YouTube 11foot8 (11' 8") bridge in Durham, NC, raised to 12' 4" (2019), still not enough

SpeedSpeak2me

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Was 11' 8" (1940), then became 12' 4" last November (2019). Still not enough for the optically challenged folk.




The old thread which didn't mention the bridge by name:

I personally like this part at 2:36 where a truck with "HOPE" written on the gives no fucks:
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The old guardrail has taken a beating:
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And then you have this wingnut pulling a dual axle camper totally blowing the red light in "full send mode":


The Bridge's own youtube channel:
 

FirstWorldProblems

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SpeedSpeak2me

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I looked it up, the fed highway administration states 14' as a safe minimum vertical clearance

which begs the question...if you're going to go through all the time and money to redo it...why only raise it 8"

Some FAQ's posted with the video:

★★★ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VIDEO / FACT UPDATES ★★★
1) North Carolina Law requires a height clearance of 13'6" - However, this bridge was built in 1940 and is NOT in violation because it was built prior to the current height standard. At the time of Its construction, it met all applicable criteria. The current standard cannot be applied retroactively, and re-building the bridge would be too costly. Lowering the road is also not an option due to a sewer line under it.

2) Why not just lower the road
- The reason the road cannot be lowered is because there are sewer lines and water pipes below the roads surface, and the council could not lower the roads surface any further. Also if they wanted move the pipes, it would cost millions of dollars and will cause important utilities to be shut down for weeks or even months. So it’s not practical.

3) Why not lower the bridge, to make it obvious a truck won't fit through - For the same reason they have never raised the bridge, because the railroad company does not have to, they are legally within their rights not to raise or lower the bridge. Also a lot of traffic uses that bridge, it would cause more problems re-routing all that traffic that can still JUST fit under it.

4) Why not just close the road, so no one can go through
- Well maybe because most small trucks, buses & RV’s still do fit under the bridge, that the council did not want to interfere with re-routing all that traffic, just because 1 truck a month does not pay attention to warning signs, and crashes into the guard rail.

5) Why not just ban trucks past a certain height from using that bridge
- Ok seems like a good idea, how will you inform all the random trucks using that bridge of that ban, will you use a sign stating the ban? I assume you will put that sign near the bridge somewhere, maybe right next to the BIG FLASHING SIGN saying "OVERHEIGHT MUST TURN" because obviously the truck drivers are reading all the signs at the bridge, right?

6) What happens to all the metal parts that break off the trucks - Jürgen Henn, the owner of the youtube channel Yovo68, picks up pieces of metal from Truck Accidents and sells them on his website, along with T-Shirts, now this man is an entrepreneur.

7) Waste of time and money raising the bridge only 8 inches - The main purpose of raising of the bridge another 8 inches, was to level out the 8-inch grade difference between the level crossing down the road and the bridge itself. The increased road clearance was only a side-effect of the project, its primary purpose was to level the grade of the tracks so the trains did not have to slow down and can run more efficiently.


Also found here:
 

SpeedSpeak2me

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Nope. I searched the site a few different ways and couldn't find any other dedicated threads to this. Kind of surprised. Of course my searching skills are not on par with some of the experts around here that can spot a piece of coal in a goat's ass at 100'. :rofl:
 

FirstWorldProblems

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3) Why not lower the bridge, to make it obvious a truck won't fit through - For the same reason they have never raised the bridge, because the railroad company does not have to, they are legally within their rights not to raise or lower the bridge. Also a lot of traffic uses that bridge, it would cause more problems re-routing all that traffic that can still JUST fit under it.



7) Waste of time and money raising the bridge only 8 inches
- The main purpose of raising of the bridge another 8 inches, was to level out the 8-inch grade difference between the level crossing down the road and the bridge itself. The increased road clearance was only a side-effect of the project, its primary purpose was to level the grade of the tracks so the trains did not have to slow down and can run more efficiently.


Also found here:
F****** railroads i swear to god, if this doesn't explain them perfectly, nothing will. They make billions of dollars as monopolies/oligopolies, and literally would take a train right through your house NFG if it saved them money and they were legally able to do so.
 

SpeedSpeak2me

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redo it correctly? :rofl:. Why not do it wrong and double dip on the fixes. Its just like how Illinois knows they can build a road that last 50+ years, even with our climate, but instead choose one that starts crumbling in year 2.
Two would be an improvement. I remember when they repaved 355 just north of Army Trail, and that winter chunks the size of small cars were missing from the road surface.
 
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SpeedSpeak2me

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F****** railroads i swear to god, if this doesn't explain them perfectly, nothing will. They make billions of dollars as monopolies/oligopolies, and literally would take a train right through your house NFG if it saved them money and they were legally able to do so.
They also didn't need to make trucks taller ya know. Bridge was there first. Not saying that the bridge's height should be the standard across the nation, but trucks have gotten larger.

Let's just call the trucks "Leon" from now on: ?
 

greasy

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The 90/94 bridge that is over North Avenue in the city is just like this. I used to work inside the Home Depot over there and traffic was FUCKED so many times because of trucks being jammed underneath. Funny thinking back on it, but absolutely maddening when it would happen and you are just trying to get home from work.
 

SpeedSpeak2me

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Old 11' 8" 12' 4" ate another victim:

The crane arm hit is hard enough it shook the bridge and rails.



"On March 31, at crane truck hit the Gregson St canopener and knocked it around pretty good. The hinge of the crane got stuck between the crash beam and the bridge, and they had to completely flatten the tires of the truck to get it out. The bridge also had to be inspected, so the next train could cross it. It took over an hour to get the truck out, but at least one lane was still open, and traffic is not yet back up to pre-pandemic levels."
 
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