This is a list of bridges and overpasses whose low clearance causes a notable amount of accidents, also known as bridge strikes. Simply being struck by a vehicle is not criteria for inclusion on this list. To be included, the bridge should have a notable history of strikes.
Many countries establish minimum standards for the structure gauge of bridges. For example, the United States requires a height of 14 feet (4.27 m) for highway bridges. [1] Some vehicle standards are made to conform to these expectations. In much of the United States, the maximum height of a semi truck, in the absence of an approved overheight permit, is 13 feet, 6 inches (4.12 m). [2] Some bridges were built before the adoption of these standards, and are undersized. Accidents involving these bridges have spurred mitigation efforts, such as installing sensors and signs that warn drivers. [3] These efforts do not entirely eliminate strikes, prompting some efforts to increase the clearance height. [4]
Viral videos of bridge strikes have generated substantial public interest. [5] [6] One of the most famous examples of this is the Norfolk Southern–Gregson Street Overpass, also known as the "11foot8" bridge, which was popularized by a YouTube channel. [7]
The bridges are listed in no particular order.
Name | Opened | Clearance Height | Location | Information |
---|---|---|---|---|
Concord Covered Bridge | 1872 | 2.1 m (7 ft) | Smyrna, Georgia, U.S. | Bridge over Nickajack Creek. It is approximately 13 feet tall inside, however the entrance is only 7 feet. [8] |
Mechanic Street Bridge | 1862 | 2.4 m (8 ft) | Lancaster, New Hampshire, U.S. | Covered bridge over the Israel River that is open to automobile traffic. Most of the bridge structure is wooden, causing catastrophic damage when it is struck, necessitating closures for repairs. [9] [10] |
Onondaga Lake Parkway Bridge | 1871 | 3.28 m (10 ft 9 in) | Syracuse, New York, U.S. | Railroad bridge that has been hit more than any other bridge in the US. |
Montague Street Bridge | 1914 | 3.0 m (9.8 ft) | South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Rail bridge, part of the Port Melbourne railway line. Strikes of the bridge are the subject of a website, frequent local media reports, and a song. [11] A bus driver was imprisoned for injuring passengers by driving into the bridge. [12] The bridge originally had a larger clearance height, but the road beneath had to be raised due to flooding. [13] |
Storrow Drive Overpasses | 1951 | 3.20 m (10 ft 6 in) | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | Nine bridges cross Storrow Drive, a parkway operated by the Massachusetts DCR. The clearance heights vary, but the limit most often cited is 10 feet, 6 inches. [14] Part of the attention comes from the seasonal nature of the bridge strikes, given that in the late summer many college students crash moving trucks into the bridges when traveling to campuses. [15] Crashes and close calls often happen multiple days in a row. These accidents are called "Storrowing" or "Getting Storrowed". [16] |
Bayswater Bridge | 1910 | 3.8 m (12 ft) | Perth, Western Australia, Australia | A rail bridge owned by Western Australia's Public Transport Authority subject to substantial media coverage. At one point, signs marking the low clearance of the bridge fell onto a vehicle, damaging it. [17] The bridge was demolished in April 2023 and replaced by a new, taller rail bridge. [18] |
Norfolk Southern-Gregson Street Overpass | 1940 | 3.76 m (12 ft 4 in)
| Durham, North Carolina, U.S. | Rail bridge owned by the North Carolina Railroad, subject of a popular YouTube channel and website created in 2008. [19] The height was raised by 8 inches in 2019. [4] |
Robert Parker Coffin Bridge | 1906 | 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in) | Long Grove, Illinois, U.S. | Single-lane covered bridge over Buffalo Creek. The low wooden covering was added to protect the steel elements and limit truck traffic through the village. After being placed on the National Historic Register the bridge covering was damaged by an over-size truck which lead to the construction of a steel sub-structure. |
Laurel Avenue Overpass | 1903 | 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in) | Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | Double-lane underpass near the historic Conemaugh River. The Laurel Street Overpass has received significant coverage in the Pennsylvania media due to its high number of accidents. It is estimated that the overpass is hit by tractor-trailers "at least once a month." [20] |
Fools Bridge, Saint Petersburg, Russia | 2009 | 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) | Saint Petersburg, Russia | At least 170 trucks got stuck under this bridge [21] [ better source needed ], which is situated at 59°47′18″N30°29′43″E / 59.788201°N 30.495273°E |
Casho Mill Road underpass | 2.62 m (8 ft 7 in) | Newark, Delaware, U.S. | Known for an unusual amount of warning devices. [22] 39°40′34″N75°46′26″W / 39.676°N 75.774°W | |
West Central Avenue underpass | 3.84 m (12 ft 7 in) | Delaware, Ohio, U.S. | One of many underpasses known as a "can opener". Sensor-triggered signage installed in 2018. [23] 40°18′14″N83°04′59″W / 40.304°N 83.083°W | |
North Washington Street underpass | 3.4 m (11 ft) | Tiffin, Ohio, U.S. | One of many underpasses known as a "can opener". [24] 41°07′08″N83°10′37″W / 41.119°N 83.177°W | |
Third Street underpass | 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in) | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | One of many underpasses known as a "can opener". Southern of two adjacent overpasses. [25] 38°12′40″N85°45′47″W / 38.211°N 85.763°W | |
Carters Creek Pike Railroad Bridge | 3.30 m (10 ft 10 in) | Columbia, Tennessee, U.S. | Known as the "Carters Creek Can Opener". [26] 35°40′41″N87°00′43″W / 35.678°N 87.012°W | |
East Maine Street bridge | 3.45 m (11 ft 4 in) | Enid, Oklahoma, U.S. | One of many underpasses known as a "can opener". Bridge is painted with shark teeth, a graphic nicknamed "the Bridge Shark", to discourage overheight trucks. [27] [28] [29] 36°23′42″N97°52′34″W / 36.395°N 97.876°W | |
Dr. Mendiguichía Carriche Avenue underpass | 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) | Leganés, Spain | Known as the "puente tragacamiones" ("truck-swallowing bridge"), it is so notorious among the local population there is a Facebook page dedicated to it. [30] 40°19′52″N3°46′12″W / 40.331°N 3.770°W |
Enid is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a character in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. In 1991, the Oklahoma state legislature designated Enid the "purple martin capital of Oklahoma." Enid holds the nickname of "Queen Wheat City" and "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma and the United States for its immense grain storage capacity, and has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world.
