Can Opener Bridge Has Been Raised - But Not Enough! 

★★★ *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. *8) Waste of tax payers money, the government did not raise the bridge high enough* - This was not a tax funded upgrade, the bridge is owned by the railroad and they paid to raise the bridge for their own benefit, not for the publics benefit. *9) Why can't drivers read the signs* - One viewer wrote this "I live in that region. Another big reason are there are a lot Spanish-speaking drivers who can't read English (no joke). Its a travesty and makes other people unsafe." *10) Absolute idiots, how do they not know the clearance of their vehicles* - about 30 years ago I rented a medium box truck to move house, I rented the truck but I had a friend drive, as I did not know how to drive a manual, but it never occurred to me to know the height of the truck when I rented it, but then again we did not have any bridges to go under on the trip. *11) Where is the bridge located* - *"Norfolk Southern-Gregson Street Overpass"* Between W. Peabody and S. Pettigrew Streets and crossroad S. Gregson Street downtown Durham, NC

Less of a can opener now, more of a cheese grater.

Anyone else find it ironic that the “HOPE” truck stopped, analyzed the situation, and tried anyway? Lol

I’m just amazed at the number of trucks that not only hit the bridge, but run the red light in the process!!🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

I love how the warning rail is a massive solid steel “I beam” Most bridges I’ve seen have a thin little Aluminium bar hanging from chains about a foot in front of the bridge as a gentle “nudge” to advise the driver. This one has a steel slab to absorb the kinetic energy and prevent the truck hitting and damaging the bridge itself.

The truck repair shops in that town must be booming in business.

My favorite was the driver who prudently stopped, opened his door, and carefully eye-balled the clearance and the box on his truck, decided it would fit ... and then collided with the bridge!

The sign should be changed from "over height must turn" to "YOU ARE OVER HEIGHT, TURN AWAY" because i think many people assume the sign isn't activated specifically for them but is just generally saying "IF you are over height turn away"

We love our 11’8”+8 bridge in Durham. The man was a genius for making videos of the people running into it.

This is in the city that I grew up in, and I can tell you that the warnings near the bridge are only the LAST warnings. There are several more before you even get to the block before this intersection. This bridge has been a source of local entertainment since I was a child.

I really think that two things need to be added to the bridge area: 1. Electronic sign on the other side of the bridge saying "We told you that you were too tall" 2. Truck silhouettes painted on the side of the crash beam, like WWII fighter kills.

I love the RVs and their A/C units. Grandma is going remind Grandpa every second of every minute of every hour of every day for the rest of his life.

The warning/skimmer bar should have a sharp edge so IR shears the tops off more cleanly. Glad I could provide my helpful input.

Honestly they made the bridge better. It's now the *perfect* height for full-length tin-can peels.

Love the skimmer bar, skims them down to size so they can fit safely and neatly under the bridge.

It's an even better can opener than before! Job well done.

this looks like a FANTASTIC way to weed out those that don't pay attention on the road. i love it!

It’s crazy to see how many people ran the red light before hitting the bridge in the video clips.

the guardrail thats been smashed should be in a museum somewhere lol..

LOL!! The "HOPE" truck, oh the irony 🤣🤣🤣

I dont know why this is so funny... jeesus, seeing those air conditioning ducts get grated off had me in stitches. Keep on trucking, Can-Opener Bridge!!

Driver error. I remember my trainer would always remind me my height is 13’1” Every bridge we passed on the highway he would say “ what’s the truck height?” Thanks trainer👍🏼

The craziest thing to me is the fact that these rental agencies specifically tell them about this bridge AND that their insurance DOES NOT cover damage if they hit it. Then THEY STILL HIT IT!!!

Great video! I wasn't aware they raised the height on this bridge. Years ago I worked in the Durham area so I was always aware of this underpass but it didn't seem to gain notoriety until a few years later. A friend of mine (who has since passed, unfortunately) was a truck terminal manager and had the bad luck of having one of his truck drivers hit the bridge while a CBS News crew was filming a news story about it. LOL! As a gag, his supervisors honored him with a cake. 😅

The full sardine can roof peel is soooo satisfying.

I think the bridge is alive and squats when trucks come by.

Imagine watching the video with your boss and trying to explain how u missed 2 regular signs and one HUGE BLINKING sign lol

These videos are a great learning resource. Made me super cautious of low clearance when driving my RV. I stopped and got out to make sure it would fit under a bridge because I didn't know my vehicle height.

Truck training lesson one…observation. See, read, comprehend and, obey, EVERY sign!

