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Highest overpasses

Started by Some_Person, February 08, 2013, 11:05:08 PM

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Alps

Quote from: Steve D on February 24, 2014, 08:52:59 AM

Quote from: lepidopteran on February 10, 2013, 12:52:45 AM
One puzzling example is the northern/eastern end of the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike (I-78).  If you ever got on this highway after entering NJ through the Holland Tunnel, you may have noticed that the northbound lanes coming the opposite direction are high up in the air.  This is apparent even if you don't realize that the road you're on is also elevated (probably due to a railroad that curves under it, twice), and consequently the northbound lanes are that much higher off the ground!  Never did understand why the northbound road was that much taller, since the added height seems to serve no practical purpose.  I think I heard that it was to allow for another highway in the interchange that was cancelled or planned.


That always baffled me until I saw an old picture (which I will try to locate at some point this year) which cleared it up - there was an old railroad bridge which ran below the eastbound lanes but above the westbound lanes.  So the answer is the east lanes are so high due to the clearance to cross the railroad.  There are some traces of the old railroad and its path just north of 10th street in Jersey City if you look at Google Maps.
I didn't notice this branch of the thread before, but NJ 85 would have begun here, so yes, the split roadway would also have served that purpose for an interchange.

agentsteel53

anyone mention I-805 over I-8?  gotta be about 60 feet high, which is very high even accounting for the fact that it's a stack.
live from sunny San Diego.

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kennyshark

I cannot find a picture that does it justice, but check out the Prince Edward Viaduct (aka Bloor Street Viaduct) over the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto.  Pretty darn high.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward_Viaduct

And speaking of Toronto, if we're counting flyover ramps in the conversation, the ramp from southbound Hwy 427 to eastbound Gardiner Freeway is so high up, it gave me the heebie-jeebies every time I drove it.  Thank goodness Highway 403 to the QEW/Gardiner became an option, so I can drive under it now.

formulanone

#79
Quote from: agentsteel53 on February 11, 2013, 09:42:06 AM
the highest signed one I've ever seen is 26'3.  I believe it is on State Street in Fontana, CA.

Found a 26'8" in along the Crosstown Expressway in Tampa:


Alex4897

Quote from: formulanone on April 03, 2014, 01:50:47 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on February 11, 2013, 09:42:06 AM
the highest signed one I've ever seen is 26'3.  I believe it is on State Street in Fontana, CA.

Found a 26'8" in along the Crosstown Expressway in Tampa:

Just in case you were worried your car wouldn't fit under the bridge
👉😎👉

mrsman

Quote from: Alex4897 on April 15, 2014, 06:42:05 PM
Quote from: formulanone on April 03, 2014, 01:50:47 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on February 11, 2013, 09:42:06 AM
the highest signed one I've ever seen is 26'3.  I believe it is on State Street in Fontana, CA.

Found a 26'8" in along the Crosstown Expressway in Tampa:

Just in case you were worried your car wouldn't fit under the bridge

But what's really ridiculous here is that your vehicle clearance must be a lot lower than that, otherwise you'd knock down the hanging traffic lights.

formulanone

Quote from: mrsman on May 18, 2014, 06:56:35 AM
But what's really ridiculous here is that your vehicle clearance must be a lot lower than that, otherwise you'd knock down the hanging traffic lights.

Hard to tell...I took that photo from the 12th story of a hotel, roughly a quarter-mile away. So the image is looking down at an angle.

D-Dey65

Quote from: Alex4897 on April 15, 2014, 06:42:05 PM
Quote from: formulanone on April 03, 2014, 01:50:47 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on February 11, 2013, 09:42:06 AM
the highest signed one I've ever seen is 26'3.  I believe it is on State Street in Fontana, CA.

Found a 26'8" in along the Crosstown Expressway in Tampa:

Just in case you were worried your car wouldn't fit under the bridge
And here I was worried about hitting the Edgewood Road high arch bridge near Englewood, New Jersey.

