What's that Infrastructure? (Ep. 1 - Transportation Infrastructure) 

I am currently a student studying civil engineering and I wanted to thank you for the work and effort you put into your videos. I find all of your work very interesting and informative, while at the same time keeping it simple enough that I can show some of my non-engineering friends and they can understand and enjoy it. Your videos help me gain more interest in the field and keep motivated in my studies. Thanks for all your work!

Really good series.

I'm gonna really like this series :)

1:45 I've noticed those increasingly being used. And I surmised that's what it was for. And...Are you in San Antonio? All that looks very familiar. I'd be certain if I could get a glimpse of miles and miles of never-ending construction.

People often think, that i'm weird, because i always look at things like this and wonder what purpose they have, while most people would simply walk by not even noticing.

There's a few bridges on my route to work that need a bit more protection from vehicles than a small strip of metal. Here's a link to a Google Maps image of a bridge that gets hit at least once a year by large trucks... goo.gl/maps/tzbz5MEpqz82

sadly, we don't have bridge protection for vehicle collision in my country or drinkable tab water

2:08 RIP in peace Adelaide guys

I will be sending you photos of the scary things going on in Montreal.

ayyyyyyy Texas

Imagine people just knowing the height of their own vehicle and avoiding crossings that are too low..

Thank you for all that you do. Keep up the great work!

If you ever feel bad of yourself, just remember that there are an *ACTUAL* people who disliked this video.

Love the new series. Great idea.

I'm a civil engineer and I didn't know about tactile paving. Nice.

As a blind person, I highly appreciate you bringing awareness to the tactile paving.

I can't wait to see more episodes, This is the kind of stuff I like to learn.

Small tidbit about the tactile pads on the handicap ramps. The grid formed by the truncated domes is supposed to align with the direction of travel for a road crossing (based on the current ADA standards). I guess the intent is that the visually impaired can feel the grid and then walk in the proper direction when crossing a road. The issue is that that for many handicap ramps, especially the ones at street corners, aligning the grid can potentially involve cutting multiple pads in order to conform to a radius, leaving lots of waste material. Some contractors claim that cutting the pads can also allow water to get underneath, reducing the lifespan of the ramp with freeze/thaw cycles. It's a lot easier to just use a whole pad and place it at whatever angle looks best at a given corner. I've seen very few handicap ramps with pads that were intentionally cut to conform to this standard, and I don't think any sane visually impaired person would trust the alignment of the grid to dictate the direction in which to cross a road (my job involves handicap ramp installations).

A bridge that's had its overheight protection tested again and again: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-USu8vT_tfdw.html

YES YES YES. Love this new idea for videos. Keep them up, I can't wait for more!

Another fascinating video! It's a bit impractical for me to take a picture of it, but my city recently installed a diverging diamond interchange, which isn't too terrible common in the US yet. That could make for an interesting video topic. Our local media and government did a HORRIBLE job of trying to explain it before it was constructed. Everyone thought it would be a death sentence to attempt to navigate it.

You live in Austin, Texas, don't you? I can tell where most of these pictures are!

Really cool. I knew that about the sidewalks, but the other two were new to me. Thanks for sharing, and this should be a great series!

I didn't know that about the sign anchors before. In fact there have been a few number of high speed impacts around my area and I have questioned several things, such as the 7-10 months taken to restore the damaged post, to the amount of the fine incurred by the fault driver, both seemed excessive. But given this new knowledge I now understand that the anchors are highly engineered devices. The fact that there wasn't deaths incurred by the impacts is a good testament to that. So, indeed the cost is high and the time to repair seems appropriate.

This is awesome. I've always had an interest in all the things I drive past. For instance: Why do they make roads that look like highways in neighborhoods? Things of that nature. Please keep posting!

The Idea of this series is great. We go through our lives not noticing so many marvelous things. I asked a friend once does he sometimes just stop for a second and try to digest the surroundings down to the smallest detail. He just looked at me strange. I love to do it. It is just amazing when you think about it. Even the simplest things Like a road intersection. When you think about all the layers, systems and all the work put in to create that. From the plants making raw materials, to the work crews assembling it. Rulemakers deciding how to organize the flow, Than there are vehicles that are driving it, the fuel they use, the drills and science used to make the fuel and you can go on and on and on. I find it the world around extremely fascinating.

Railway bridges often (always?) have an I-beam as a last resort to catch the impact if all the passive and active warning systems have failed to get the drivers attention. An excellent illustration of this is the site and RU-vid channel 11foot8.com/

I can already tell this is going to be a fascinating series... :D

Oh man this series is gunna be so cool!