Bridge: My new height will be 12'4" Penske: Hey guys, let's raise our box trucks another 8 inches for larger capacity!

Now the bridge is more elegant at what it does. There is more accuracy, precision and sharpness to it. It peels trucks off with a certain touch of mastery that is hard to express. Leonardo da Vinci himself would be envious on this architectural marvel.

I remember when it was 11' 8" and oversized trucks would try to run it at full speed only to be stopped dead, and the cab would be jerked off the ground, then slams back down! Awesome!

that area is perfect for a truck roof repair shop, will have alot of truck roof repair work for years to come

Drape an unsecured (with the ability to swing freely) metal sign that’s 11’ 8” in height just before the intersection that reads “If you hit this sign, you will hit the bridge”. I’ve seen this used in other states where low bridges exist and it works. Even if the driver isn’t paying attention, the noise of hitting the free swinging sign will instinctively make them brake.

If the guard rails could talk... Old rail: go get'em kid New rail: I won't let ya down

All that work for 8"? That's like walking 10 miles to the nearest store and only buying two beers.

Here in Tasmania, we have a system of a high gantry over the road, with around 20 pipes hanging down with chains, set to the height of the low bridge. Around 50 metres back from the bridge. If you hit them, they make a helluva noise, but cause no damage. Thus letting the driver know, they’re not gonna fit… easy…

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="325">5:25</a> Overheight, _and_ through a red light. I'm sure insurance was happy to see that guy.

This is literally why truck rental companies insurance doesn’t cover the roof haha

The entrance to almost every parking garage here in Florida has a pvc pipe suspended by cables at the clearance height a few feet before the actual opening to the garage, so overheight vehicles will contact it first, alerting the driver without serious damage. I never understood why the city of Durham didn't set up a couple of poles with a suspended clearance marker pipe back at the crosswalk, giving truck drivers a little bit of warning before plowing into solid steel.

I love these videos because I once totaled a rental truck in a similar manner, but with an overhanging tree branch. The tree branch ripped off the top of the truck just like you see in these videos. The damage was extraordinary.

I would open a truck body repair shop just past the bridge.

This is not a "the bridge is too low" problem, this is a "drivers who shouldn't be allowed to drive a golf cart, let alone a large truck", problem.

Kinda wish the bridge was lower again those videos were amazing

Up in Massachusetts we have a similar bridge rated at 11' 8". Train tracks passing over a road so low it floods with a heavy rain or snow, Extensive signage with blinking LED lights have reduced the crashes to a minimum.

I remember renting my first Uhaul and the guy said ‘yea the insurance covers everything minus the roof’. Now I know why 🤣

"What the HELL was that noise?" "Must be another truck hitting the bridge....One gets used to it."

One approach often used in Europe, is to install a gantry on the approach, that is fitted with a swinging clatter plate. This is sufficient to stop over-height trucks without undue damage either to the truck or the gantry.

The driver at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="134">2:14</a> proves that even with a truckload of hope, you can’t wish your way under the can opener.

This is perfection, with elevation upgrade, a thicker beam and new framework, the can opener peels better than ever!

Legend has it the owner of the truck repair shops and truck rentals in the area, also owns the railway, and the pipes below the road, as well as the 11-8 website.

The Hope truck: "There ya go, sharp stuff!"

My brother’s last day working for a plumbing supply company in NH was the day he tried running the truck under a low bridge. The truck looked like a sardine can

There is a similar bridge near my hometown. About 70 meters in front of it, there is a heavy and big but free hanging sign saying something like: "If you hit this sign you gonna hit that bridge!" As far as I know, no vehicles have been damaged since then, but the sign has been damaged several times.

Man I'm sure this has been said a hell of a lot, but let's just take a minute and appreciate the engineering of that bridge. Years of abuse, tons of semis, and it never even so much as shook. That's crazy.

Man, I can't even imagine the bill for taking out 4 bus airconditioners.

I remember watching video after video of this bridge, never thought they'd actually raise the bridge.

Here in Sweden, some bridges have a dangling reflective metal plate hanging above the road about 250 yards before the bridge with the same clearance, so when you hit the plate it let's you know you won't fit without doing any major damage to your truck

They should put a pic of Gandalf saying “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!”

I love how many signs there are. And they still drive into it.

There is a similar bridge in Manitoba Canada on a raiIway underpass that is hit al least 2 times a year. There are all kinds of clearance signs , flashing lights, truck detour signs but they just look at the GPS and keep on trying to remove this bridge which is close to a hundred years old, STILL STANDING

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="139">2:19</a> I love how he stops and examines the situation for a while and then runs into it anyway lmao

A moment's silence for the old guard rail. You did a fine job scalping idiots.

