Ventilation shafts are built in an oval form to aid the extraction of smoke by forming a small vortex effect,if you look at the map the run of the tunnel is North to south and the prevailing wind is from the east,hope this is useful,thanks for another interesting video.
As I live locally I can categorically state the prevailing wind is from the South West, having spent quite a bit of the time as young lad on a certain station on the route, which was almost a 'wind tunnel' due to its alignment. My Dad who worked there, would have been delighted if the prevailing wind was from the East as there was a hill to the East of the station!
@@billmmckelvie5188this is incidentally why most runways run southwest to northeast. This isn't the only example of oval ventilation shafts either as the shafts for the Blackwall Tunnel are also oval. One of which goes through the millennium dome/O2/whatever it's called when you're reading this.
That Land Rover incident sparked the construction of armco style barriers at every location where there was a possibility of road traffic running onto a railway. You'll notice them now...
@De Rekarts As I recall, it was when the courts started to treat 'fell asleep at the wheel' as dangerous driving rather than driving without due care. That's why there was so much back and forth over it
Interesting as there has been some confusion for years over why exactly *every* road over rail bridge on the road network seems to have heavy concrete barriers (like the ones you see on smart motorways, but taller) whereas the sections either side often just have impact metal barriers. I wonder if that was all the result of a strategic review or RAIB recommendations.
@@De-Rekartseither that or messing around with their phones or watching tv. It’s frightening what you can see other truck drivers doing when you’re in the cab.
I worked for two weeks, in March 1969, for a joiner who was short of work, and we ended up shuttering on that damned bridge. Two pairs of jeans, two jumpers and a denimn jacket under my donkey jacket, and it was still bloody freezing. Ten years later, in March 1979, I was working on the other side of the pennines, in Shaw. It started snowing. I'd just pulled out someone's front door and side panel, so had to finish the job. I set off back home at 3.00pm, assuming the M62 - which the 'expert' designers had assured us all would never close, because it had been so designed that any snow would just blow off it, would be flowing freely. It was blocked; nothing moved. I stayed in the car overnight, then in the morning, followed a convoy of cars and trucks, lead by a police range rover, through a narrow path that had been cut through the twelve foot drifts on the Eastbound carriageway. That was the last time I took any notice of 'experts.'
There is a video on youtube called 'GMP motorway group 1979 traffic policing' based on the M62. Quite an eye opener that snow. You might have seen it @johnriggs4929 already though.
Donkey Jacket. When I joined the railway in 1981, you had to be measured and wait for one of those for months and then it did not fit by then when you were still growing. You had it easy. 🙂
I assume you're 'expert' at your job though? Seriously, I remember seeing news items about the M62 up there and those people trapped in cars, I believe the worst bits of the carriageway are now electrically heated to help keep it open.
I can't speak to the UK but in the US, the cost to add additional width to a bridge (to accommodate a future widening) works out to be about half the cost of adding it later (including inflation) but it only makes sense if it's reasonably presumed the roadway will be upgraded during the lifespan of the bridge, otherwise it's a waste. I work/live (as a highway engineering professional) in Michigan where we built most of our freeways from 1960-1980. Most of the significant bridges built during that time (especially over rivers) were built with extra wide piers to make widening the bridge in the future really easy. We are only now embarking on a massive infrastructure program and unfortunately most of those bridges are beyond their life and will be totally replaced. So in that case, it was kind of a "waste" to build all of the 'future possibilities' into it if it takes you 50+ years to get around to doing it. We just finally finished the US-31 freeway 51 years after it was started, so sometimes things take longer than planned.
Funny how that works. I used to drive to Hull before the M62 existed, so I had to skirt the south side of Leeds and on to Selby, and it always seemed like a pleasant drive that didn't take too long, but going there on the motorway today feels like it takes forever. Maybe it's just boring as heck ?
It always amazes me how John can make something like a bridge, road or tunnel sound like the most interesting thing ever. That is something to be respected and most certainly not sneered at.
I had forgotten about this rail crash. Eclipsed by significant unforgettable premeditated events later in 2001, which I stood watching live on cable TV with a visiting electrical engineer.
Bet you'd forgot about 'Foot and Mouth' and the 'Enron' scandal? My mate was a Financial Advisor and he reckoned it decimated the Stock Market along with Sept. 11th.
The bridge features in Fred Dibnahs ‘Made in Britain’ TV series when he took his steam engine towing its caravan across it. Fantastic film and pictures of the event .