The Utah state capitol sits on isolation bearings. These were retrofitted in the last decade. Lots of them! I was told in school, before the install, that It's similar to a ball bearing that has a concave column below and above it. The building just sits in place during the earthquake, the ground shifts. The building basically rolls above the ground like a person standing on a bunch of marbles. My wife is an engineer and got to see one of the bearings in person! I was so mad she didn't tell me about it because I could have gone on the private tour. These are under the building so I'll probably never see one. However, I'm not sure if they ultimately decided with this method. I think the final method used was an elastometric base isolator.

Very interesting, will definitely be looking out for things to send in.

Gotta love the cat. :)

Sydney. Subway (on-ground trains mostly). I use it everyday and I was curious what those interesting mechanisms are in the middle of a station rail road section is. Once I just asked one of the employees about it. He was super happy to explain. Now When I see it I feel very smart, because probably 99% of my fellow passangers don't know what it's for. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_stop So, yes. I like this idea. Super cool.

Awww man, I wanted to know what these blue pipe things were along the side of the road, but I can't remember where they were. Basically, they were blue pipes that looked like they contained some sort of fluid. They were on a dirt brim/mound sort of thing, and they wer abour 30 feet away from a road. They were spaced out about 200 feet from each other, and there were about 3-4 of them. They were about 1ft in diameter, and they were guarded by some sturdy looking fences. I have no idea what they were, and I don't see them very often.

Speaking of breakaway sign posts, did you see what happened in California recently? Do you think this sign failed to break away... or was it an older sign without a breakaway assembly? www.kcra.com/news/local-news/news-modesto/5-killed-in-bus-crash-in-merced-county-nb-hwy-99-closed/41012894

awesome!" I'll keep this in mind next time I walk by something interesting

Tactile paving is the civil engineer's answer to the question, "how do you make a sidewalk impossible to shovel?"

I just started watching this channel a couple months ago and I love the explanation videos, but I like this idea even more! I am always fascinated by differences in infrastructure when I travel as it can change the look and feel of everyday places (roads, sidewalks, building codes, signage, etc etc) as well as how infrastructure embodies that famous design saying about when it's done right, no one will notice at all. I will definitely be on the lookout for puzzling infrastructure to submit and new episodes in this series. Thanks!

For the breakaway segment; I've noticed that this applies to all sort of sign post material. Big 6x8 timbers are either kerfed deeply or have holes bored through to serve as the weak point for breakaway. I've seen Illinois DOT lay a beam on the sidewalk of a bridge deck and lash it with cables to a damaged beam below, this wasn't a short term measure either.

I'm so excited for this! I'll definitely keep my eyes open now

I work for a SUE company, so I'm sure I can find some interesting stuff.

One thing my town has is a random hole. I dropped a rock down it and it took 30 seconds to reach the bottom. Does anyone know what that is? I live in Oklahoma so I'm thinking it has something to do with oil.

Love this channed

That's really interesting! I'm excited that you're planning to make a series out of this! I will keep on the lookout for interesting infrastructure around me.

I honestly always thought the bumpy surfaces were for traction, and was always perplexed when they're actually very slick I SMERT

Simon Patten, Chair of the Wharton School of Business, called Public Infrastructure the “Fourth Factor of Production” By keeping rent-yielding infrastructure in the public domain, Public Investment would reduce the economy’s overall price structure, lower the cost of doing business & increase international competitiveness.

Really excited about this series. Telcom, water, sewage, road design, power distribution... Please?

Sir plz talk us about how to estimate of infrastructure work like road, drain, sewage, manhole, pipe line etc... plz plz plz..... plz plz plz..... plz plz plz..... plzzzzzz sir

Fantastic Idea!!!

pretty sure the infamous 11'8" bridge (now 11'8+8") in durham, nc, has a bridge protective assembly. that underpass has eaten so many moving vans…

You are just really fucking neat. PE. Thank you for the giant backlog of content; it's made for incredible, thought-messaging binge E>

In Bangalore between 1980-2020 over 400 fire hydrants were stolen so the city stopped installing new ones..!

The bridges and tunnels in The Netherlands are not protected. There are special structures installed beforde the bridge/tunnel. These warn the drivers that their vehicle is TOO HIGH to pass the bridge or tunnel. And one tunnel (IJtunnel) will close it's tunnel-tube when a TOO HIGH vehicle entered the tunnel, by closing the crossing-gates. And the traffic-lights present will turn red.

I literally only just became aware of your channel, I haven't even watched more than 1.30 of your video and here's my first question: why aren't all pavements and roads decked with tiles that generate energy from weight (cars/ lorries) and surface pressure (lorries, cars, pedestrians) or whatever form of converting all that wasted mass and movement into energy? If anyone reading this will be making billions of that idea (if it isn't already in use), please buy me a pizza.

