Video website records 100 trucks hitting low bridge in US

‘Can-opener bridge’ was ‘built over 100 years ago’, prior to vehicle clearance standards

Crash number 100: A man in the US set up a camera pointing at this bridge in North Carolina. Photograph: yovo68/YouTube
Crash number 100: A man in the US set up a camera pointing at this bridge in North Carolina. Photograph: yovo68/YouTube

In 2008, a man named Jürgen Henn set up a camera pointing at a bridge in the city of Durham in North Carolina, thinking he might record a crash. On December 11th 2015, he recorded his 101st collision between a truck and the 11ft 8in bridge.

11foot8.com houses dozens of videos of school busses, camper vans and lorries having the their roofs damaged by the slightly-lower-than-normal bridge, which has been dubbed "the can-opener bridge".

“The idea was that eventually I’d record a crash,” says Mr Henn. Just a few weeks after setting up, he had his first recording.

A train travels over the bridge, meaning the cost to raise the bridge would be in the “millions”. Mr Henn also says the road underneath cannot be lowered due to sewer pipes.

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The bridge is about 100 years old, he explains. “At the time when it was built, there were no standards for minimum clearance.”

A warning beam with flashing lights - which has already had to be replaced - was installed, but has done little to deter some drivers.

“On average, about once a month a truck gets visibly damaged at the bridge,” he says, adding that many others are forced to turn back every day.

All of Mr Henn's videos can be found on his YouTube channel.

Dean Ruxton

Dean Ruxton

Dean Ruxton is an Audience Editor at The Irish Times. He also writes the Lost Leads archive series