11' 8" Truck-eating bridge in Durham, N.C.

[Frank S]

"Oversize Load" signs are only there to warn other drivers...
This one managed to squeeze not only a bed, but an entire dump truck under a bridge:

While a 773 is normally a dump truck the one featured in the video is configured with a water tank making it a water tanker but that is just semantics.
Normally a bed on the larger trucks would be removed and shipped separately on the larger equipment for weight and height considerations shipping 2 loads is sometimes cheaper than shipping as a whole and there is the matter of reasonable reduction of size. On the Interstate system most states now allow 14' 1" as max legal height instead of the 13'6" High pole pilot vehicles are required over 15' just about everywhere now some states are requiring a high pole over 14'6" .
So several things went wrong here. First the driver probably fudged on the overall height to get less expensive over dimensional permits, the permit agency was not due diligent in their routing the road surface may have been topped reducing the clearance, the pilot if one had been hired failed to properly check the overhead height in 2 or 3 places as required when obstructions may exist. But most of all the driver ignored the 6 side observance rule when driving a truck especially #5&6 ground and sky Long multi axle rigs can gain several inches in height if the road surface slopes down and up under an over pass due to its length.
I wonder if he had one of these on board to check his height with. my guy who pulls the trailers he and I own together has one and it has proved very valuable more than once
https://www.amazon.com/Business-BA-P...-6&tag=mh0b-20

[meyer77]

Does the driver normally get the permits? I could be wrong, but I would think the shipper would be responsible for that.

[Crusty]

Permits aren't required for vehicles within standard size limits, but if oversize then the driver is required to have a permit with routing on it and usually those are arranged by the driver's dispatch office. Most of the vehicles in the first video were within standard limits but "permit not required" is no defense for careless vehicle operation. The driver in the second video is probably selling shoes now.

Vehicles carrying hazardous materials (propane for instance) are required to follow designated HazMat routes regardless of size, and a proposed day care center located along one (railroads are too) won't get a license to operate.

[EnginePaul]

Looking at that video, I would think that if the rental companies chipped in, they could pay to have the road bed lowered and be dollars ahead in no time. That is one strong overpass!

[tooly]

I wonder what it would cost to redress the road 6" lower, it must have been a possible answer.

[Frank S]

I wonder what it would cost to redress the road 6" lower, it must have been a possible answer.

depending on the footing they could probably lower the road a full 12 inches but that would mean redressing it a 100 feet to either side still should be cheaper than the alternatives they are faced with every time a delivery van type vehicle attempts to drive under

[Crusty]

The problem with lowering the road is that it can then become a drainage pond and expensive plumbing has to be installed to carry away rainwater. It's much cheaper to install warning signs and make drivers who cannot pass take another route.

The railroads were often built long before there were roads in the area and since grade is a big deal to railway architects they were intentionally kept as flat as possible. Later on someone decided that Model T's could cross under them in certain places and the major crossing design elements became locked in. Other people then came along and built stuff along the roadways, further locking the design.

Imagine a neighborhood treehouse that generations of kids have adopted for a while and each subsequent group changed it how they saw fit. That's similar to the way that our road system developed before Eisenhower first saw the Autobahn.

[kb4mdz]

11 ft 8 bridge was raised, to 12 ft 4, in October of 2019.

Raising 11foot8 - 11 FOOT 8

Some of the problems of changing anything was 1) The bridge belongs to the railroad, and they didn't have much incentive to fix it, esp. since it involved raising the railroad, and bed, for a good distance in either direction, 2) The City of Durham installed warning signs, as if that's enough, 3) NC DOT maintains the road, and 4) there are sewer lines underneath the road, so lowering the road would entail tackling that little situation. Yeah, little situation. That's what she said.

Has it stopped all crashes? No, but they have lessened somewhat. There are still drivers out there who will ... crash, rip, tear up and such.

Much more description on that 11 ft 8 sight.