We need the bridge protection here in Boston! Every year moving trucks ram the overpasses/tunnels on Storrow Dr., no matter how many signs are up specifically saying moving trucks are too tall. Just found your channel and am so happy I did!

You showed a photo of a "Stobie Pole" a type of telegraph pole invented in my home town of Adelaide, South Australia. Google it, I'm sure there is some quirky info on it. :)

The 11Foot8 Bridge in North Carolina has a crash beam. It's not exactly the same; it's a steel I-Beam mounted before the bridge so that it absorbs impact instead of the railroad trusses. If you watch enough of the videos of the bridge, you'll see it's greatly needed.

yeah, cool stuff from lift stations, water and impervious surface's. Lotsa stuff people in the layman status don't understand. I live in Washington state, and work in the bldg industry. Worked in government too. So many things taxpayers don't realise goes on.

The signs are interesting in that it's not just that they break, but they're designed to break in specific places, usually as close to the ground as possible. Wooden sign posts here in Michigan have strategic cross holes drilled in them about six inches off the ground to make that point the weakest part of the post. There's a piece of infrastructure I want to shoot but I'm not sure how to do it safely, the in-road scales that let transponder-equipped trucks bypass weigh stations. There are also PVC pipes that stick up off the side of bridges over rivers and canals near where I grew up with red caps, I suspect that they're for filling fire tankers from the surface water since there's no hydrants out in the country.

As for the need to protect bridges: www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.lkw-unfall-im-tunnel-b-27a-tunnel-muss-laenger-geschlossen-bleiben.babe71f4-3a8a-41b6-9655-29db5b81931c.html (sorry, article in German, but has some impressive photos)

1.26 that photo is from somewhere in the Auckland rail network. Hello from NZ.

You should totally get a job in Mexico. Their infrastucture is homicidal. Bridges with no warning signs, holes everywhere. Over there is Good Luck when driving. I once was arriving to Rosarito Baja California using google maps and google maps told me to go right and I saw the exit sign and then a big pile of concrete was covering the exit I almost crash and no lighting too. It was horrendous

Tell you what I think? Alright I shall. You sir are fantastic! You make us engineers look good! Thank you.

You should do something on BMPs like tree box filters and the like! Also, silt fence. As a kid, I always wondered what it was and could never get a straight answer from anyone until 20 years later when I got a job in the industry.

Man you are amazing ! Thanks a lot for the superb videos you post ! I'm an civil engineer looking forward to pursue Masters Degree. It'd be great if we could get in contact because there are so many interesting fields in which i can pursue Master's Degree and i don't really know which one should i choose. I believe that you will be able to help me decide. T_T

I don't believe that NC has the protective wrap thing on the highway bridges, but one particularly infamous, and low, rail bridge in Durham has something better... a big steel I-beam. It regularly opens up rental trucks like a sardine can. And mostly it's famous because someone who owns a business nearby has had a webcam pointed at it for several years and posts all the videos here: 11foot8.com/

In Finland we don't directly protect bridges, but there's a simple mechanical warning method. If the bridge hight is 3 meters, there might be a 3 meter high "gate" that you have to pass before the bridge. There would be something hanging from a strings or chains. So when you are too high, it makes loud noice hitting against your vehicle, but not seriously damaging your vehicle. No electronics whatsoever.

that Ferrari crash, I'd put money on it being from South Australia, probably Adelaide. i think we'd be the only people around to use Stobie Poles. too many termites

This is in the Netherlands goo.gl/maps/LqbEWXiXjmG2 It's at the last exit before a tunnel. I suppose if you hit these wireframes if you're too tall. Your vehicle will not be damaged; and neither will the tunnel if you stop when you notice the hit. They might even trigger warning lights (most likely).

Called tactile warning plates. Available cast in place or surface applied. Helps if you know if the concrete is existing or will be new when you order them.

Don't want to be a hater but something tells me you're gonna get flooded with crappy pictures. Much due to the fact that most people that are aware of their surroundings and look at something "interesting" will also very probably research what it is and what it does. People who don't on the other hand... well, I guess it's rather easy to conclude my train of thought. Nonetheless, thank you for your content. I wouldn't be subscribed if I didn't deem it good.

In 2022 Infrastructure also includes day care and paternity leave!¡!¡!¡

if you make infrastructure cool, I don't even think we can imagine the number of lives saved, keep up the good work.

Deep down I just want to spam you with pictures of the hundreds of examples of my city getting infrastructure wrong, but I will not do that.

In Poland we have other kind of protection. Before viaduct there is big pipe installed on height similar to viaduct. This way you will see and mostly hear that you drove into it before hitting viaduct. grodzisknews.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/baltycka-ograniczenie-wysokosci2-grodzisk-pl.jpg

Mine can't really be shown with a picture unfortunately. But many light posts have long tuned absorbers in them to keep them from swaying too much in the wind. On a windy day, you can hear them clanging around inside of the post.

