The 11′8″ + 8″ bridge ends 2025 undefeated
Converting potential energy to kinetic energy is always a good time. Apparently, reading is less so.
As the year winds down, Durham’s most reliable content generator has delivered one final reminder that clearance signs are not suggestions.
A new video making the rounds shows the 11′8″ + 8″ bridge doing what it has always done best: calmly, silently, and without malice, telling a cement mixer to be shorter. Despite years of viral fame, added warnings, flashing lights, and a modest increase in clearance, the bridge continues to rack up wins. Converting potential energy to kinetic energy is always a good time. Apparently, reading is less so.
For the uninitiated, this railroad underpass has been mauling box trucks and RVs alike for more than a decade, earning nicknames like the “Canopener” and its own YouTube highlight reel. The city even lowered the road slightly and rebranded the clearance, as if math were the problem. It was not. The problem remains drivers who look at a posted height, look at their vehicle, and say, “full speed ahead!”
The bridge did not get its last victim because it is cruel. It got its last victim because it exists. Happy New Year!