Emergencies and World Disasters
Why Bridges Keep Winning: The Strange Science of Can Openers
25 min•24 juli 2026
Om avsnittet
Why Bridges Keep Winning: The Strange Science of Can Openers
Every four and a half hours a vehicle strikes a railway bridge in the UK, and some overpasses have been hit well over a hundred times; why do warnings, sensors and flashing lights fail so consistently to stop these crashes? The pattern spans continents, kills people, destroys tanks of gas, and costs millions - but what single human perception error keeps letting bridges win?
In this episode, we walk through multiple bridge strikes and the recurring failures of countermeasures, showing what the incidents look like from the cab and asking whether the tools designed to stop them address the right problem. Can understanding the "perception gap" explain why drivers see warnings but do not act on them?
Person: Norfolk Southern (maintains Gregson Street Overpass)
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Date: 1994 (Glasgow double-decker fatal crash), 2010 (New York fatal crash), 2014-2018 (13 US fatalities), 2018 (Saint Petersburg 150th strike celebration), 2019 (Can Openers raised), 2022 (Glasgow LPG truck explosion)
Event: Gregson Street Overpass known as "Can Openers"; approximately 100 strikes by 2016
Country: United Kingdom (1,789 railway bridge strikes in 2019)
- Frequency: One vehicle hits a railway bridge every 4.5 hours in the United Kingdom
- Cost UK 2019: approximately £23,000,000 in bridge strike damages
- Network Rail 2021-2022: additional £12,000,000 lost in delays and cancellations from strikes
- US repair average (2013 Texas DOT): approximately $180,000 per bridge strike repair
- Glasgow 2022: liquefied petroleum gas truck struck a low bridge and exploded, killing at least 8 people
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
Every four and a half hours a vehicle strikes a railway bridge in the UK, and some overpasses have been hit well over a hundred times; why do warnings, sensors and flashing lights fail so consistently to stop these crashes? The pattern spans continents, kills people, destroys tanks of gas, and costs millions - but what single human perception error keeps letting bridges win?
In this episode, we walk through multiple bridge strikes and the recurring failures of countermeasures, showing what the incidents look like from the cab and asking whether the tools designed to stop them address the right problem. Can understanding the "perception gap" explain why drivers see warnings but do not act on them?
Person: Norfolk Southern (maintains Gregson Street Overpass)
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Date: 1994 (Glasgow double-decker fatal crash), 2010 (New York fatal crash), 2014-2018 (13 US fatalities), 2018 (Saint Petersburg 150th strike celebration), 2019 (Can Openers raised), 2022 (Glasgow LPG truck explosion)
Event: Gregson Street Overpass known as "Can Openers"; approximately 100 strikes by 2016
Country: United Kingdom (1,789 railway bridge strikes in 2019)
- Frequency: One vehicle hits a railway bridge every 4.5 hours in the United Kingdom
- Cost UK 2019: approximately £23,000,000 in bridge strike damages
- Network Rail 2021-2022: additional £12,000,000 lost in delays and cancellations from strikes
- US repair average (2013 Texas DOT): approximately $180,000 per bridge strike repair
- Glasgow 2022: liquefied petroleum gas truck struck a low bridge and exploded, killing at least 8 people
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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