train ran on time we managed a cross-platform connection onto a train heading for Martigny. 460.043 hauled a double decker set and raced along at 99/100 by the river Rhone, as usual absolutely smooth upstairs in these super trains. The South facing slopes of the river valley and indeed most of the valley floor are covered in vineyards, in some places these are terraced thanks to decades of hard labour building them in years gone by. After a stop at Sierre (this is French-speaking Switzerland) we continued to Sion, formerly the seat of the Prince Bishop of Sion who ruled over the whole area; the Bishop’s Palace overlooks the town from a high promontory. A little bit of history here, one of these gentlemen, Matthäus Schiner (born 1465), in time became a cardinal and a military commander. He just missed the top job in the Catholic Church at the conclave of 1522. He later was one of Luther’s judges at Worms. Back to the railway! We descended at Martigny at 1316hrs and having just missed the 1314 train (one connection which the Swiss planners failed to think of), we put our time to good use enjoying a coffee in a cafe opposite the station. In due course the train arrived to form the 1416hrs train to the French border and we joined a busy two car set - obviously brand new. This line was a close cousin of the Giants Causeway Tramway as it made use of an elevated conductor rail alongside the running rails. Most of the line is now overhead catenary but there are sections of third rail as you can see from a photograph below. The line runs level to the workshops at Vernayaz where we stopped. Soon after, the line joins the rack and climbs rapidly above the valley. Having gained a substantial elevation, the railway reverts adhesion while climbing along a contour-hugging course. Should you ever travel on this line I recommend that you sit on the left hand side as after the first 10 minutes or so the view is all on that side. The line climbs higher and higher above the steeply-sided Trient valley. Today when we arrived at the frontier, passengers were informed that the line over the border was closed due to engineering works and that there would be replacement buses. These appear to have been very effectively organised and the passengers off our train were quickly on their way into France. Likewise, before our train returned to Martigny two buses arrived with passengers from France. Below you will find some photographs which show the unit used by us at the frontier station, and a couple of shots on the way down, one of which, if you look carefully, clearly shows the third rail; a video of a nice bridge and a look up the valley to show you a village perched over the precipice. Finally, what I believe is the current collector on the unit. Onwards to France? The station at Chatelard Frontiere. The above-mentioned bridge, complete with much reflection! Bridge near Chatelard.mov  The THIRD RAIL - don't touch! A view up the valley. the unit at Martigny. and its conductor show. After this super line on, as you could see, a God-given afternoon we returned to Visp behind 460.043 (again!). A bit of a gallop through the underpass to Platform 4 there to catch 460.113 (first travelled behind in 2023) which traversed the Lotschberg Base Tunnel in 11m40s and got us into Spiez in great time to easily catch the 18.38 bus, which had us back on our balcony by about 1848! Hopefully, the Walk tomorrow!!!!!  

I don't think there was a bridge strike in the real sense. Somebody may have caught the sign - or it may have just fallen off. The mounting arrangements are a bit degraded with time and exposure. If it is going to be fixed, it might be as well to do the other side, too, or at least look at it, although that is less likely to be hit in a manner that would pull the sign off, as loaded vehicles depart the bog. The other sign has been hit, but would be knocked towards the real structure, rather than pulled off it. IÉ have been aware of it for a while now, but there will be very little traffic now   It is 194. Would we know how old the current trough is? It doesn't look like a modern technique.

I'm glad you took a picture of the good bearing shelf! From memory, if that is UBC194, the other side has timber sleepers supporting the span, which aren't in great condition!  That structure is known as a steel trough and the other side is basically a mirror image. There's normally weep holes for drainage in the lower troughs. They're fairly robust but do tend to rust where the trough sits on the bearer/abutments in particular.  I don't recall seeing anything about a bridge strike there but I'll have to look back and see.  There's normally a bit of 'leeway' in the minimum height signage to account for the "I'll chance it" drivers!