I remember that rail crash. And while all the media was roasting the driver for driving while being too tired to concentrate as well as sending text messages, my thought was on "Why did the people designing the motorway not build a barrier that stops vehicles dropping onto the railway tracks? The highway code says "Assume everyone else is an idiot". And the people designing barriers for roads that cross railways or other roads, should assume that idiots are going to drive off of the motorway at full speed. I've seen some pretty cool gravel traps designed to catch runaway lorries, so I know that the technology exists to slow down and stop a vehicle that crosses the hard shoulder.
What's odd is that the walls for the ventilation shaft tops appear to be about 12, 13 meters across, whilst the tunnel itself is listed as being only 7.9 meters wide. It's not clear whether the ventilation shafts themselves are that wide from what I can see on Google Earth.
My grandad was an Undertaker in the village of Milnrow at the time of construction of the bridge. He was contracted as the , for want of a better word, "Body collector" for the poor unfortunate souls that didn't make it home from work on a given day. A small part of the death toll on the bridge and surrounding work, at least 2 he recalled, was due to the guys on site rolling back to the work camps after a night on the town, and falling from the bridge, He would be woken up at 3am in the morning to go collect. It is difficult to find casualty figures for back then, however he recalls some of the lads were cash in hand and not necessarily accounted for. One fatality is always one to many.
Great work. I used to live in Birkenshaw, just by the wide A58 bridge. There is a cracking story of a Halifax Bomber crashing in the field next to the A58 during the war. Tom Scotland was the young pilot on manoeuvres when he got into trouble. His crew bailed out and he put the plane down into the field next to the A58 but also avoiding the village of Drub.
typical land rover owner even had to remind the 999 operators that the train did in fact go through the front of his land rover. Great video Jon, a lot of well-researched and entertaining content about something I never knew I was so interested in! :)
He definitely sounded more annoyed at the destruction of his pweshus wand wover than he did worried about the danger it posed to railway crew & passengers.
@@combatking0 Considering he was driving extremely sleep deprived, cross country because he stayed up all night flirting with a woman on the internet, I think he was just kinda disoriented. He crashed because he fell asleep at the wheel afiak
Yeah ..... that driver. Accidents happen but he seems to have a bit of a judgement problem. Staying up all night and falling alseep at the wheel were two connected events but not according to him. All the deaths occurred 700 yards down the track from his car so that meant it was someone elses fault. Apparently. He prefers to think of it as fate. Where's Karma when you need it.
After the crash investigation took place crash barriers on most roads that crossover railway lines were extended as the land rover went over the edge where the barriers ended.
All bridges crossing railways were assessed and upgraded with extra barriers if so required. On the M6 south of Tebay a section of barrier runs parallel to the motorway for approximately 40 Metres or so.. and it’s about the same distance from the motorway hard shoulder. Only recently a wood that has grown since the accident was felled although I think it would… have been better to have left that as is.
Wasn’t he up all night on a phone call to a “ premium” telephone number. That’s what I heard. He is definitely delusional. I could only wish his fate that morning was hitting a tree. “The trains gone through the front of my Land Rover”… what do expect when you put it on a railway line
He was bang to rights. But.... Wooden fences on the approach to railway overbridges? Any responsibility by civil engineers there? They were quick to upgrade every bridge after that. We've all driven whilst tired, I don't care how pious you are; another few yards either way and no one would have ever heard of him. So whilst falling asleep at the wheel ultimately led to the deaths of the passengers (and train driver I think), the time and place he fell asleep and the timings of the trains were all a staggeringly unlikely chain of slices of swiss cheese. By comparison, a friend of my sister fell asleep at the wheel on her way back from London having spent the day and most of the evening at a works Christmas party, burning the candle at both ends, so to speak, crashed off the motorway and turned over in a field, found dead. Treated like a wonderful human being, huge outpouring of grief from everyone and I was the arsehole for saying it was lucky she didn't kill anyone else just because she was driving while tired... 🙄
Thanks - very interesting. I've driven the M62 hundreds of times and you've told me a few new things. We have a running joke that I always tell my wife about the highest motorway point trivia when we drive to Manchester, but never knew I also live just near the lowest point (now I'm going to be doubly annoying).
Theres a great woman who leaves messages of hope on that bridge as apparently its sadly a place where those with no hope often go. That woman may have saved many lives.