Way back in the 1930s my mother was a truck route planner for Union Oil. It was her job to map/plan routes for fuel trucks around and over weight/height restricted roads and bridges. Even back then some drivers paid no attention to these dangers.

My Rand McNally trucking GPS alerted me of this bridge before I had a chance to hit it. Thank god.

You know that saying "give them an inch and they take the whole mile"? This is the most literal example of that. You can fix the bridge or even some of those trucks but you can't fix stupid.

"OVERHEIGHT MUST TURN" Nah that doesn't apply to me in a truck - Truck driver

I just finished watching another video where the last truck of 11 in this video turned, drove out of the camera view, BACKED BACK INTO THE INTERSECTION, turned into the bridge and collided with the bridge, backed up again turn, and left in another direction. All done with a lot of cars around. Shockingly, did not hit any cars. I am not sure where those person learned how to drive but that was not the way to do it

Thank goodness it's still the can opener. I was afraid it was too high and the trucks would escape.

Most of the "victims" are driving rental trucks, meaning they aren't experienced with driving trucks and have probably learned to tune out signs talking about bridge height, since it is normally not relevant to them.

After the inevitable crash,the sign should read "F**king told you".

There was a low railroad bridge near me (10' 5") that was also a narrow 10' 6" wide one lane underpass. It was controlled by a traffic signal. Only a few trucks hit the bridge. My state lowered the road and now the clearance is 10'11" and widened the road to two 12' lanes with wide shoulders. Unfortunately, now the bridge is hit more frequently. They could not lower the road more because there's a creek about 20' before the underpass. They should have left the bridge at 10' 5" with the narrow one lane road under the bridge.

Seems like it's all rental trucks now. LOL!

It would be fantastic to see this channel 30 years from now... Where the city engineers have gradually increased the clearance to 16’... ...and twice a month, people still manage to hit the bridge.

Can we all just take a moment and appreciate the guy at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="93">1:33</a> actually stopped and creeps forward just in case to avoid major damage!

Possibly one of the best documentaries I've seen 😂

Those air conditioning units on that big charter bus is gone!!!😂

I used to train truck drivers. One would miss important sighs so I gave him a task to solve this problem. He had to read every sign we passed out loud, not including mile markers, for 2 hrs. We both came to hate that 2hrs but years later he still reads warning signs with out fail.

Ryder's car insurance must be thru the roof, so to speak.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="95">1:35</a> props to this guy for actually testing it first.

I don’t know why they don’t just go ahead and say it’s in Durham. I lived there for about 12 years and it was a never ending treat to watch.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="270">4:30</a> RIP old guard rail! You did a great service!

This bridge has a well earned reputation. All truck rental agencies in town advise truck operators not to drive under this bridge. Alas, some still make the attempt and are doomed to absolute (expensive) failure.

They destroyed history with this bridge! Make it lower again, I love the funni moments. This is a great bridge. I love it. Lower it back.

It very neatly removes those RV AC units! Clip! Gone...

That one that says HOPE! The guy even stopped to look and decided to continue. I lost it 😂

Driver: "Just a little off the top please." "Ah, that's good. I'll be fine on the next trip."

Love the "Chariots of Fire" style background music - adds just that little touch of comic irony!

Only took them 10 years! Amazing

There’s a 10’11” bridge in my hometown that gets hit so frequently they are trying to get the state to impose fines for hitting it. It’s probably the most fascinating thing about the area

Make them pay attention? Nearly all the trucks that go under that are damaged are all rental trucks.

There's another wicked part to the bridge: the placement after a red light. Drivers will naturally focus on the light, and many, seeing a yellow, hit the throttle. Great can opening.

This is a great advertisement for Ryder, Penske and U-Haul.

The cheese grater effect is oddly more satisfying than the previous can opener.

Odd that they don't have a free hanging sign before the lights that says "if you hit this sign you will hit that bridge".

My understanding is that there is even a bar with hanging chains on the block before the bridge, so the drivers not only have to be ignorant of their truck's height, and ignore the overheight sign, but also ignore the sound of chains dragging over their roof.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="150">2:30</a> just take a short look and HOPE 😂😂😂😂😂 this is the best I've seen this year so far 😂😂😂

I lived near this bridge for 10 years and have driven under here. The large majority of the drivers who get caught are driving rental trucks. You can see it in the videos. So they are mostly amateurs. Professional drivers of trucks know better.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="385">6:25</a> this dude was speeding AND ran a redlight. He was going to cause an accident no matter what happened

I'll bet Ryder hates that bridge 😂😂