The Ambassador Bridge is an international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, the toll bridge it is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume, carrying more than 25% of all merchandise trade between the United States and Canada by value. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Detroit–Windsor region and US$13 billion in annual production depend on the Detroit–Windsor international border crossing.
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. Designed by Leon Moisseiff and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company, the bridge has a total length of 6,855 ft (2,089 m). It is one of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island to Long Island; the nearby Brooklyn Bridge is just slightly farther west, while the Queensboro and Williamsburg bridges are to the north.
King's Highway 402, commonly referred to as Highway 402 and historically as the Blue Water Bridge Approach, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects the Blue Water Bridge international crossing near Sarnia to Highway 401 in London. It is one of multiple trade links between Ontario and the Midwestern United States. It is four lanes for much of its length, though the approach to the Blue Water Bridge is six lanes.
The Borough Hall/Court Street station is an underground New York City Subway station complex in Brooklyn shared by the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the IRT Eastern Parkway Line. The complex comprises three stations: Borough Hall on the IRT lines and Court Street on the BMT line. The stations are located under Court, Joralemon, and Montague Streets, next to Brooklyn Borough Hall, in the Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights neighborhoods of Brooklyn. It is served by the 2, 4, and R trains at all times; the 3 train all times except late nights; the 5 train on weekdays; the N train during late nights; and limited rush-hour W trains.
Bayswater railway station is a suburban rail station in Bayswater, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It is the junction station for Transperth's Midland and Airport lines, and the Morley–Ellenbrook line when it opens in late 2024.
The Astoria Boulevard station is an express station on the BMT Astoria Line of the New York City Subway. Located on 31st Street between Astoria Boulevard and the Grand Central Parkway in Astoria, Queens, the station is served by the N train at all times, as well as by the W train on weekdays.
Storrow Drive, officially James Jackson Storrow Memorial Drive, is a major crosstown parkway in Boston, Massachusetts, running east–west along the southern bank of the Charles River. It is restricted to cars; trucks and buses are not permitted on it, while pedestrian access is available via walking paths on the Charles River side of the road. Boston drivers use the route for quick access to downtown locations.
Endicott station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Dedham, Massachusetts, served by the Franklin/Foxboro Line. It is located off Grant Avenue at Elmwood Avenue. The station is not accessible.
The trucking industry serves the American economy by transporting large quantities of raw materials, works in process, and finished goods over land—typically from manufacturing plants to retail distribution centers. Trucks are also used in the construction industry, two of which require dump trucks and portable concrete mixers to move the large amounts of rocks, dirt, concrete, and other building materials used in construction. Trucks in America are responsible for the majority of freight movement over land and are tools in the manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing industries.
On May 23, 2013, at approximately 7:00 pm PDT, a span of the bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River in the U.S. state of Washington collapsed. Three people in two different vehicles fell into the river below and were rescued by boat, escaping serious injury. The cause of the catastrophic failure was determined to be an oversize load striking several of the bridge's overhead support beams, leading to an immediate collapse of the northernmost span.
The Norfolk Southern–Gregson Street Overpass, also known as the 11-foot-8 Bridge, is a railroad bridge in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Built in 1940, the bridge allows passenger and freight trains to cross over South Gregson Street in downtown Durham and also functions as the northbound access to the nearby Durham Amtrak station.
The Montague Street Bridge is a railway bridge in South Melbourne, Australia, an inner suburb of Melbourne. The bridge is located at 83 Montague Street, between Woodgate Street and Gladstone Lane.
The Robert Parker Coffin Bridge is a Pratt pony truss bridge that spans Buffalo Creek in Long Grove, Illinois, United States. Standing 41 feet (12 m) long, it was built in 1906 by the Joliet Bridge and Iron Company. It is one of the few remaining bridges of its kind in the Chicago area and the state of Illinois, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
The Bayswater Subway was a road under rail subway in Perth, Western Australia. It was located immediately west of Bayswater railway station, and carried King William Street / Coode Street beneath the Midland line. The subway was demolished in April 2023 as part of Metronet's rebuild of Bayswater station.
Bridge strike or tunnel strike is a type of transport accident in which a vehicle collides with a bridge, overpass, or tunnel structure. Bridge-strike road accidents, in which an over-height vehicle collides with the underside of the structure, occur frequently and are a major issue worldwide. In waterways, the term encompasses water vessel–bridge collisions, including bridge span and support structure collisions.
Canopener or can opener, may refer to:
The Boksburg explosion took place on 24 December 2022, when a fuel tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exploded underneath a railway bridge in Boksburg, in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, with a death toll of 41 people as of 18 January 2023. Nearby infrastructure was damaged by the explosion.
In civil engineering, clearance refers to the difference between the loading gauge and the structure gauge in the case of railroad cars or trams, or the difference between the size of any vehicle and the width/height of doors, the width/height of an overpass or the diameter of a tunnel as well as the air draft under a bridge, the width of a lock or diameter of a tunnel in the case of watercraft. In addition, there is the difference between the deep draft and the stream bed or sea bed of a waterway.