:-D :biggrin: :pan:

ElPanaChevere

#84
Quote from: Revive 755 on February 10, 2013, 10:21:17 PM
Fairly high one over I-24 in Chattanooga:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chattanooga,+TN&hl=en&ll=35.021119,-85.262339&spn=0.00746,0.016512&sll=39.739318,-89.266507&sspn=14.263541,33.815918&oq=chat&hnear=Chattanooga,+Hamilton,+Tennessee&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=35.021119,-85.262339&panoid=iIkGkXWhu4OmRQGiNO-1gQ&cbp=12,87.31,,0,-7.6

Funny, I was thinking of this one as well!  :D I've gone between Atlanta and Nashville a lot, so I always loved that. Do you know that railroad overpass on I-24 that goes over it just as you're re-entering Tennessee from Georgia? (where it makes that little loop into Georgia and comes back?) That overpass is super duper high up! :o

I'm thinking of the one on I-95 when it intersects Virginia 895 in Richmond? Exit 67A-B? The ramps (due to the proximity of the James River to the east) make them SO high up. One of the ramps is the highest in Virginia, I believe. It looks so cool when you're down below on I-95 and this overpass seems like 300 feet above it. It's amazing!



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adventurernumber1

#85
Quote from: ElPanaChevere on June 22, 2014, 03:07:37 AM
Quote from: Revive 755 on February 10, 2013, 10:21:17 PM
Fairly high one over I-24 in Chattanooga:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chattanooga,+TN&hl=en&ll=35.021119,-85.262339&spn=0.00746,0.016512&sll=39.739318,-89.266507&sspn=14.263541,33.815918&oq=chat&hnear=Chattanooga,+Hamilton,+Tennessee&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=35.021119,-85.262339&panoid=iIkGkXWhu4OmRQGiNO-1gQ&cbp=12,87.31,,0,-7.6

Funny, I was thinking of this one as well!  :D I've gone between Atlanta and Nashville a lot, so I always loved that. Do you know that railroad overpass on I-24 that goes over it just as you're re-entering Tennessee from Georgia? (where it makes that little loop into Georgia and comes back?) That overpass is super duper high up! :o

I'm thinking of the one on I-95 when it intersects Virginia 895 in Richmond? Exit 67A-B? The ramps (due to the proximity of the James River to the east) make them SO high up. One of the ramps is the highest in Virginia, I believe. It looks so cool when you're down below on I-95 and this overpass seems like 300 feet above it. It's amazing!



There's a pretty tall overpass on I-24 in TN when you're going over Missionary Ridge (it's right before downtown Chattanooga if you're going Westbound). I'll try to find a pic of it.
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lepidopteran

Quote from: ElPanaChevere on June 22, 2014, 03:07:37 AM
I'm thinking of the one on I-95 when it intersects Virginia 895 in Richmond? Exit 67A-B? The ramps (due to the proximity of the James River to the east) make them SO high up. One of the ramps is the highest in Virginia, I believe. It looks so cool when you're down below on I-95 and this overpass seems like 300 feet above it. It's amazing!
Is it just me, or did that interchange look even more impressive while it was under construction?  IMHO, that, and other "tall" interchanges somehow have more of a wow factor when the piers are standing there by themselves.
And yes, I'm pretty sure that the bridge over the James River is so high up is because it's a navigable waterway.  But is there really so much marine traffic that far inland to justify such a height?

dfilpus

Quote from: lepidopteran on August 08, 2014, 05:41:59 PM
Quote from: ElPanaChevere on June 22, 2014, 03:07:37 AM
I'm thinking of the one on I-95 when it intersects Virginia 895 in Richmond? Exit 67A-B? The ramps (due to the proximity of the James River to the east) make them SO high up. One of the ramps is the highest in Virginia, I believe. It looks so cool when you're down below on I-95 and this overpass seems like 300 feet above it. It's amazing!
Is it just me, or did that interchange look even more impressive while it was under construction?  IMHO, that, and other "tall" interchanges somehow have more of a wow factor when the piers are standing there by themselves.
And yes, I'm pretty sure that the bridge over the James River is so high up is because it's a navigable waterway.  But is there really so much marine traffic that far inland to justify such a height?
The Port of Richmond's Deepwater Terminal is one mile upstream of the bridge.

algorerhythms

Quote from: cpzilliacus on February 11, 2013, 10:56:05 PM
Don't think this is the highest of the bunch, but it gets an honorable mention - appropriately-named Ridge Road over I-70 (GSV) in Braddock Heights, Frederick County, Maryland.

