Frwy Bridges Over Pipeline ROW - PGBT Carrollton TX

[Brian556]

This is nothing more than a water line right of way. Since it runs between the Elm Fork Trinity River and the water treatment plant, I'm assuming its how they obtain "fresh" water and/or discharge used water. Not sure why they had to spend all that money building bridges over it.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9719345,-96.932238,380m/data=!3m1!1e3

[cjk374]

Perhaps planning ahead? If the water line broke under the road, they would have to close part of it down, tear out pavement, then replace the pavement after repairs were made. Just a guess.

[wxfree]

I would think the road is the reason for the bridges.  The frontage road wouldn't necessarily need grade separations, but combining the eventual need for pipe repairs with the three bridges that are already needed because the road, they may have decided that building an extra bridge and avoiding the area completely was best.  Another possibility is that there's concern about flooding of a ground-level frontage road.

[sparker]

I would think the road is the reason for the bridges.  The frontage road wouldn't necessarily need grade separations, but combining the eventual need for pipe repairs with the three bridges that are already needed because the road, they may have decided that building an extra bridge and avoiding the area completely was best.  Another possibility is that there's concern about flooding of a ground-level frontage road.

An arrangement like this is commonplace around and near the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles out here in CA due to the large number of petroleum and/or chemical plants adjacent to the port facilities, with pipelines to the piers and jetties for loading into tankers.  The alternative to bridging of the pipelines -- just building berms over the pipes themselves -- has also been done on secondary access roads, but the pavement atop the berms tends to deteriorate rapidly due to both heat and vibration from below as well as wear & tear from constant truck traffic.   

[GaryV]

I-75 has bridges over the Red Run Drain just north of 12 Mile Road in metro Detroit.  What used to be a small creek (the Red Run) was covered over years ago, as it had degraded into an open sewer. 

At I-75 it is probably just large sewer pipes or box culverts.  Just east of I-75, a huge retention facility was built a few years ago, to catch storm water run-off and divert it slowly into the Detroit sewer system.

I have 2 guesses why bridges are needed.  Either to allow access for maintenance as suggested before.  Or to keep the weight of the roadway and trucks off the sewer itself.