11 foot 8 Bridge, Railway overpass in Durham, US
The 11 foot 8 Bridge is a railway overpass in Durham that spans 28 meters (92 feet) across South Gregson Street and carries Norfolk Southern Railroad trains. A roadway passes beneath the tracks through an opening that measured 11 feet 8 inches (3.56 meters) in height until 2019.
The overpass was built in 1940 and kept its original low clearance for seven decades. In 2019, engineers raised the railroad tracks by 8 inches (20 centimeters) to reduce the frequent collisions with tall vehicles.
A local resident watched the traffic beneath the overpass for years with a camera and recorded the many collisions with tall vehicles. The videos show trucks and delivery vans regularly hitting the low steel structure and tearing their roofs open.
Flashing warning signs and height sensors ahead of the underpass alert drivers of trucks and other tall vehicles about the low clearance. The signals activate when a vehicle exceeds the permitted height and approaches the overpass.
The overpass earned the nickname Can Opener because it tears truck roofs like a can opener when they try to pass underneath. Despite the 8-inch raise in 2019, collisions with especially tall vehicles still happen occasionally.
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