NS - Gregson Street Guillotine
Photos
NS - Gregson Street bridge
Looking SW
Photo taken by Royce and Bobette Haley in February 2015
BH Photo #316856
Video
Example Truck Crash Today (8/3/11) this boxtruck smashed into the Gregson St trestle and got wedged under the bridge. They deflated the tires and one of Big John's towing trucks pulled the box truck out. Later, Norfolk Southern sent a crew over to inspect the trestle and the crash beam. Sorry - only one angle ... the other camera was not working. Copyright Jürgen Henn - 11foot8.com |
Description
This simple steel stringer bridge provides 11' 8" of clearance and has been hit by trucks so many times it has a special headache bar to protect it. It has spawned a website run by someone who keeps a camera trained on the bridge to capture the truck carnage. This bridge is a case study for how many truck drivers are not qualified to operate their vehicle. Familiarity with a truck's weight and height is absolutely essential at all times of operation.Facts
- Overview
- Steel stringer bridge over NC-1327 (Gregson Street) on Southern Railroad
- Location
- Durham, Durham County, North Carolina
- Status
- Open to traffic
- Future prospects
- Raised 8 inches and repainted in November 2019.
- History
- Built 1940, Raised 8 inches and repainted November 2019
- Railroads
- - Norfolk Southern Railway (NS)
- North Carolina Railroad Co. (NCRR)
- Southern Railway (SOU)
- Design
- Steel stringer
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 30.8 ft.
Total length: 91.9 ft.
- Also called
- Can Opener Bridge
11 Foot 8 Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +35.99907, -78.91013 (decimal degrees)
35°59'57" N, 78°54'36" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/688370/3985865 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Southwest Durham
- Average daily traffic (as of 1997)
- 17,600
- Inventory numbers
- NC 630068 (North Carolina bridge number)
BH 50197 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of November 1998)
- View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- November 27, 2019: Updated by Chris Knight: Updated Raise Status
- October 22, 2019: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added update to note bridge is to be raised.
- October 21, 2019: Updated by David Backlin: Scheduled for Replacement
- February 22, 2015: New photos from Royce and Bobette Haley
- April 12, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category ""Truck-Eating""
- November 14, 2011: Added by Nathan Holth
Sources
- Nathan Holth
- 11 Foot Eight Website - Contains Videos of Trucks Running Into Bridge
- YouTube Channel With All Videos
- Luke
- Royce and Bobette Haley - roycehaley111 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
Comments
Yup... Try again!
You make something idiot proof and they come up with a better idiot.... Still, an improvement.
Only took 22 days to claim it's first victim since it got raised 8 inches. https://youtu.be/-VokezIMLKE
The bridge is being raised to 12 foot 4. There is a new guillotine steel beam in place painted bright yellow. It remains to be seen who will strike the bridge at 12 foot 4.
Here is a photo posted on reddit of the bridge raising operation today! 8" up!
News article about the raise: https://www.wral.com/durham-s-can-opener-bridge-being-raised...
Durham is closing the bridge to raise (not raze) it.
https://twitter.com/movesafedurham/status/118529912103021772...
This bridge does have a reinforced bar in front of it. That's what actually does the "can opener" effect as locals call it; the truck tops get sheared off by the bar, not the bridge.
The protection bar has a clearance of 11 feet, 8 inches; the bridge itself if unprotected would have clearance of approximately 11 feet, 10 inches, but it would be *extremely* vulnerable to damage. The road is one-way under the bridge, and there is not a protection bar in the other direction.
Todd,I agree with you and know that if you put cast iron headache bars so far in front of the bridges that they don't ruin the look of the bridges that would work.I don't know of any truck that can move a headache bar anchored securely in the ground.
George:
Part of the problem with these bridges is that it's not always easy to fix the issue. Railroad bridges can't change height in a short distance, so without a couple miles of rail height change, the only other option is lowering the road. Given drainage and other infrastructure, this is not always an option either.
I've seen countless videos of truck eating bridges.When is this nonsense going to stop?Or do the repair shops and wreckers love the business they get not to stop it?
A New Years Eve Penske Peel at the can opener bridge.
All in one day... a canopener and a headacher:
http://abc11.com/traffic/trucks-hit-same-bridge-hours-apart/...
mmmmmm.... truuuucks...
There is a stringer bridge on the approach to the Government Bridge in Davenport, Iowa that is also known for the same stuff and has also become known rather infamously as "The Truck Eating Bridge."
OK, I realize 1940 stringer isn't the most significant bridge, but you have to admire the humor of this.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/nc/durham/bh50197/
Still cutting those trucks down to size... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUL2SQ77uQ