I wish I still had a bunch of the pictures from when I worked at the MBTA for an internship a while back. They wouldn't let me show a lot of the stuff, but some of the equipment used to keep trains running is really interesting, and obvious. I found section breaks and train switches to be the most interesting. All the pictures I took of them got lost when my cat knocked my phone onto the floor. Actually, on the same note, in Boston, on the Green line, there is a section of rail just ahead of Park street, where the train wheels squeal loudly going around the corner. You can always tell when people have lived in the city for a while by how they respond. The squealing actually comes from the fact that the radius the train turns on is about half the standard for train cars of that length, and the noise is the flange of the wheel coming into contact with the head of the rail. Since I worked there, they have actually changed the wheel geometry slightly to allow a little bit of extra clearance. It does not solve the problem, but it makes it considerably quieter. A quick YT search should bring up a ton of videos without that nightmare-fuel sound in it.

Infrastructure goes way farther into the home than many realise as well. Being in construction all my life from design build on, and working with civil agencies, there are so many subjects you could do with this Chanel.

#1 I knew the yellow ones were for blind people but not the stones ones. I live in oklahoma so I assume me have the bridge protectors but I will have to check. I have always wondered why they don't install some type of blade to just sheer off whatever is about to impact it basically so the roof of the truck gets taken out easier. Maybe my understanding of physics is wrong here but if a blade and a slope up causing the roof to cut and bend up and out wouldn't work can someone tell me why?

Another Texas thing is the U turns at every freeway exit. They recently redesigned a bridge in Southwest Denton with them, and I can't name a single freeway exit outside of a major city without them.

So that's why road signs come off when you smash them in GTA, had no idea because signs don't have breakaways here.

I'm subscribing because I like your cat.

I was wondering about the signs just yesterday! Thought about what damage could happen if driven into and if there are measures to protect against it. Didn't know they have a literal standard for mounting them like that.

I love watching all your videos! Those were 3 awesome quick facts!

We have poles before bridges that look like goal posts 5-10 meters before bridges/tunnels. They are the same height as the bridge/tunnel. I figured they are to warn the driver if they are too high by hitting them.

You rule!

Are you still doing this series, and would you be interested in pictures of a canal lock? I think I have some from inside a lock that has been dewatered for a major overhaul.

Greatings! I'm a manufacturing engineer in the northeast and we make those tactile pavers. Another interesting thing about the pavers is that they are in large part made with PLC's (a topic that does not get much love). I studied engineering and did not learn about this device until my first job. I can only imagine how many other people don't know about this industrial tool. If it doesn't fit into your topic of infrastructure, it would surely fit well somewhere else on your channel as the topic itself is not presented in any way for a mass audience elsewhere on the internet.

Not sure if there are any near me, but a lot of intersections in my area have a square cut out where the first car is expected to stop on a red light, I have no proof but what I've always heard is is because they cut out the square, lifted it out of the ground, and installed a magnetic sensor underneath before replacing the slab, and they use these sensors to inform the computerized traffic management system; the effect of that is most visible around 2AM when you can watch an intersection stay green in one direction indefinitely, until it sees somebody waiting to go the other direction, and then it changes almost immediately before changing back to the statistically more common direction. We also have intersection cameras so I can't really know without putting some effort in. If I remember I'll try to get a picture while I'm biking this weekend.

cadence of presentation reminds me of smarter every day. very cool. keep building that culture of education

We have plenty of bridges with bridge strike protection in Auckland. You can see it on many of the bridges on our southern motorway as the engineers of old thought it would be best to save some money and provide minimal clearance.

It's not required to have those break away things in the USA, maybe on certain parts of it but most rural areas don't have them.

I used to anyalize concrete cores that were taken out of bridges. Don't follow a heavy semi-over an old concrete bridge in the North.

sounds like a cool series- looking forward to the cat guest episode!

Anyone from Melbourne near Montague Street bridge? That bridge is struck by vehicles many times a year, it would be interesting to see what they have done on it

I´ve never noticed the bridge protection but in Austria we have metal plates hanging from beams a few hundred meters before bridges or tunnels and if you hit those you know you can´t fit through the bridge or tunnel.

I loved the Light Curtain device used for overhead warnings in New Zealand. Wish we had those here in Indiana. 👍🏻

I guess GTA and it's flimsy sign and lamp posts aren't as unrealistic as once thought.

that's cool! Maybe you could have a look at the manhole covers, their various designs and constraints are way more interesting than asking why they are round.

The black Ferrari shown in the video happened not far from my Dads house, we were in the garage doing some stuff and could here it racing up and down a few streets over when it hit the pole. Quite a loud impact.