And there's a pretty tall structure that carries I-68 over Md. 144 ("old" U.S. 40, also GSV) east of Cumberland in Allegany County, Maryland.
I-68 has a couple more examples (though they don't really approach some of the examples already mentioned in the thread):

Monroe St. over I-68 in Cumberland
I-68 over MD 55 near Vale Summit

TEG24601

Aside from the approaches to the George Washington Bridge in Seattle, there are two that I recall.  There is an Arch Overpass just North of the exit from I-5 to US 101 in Olympia (http://i.imgur.com/ZC2ivR0.png) and another similar one in Portland over Canyon Rd, along the Vista Ridge (http://i.imgur.com/zYV2j70.png).


And of course, there is always the old Railway Viaduct over I-90 in Eastern Washington ([size=78%]http://i.imgur.com/RzaLfEl.png[/size])
They said take a left at the fork in the road.  I didn't think they literally meant a fork, until plain as day, there was a fork sticking out of the road at a junction.

SignGeek101

This ramp is about 11.9 m (39 ft) above the main highway.

AB 201 at AB 2

http://goo.gl/maps/jOc5k

View from the top:

http://goo.gl/maps/wgyTN

adventurernumber1

Quote from: adventurernumber1
There's a pretty tall overpass on I-24 in TN when you're going over Missionary Ridge (it's right before downtown Chattanooga if you're going Westbound). I'll try to find a pic of it.

I took a picture of the tall overpass this week. Here it is:
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/127322363@N08/15339569739/
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

NoGoodNamesAvailable

Not sure how tall this one is, probably at least 30 feet:  http://goo.gl/maps/99BeN

Bonus: Directly under the overpass there's a guy in a dark red car flipping the streetview car off XD

empirestate

Quote from: NoGoodNamesAvailable on October 14, 2014, 07:00:23 PM
Bonus: Directly under the overpass there's a guy in a dark red car flipping the streetview car off XD

Yeah, typical behavior from Mercedes drivers in that part of the state. The whole USA, really...

Zeffy

Did anyone post this one yet? It looks like 2 1/2 semi trucks could fit under that thing.
Life would be boring if we didn't take an offramp every once in a while

A weird combination of a weather geek, roadgeek, car enthusiast and furry mixed with many anxiety related disorders

algorerhythms

Quote from: Zeffy on October 24, 2014, 12:20:09 PM
Did anyone post this one yet? It looks like 2 1/2 semi trucks could fit under that thing.
I posted that one earlier. It's Monroe Street in Cumberland, MD. I-68 has several high overpasses like that. I posted one at MD 55, and someone else posted one over MD 144 just to the east of Cumberland.

roadman65

Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

StogieGuy7

Although technically a series of viaducts, the "Marquette Interchange" in downtown Milwaukee, where Interstates 43, 94 and 794 meet, is pretty impressive.  This is the view from Canal Street, to the right is the Valley Power Plant (for scale).  https://www.google.com/maps/@43.031365,-87.924466,3a,75y,100.54h,92.52t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sanSIVyqCzXhiNZGCXHfSgg!2e0

The "arch" in the background carries steam lines from the power plant to downtown buildings. 

And this is the view from southbound I-43/eastbound I-94 (through the transparent barriers): https://www.google.com/maps/@43.031543,-87.922988,3a,75y,186.83h,88.62t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sMSSIXKMfDsxqxhgFsabMzg!2e0

Not as high as some here, but very impressive by Midwestern standards.

iBallasticwolf2

Only two things are infinite in this world, stupidity, and I-75 construction

KG909

Quote from: agentsteel53 on February 11, 2013, 09:42:06 AM
the highest signed one I've ever seen is 26'3.  I believe it is on State Street in Fontana, CA.
Which freeway? I live in Fontana and never heard State Street.
~Fuccboi



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