Charlottesville's 14th Street Bridge eats seafood

[Yonnie3]

Opened it up like a can of sardines

Link to tweet

ETA: more photos

Link to tweet

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Man, that's low! 10' zero!

Sure, truck drivers gotta know their height and pay attention, but it seems this overpass was designed for destruction.

[Yonnie3]

2. There is an alert system.

An over height truck gets flashing lights, blinking text and a buzzer.

Sometime between 1896 and 1902 the railroad grade crossing was replaced with a bridge. This particular bridge was likely constructed around 1920 and I doubt that the designers anticipated the modern trucks.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Seems a good candidate for replacement

~ 100 years old.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. If I had a nickel for every time I've

walked, or driven, or bicycled under that bridge, or walked or ridden a train across that bridge....

{edited}

What's the clearance at JPA?

[Yonnie3]

5. There is no bridge over Jefferson Park Avenue.

They did build the Med School library across JPA when I worked there in the 70s. Lots of clearance there. I bet you mean the bridge on Emmet street where McCormick Road crosses. That's the way around to JPA and then Main St. to avoid the 14th Street RR bridge. I noticed it was not marked the last time I drove a box truck under it, but the clearance is 13-1/2 feet after the 2013 rebuild. The RR bridge further north on Emmet is 13 foot which I'm sure you know is the same line (CSX?) as the 14th. bridge.

We use box trucks for the sound and lighting we do in the area and since our drivers are crew rather than just drivers, we tend to remind them of that 14th street bridge.

I have to admit that I shined up the roof of a U-haul truck under that bridge in the 70s. It scraped right through. Beside the truck that one time, I also have walked, biked and drove under the bridge countless times. I've also walked the tracks across that bridge quite a few times many years ago. It now posted and fenced for the most part.

I rarely go in or through that area anymore.

Nice trip through memory lane tonight.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Are you sure? I mean behind the George Rogers Clark statue.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.0329607,-78.4986776,3a,75y,252.44h,76.93t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s73EJBGJwpwMNA2kbWa-6qA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D73EJBGJwpwMNA2kbWa-6qA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D171.62892%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656f

The view is from 2017. It's right where UVA's heating plant is. If you were to enter a steam tunnel, say, you could end up at the heating plant if you explored far enough.

[Yonnie3]

9. Senior moment here

Yeah, there is a RR bridge there, with no height marking. I stand corrected. I believe it is well over 12 feet. It's not one we worry about.

[Recursion]

6. Is this the bridge with all the YouTube supercuts?

I admire that plucky little bridge.

[Yonnie3]

7. Nope.

This one is lower but doesn't eat nearly as many trucks. The one with all the videos is in Durham, NC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Southern%E2%80%93Gregson_Street_Overpass

http://11foot8.com/ has videos