Sadly, it happens every now and again. If you get stuck in the hold up, when it happens, it's infuriating... until you spare a thought for the poor bugger whose life was in such a state that ending it like that seemed the way out.
that's why it has those high barriers, they were added a few years ago. Previously there was just chest high metal barriers, which made it quite unpleasant to walk over regardless of one's state of mind. Fabulous views of the motorway from the bridge though, slightly less so with the higher barriers.
Pedantic Yorkshireman here: the Scam in Scammonden is pronounced Scam, not Scarm. I can remember the bridge there being built. Traffic was diverted down a steep temporary road, across the motorway which was under construction, and back up the other side. I think you can still see evidence of this temporary arrangement to this day, more than fifty years later. There’s a similar but narrower bridge at Windy Hill that you could have mentioned in Part One. It carries the Pennine Way footpath over the motorway.
@@SirReginaldBlomfield1234 I live in a village in Kent called Lyminge.. that's very often mispronounced as you can imagine..(it's pronounced 'Limminge')
@@SirReginaldBlomfield1234 there is in fact a local roadsign that has been altered so many times, by the removal of two letters, that the whole sign has recently been taken away altogether by Highways lol Even the locals say "La Minge" 🤣
Hey, an interesting lighthouse right at the very end. I don't know about other viewers, but I was mightily disappointed that Jon did not show the custom-made sign warning walkers about crossing the bridge under conditions of high wind. I'll have to make a trip there myself to see that.. I will also take in the unadvertised Old Long Lane motorway entrance for no reason in particular, just because I can......
@@PStaveley Yep. One would assume that someone in authority would have decided that leaving access to an unofficial motorway entry point was not a good idea!!
My Father was responsible for laying the Drainage, between Tingley roundabout and Saddleworth Moor Top, the highest point. This section was finished 6 Months ahead of schedule. I was always told that his name is on a memorial plaque just off Saddleworth top. Never seen it as it's at the side of the Motorway. His name was R.P.Smith.
I've been crossing the Ouse bridge since it opened and I don't think the bloody thing's been fully open for more than fifty weeks of its nearly fifty year's life. Mind you, it's still better than the traffic queues when the old Boothferry bridge was opened for ships to pass...
The Selby Great Heck rail crash was almost exactly twenty two years ago. Sounds haunting listening to that emergency phone call from the Land Rover driver.
I think your best bet on finding out about the reason for the odd shape of the air/construction shafts is to ask Martin Zero. He's on youtube. He is an oficionado of all things connected to mills and mining, and in particular tunnels. He may already have a video or two on this particulr railway line/tunnel already. Since most shafts are round, these ones are bounds to have peaked his interest. And the name certainly sounds familiar.
Don't even think about it step away from the vehicle and give your keys to a responsable adult With the very badly trained/selfish drivers of today Nahh just bang your head against brick wall it'll have the same effect
As a retired HGV driver I have travelled the full length of the M62 on numerous occasions. One Monday my boss said only two drops today, Liverpool and Hull. Take your pick which ones first.😁
I live near Scammonden and one of the things we do around here to keep the Yorkshire Puddings off is park next to the dam, run along it and down the track, then up those 458 steps several times - great fun
Good to get footage of the ouse bridge, before it collapses into the water. As a local and a regular user of that route, the bridge hasn't had all 6 lanes open or a national speed limit for about 7 years now. No real work is seen to take place and other than barrier upgrades, its never had any significant maintenance work done in its lifespan. There's talk that traffic is restricted now, currently 4 lanes, contraflow, and 30mph, to try and prevent more damage, rather than invest in it. And as for Gary Hart, I hope that monster lives forever.
Old speed hillclimb venue at Scammonden dam.You can still see a bit of armco ,where the track used to end , as you travel eastbound along the 62. Might fit in with the series of videos about old race tracks?
My Auntie and uncle used to run the fish and chip shop/newsagents in Ferrybridge (on the Pontefract road, now called Ferry Bridge Fisheries) we used to visit twice a year and as kids we marvelled at the cooling towers (which you could see from their garden) as there was simply nothing like it in rural Cornwall. Sorry for the digression 😂
I remember on my first visit to Cornwall in the early 70s seeing the massive china clay waste heaps - totally alien landscape! All gone now of course - just like the waste heaps from the coal mines in Lancs and Yorks.🙂
Really sobering to hear that 999 call from the infamous Land Rover driver. Excellent video John as always. Was the 'late night' comment at the start intentional foreshadowing, or just coincidence?
There's a big problem with it ending at the A63 now though, the A63 is no longer fit for purpose thanks to the amount of traffic now coming from Hull, Beverley, and the surrounding villages which are rapidly growing into towns themselves, like Brough (and the Brough junction is a nightmare of an accident blackspot which only seems to be getting worse). The A63 also has a recurring problem with becoming flooded between North Cave and Brough, yet despite resurfacing work carried out over the past 20 years no effort has been made to either raise the road or improve it's drainage, that I can see. Ideally the M62 needs extending to at least Melton, or better still, the Humber Bridge.
Due to the great heck rail disaster, after the enquiries and investigations every road bridge over a railway line had safety barriers fitted to the roadside eachside.
Another motorway I’m on a hell of a lot. I never knew the oval stone thing was a big shaft. PCD 3:56 😂 I also didn’t realise I was driving across a dam at Scammonden. I’ll be looking for those ghost slip roads the next time I’m on it (off work til early April ☹️) Excellent episode yet again 👌🏼
Let us not forget that Gary Hart still says he wasn't responsible for the disaster... because the train derailed AFTER it smashed through his Land Rover. He just drove a Land Rover and trailer off the motorway onto a railway without even applying the brakes because he was asleep, how can you blame him?
"scarr-mon-den" oh yes jolly good, bit like "sour-bee-bridge" the people who live there how you say? they say scam-n-din and saw-bi. we're a rough lot. Thank you for lifting the tone with another splendid video.
There was an excellent documentary on TV several years ago on the M62 construction.I seem to recall it was built by McAlpines and was a very challenging engingineering feat.That bridge I have seen many times and its awesome frankly.Just a fun fact McAlpine began in the late 1800,s by Robert McAlpine who earned the nickname "Concrete Bob".The famous viaduct featured in the film Harry Potter in scotland was one of his cast from concrete to carry the railway.
There is a Scout campsite nestled in the bend near the Brighouse exit. Campfires have been known to result in the fire brigade turning up after someone on the motorway noticed the smoke!
There also used to be a “bridge to nowhere “ across the M62 where the Hensall services were going to be. It was there for years before they finally removed it.
Great video! I go to the university of hull so drove on the M62 just two days ago to go home for reading week. The Ouse Bridge is definitely the most memorable part of the journey - especially because of current roadworks which mean it’s got a 30mph limit.
6:43 We once used the Long Lane exit to get out of standing traffic. We were travelling back to Pontefract from Hull after playing football, and the traffic backed up for some reason........after about 20 minutes, some guy got out of his car just before the bridge and opened the gate........Everyone that knew the area, and could get out, followed him through, and then we all turned right at that little junction and then went back over the bridge. I can imagine the residents of the quiet villages around Hensall and Eggborough wondering what the hell was happening!
The only motorway I have driven on where my ears popped at the summit; it's that high, but living in East Anglia where I do, a slight incline is a challenge....:) Loving the videos so much now that I just subscribed.
I love a good bridge, but what is better than that? A dam tunnel that runs under a motorway. I must say, I don't know how your going to top this video.... Great video John, keep it up. One suggestion for April, instead of asking us what we've been up to you should tell us what you've been up to. Thanks for always making my day.
not a fan of concrete but that span bridge is impressive though you would blow the cobwebs away walking over it,the dam is a great feat of engineering interesting M62 is the highest and lowest motorway another good one john.
@@AutoShenanigans There is a sad part to the Scammonden bridge story, however. It's notorious locally for the number of people who've jumped from it over the years (which is why the fences are so high.) There's samaritans signs all over the bridge.
After watching your Oliver’s Mount video earlier this week I’m disappointed you didn’t cover Scammonden Dam Hillclimb. Not as accessible as Oliver’s Mount but interesting nonetheless
Jon, it is always a good week with Secrets of the Motorway. Hope yours is good, too. Scarminton¿ Bridge has a cousin near me: Google Maps U.S. Interstate 15 and the Lilac Road overpass. Take care.
Hey Mr Shenanigans, I know you're working on the motorways at the moment, but please tell me you have a plan to do a video about the entire A361. That would be wicked sweet awesome X
My week always gets excited when it gets to Sunday and I know that John is on ,cos he's always miles away from his home lol 😆 he will be needing a new car soon x lol x
