A structure gauge, also called the minimum clearance outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of platforms,
tunnels and
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s, and the width of the doors that allow access to a
warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...
from a
rail siding. Specifications may include the minimum distance from rail vehicles to
railway platform
A railway platform is an area alongside a railway track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms.
The world's longest station platform is at Hubbali ...
s, buildings, electrical equipment boxes,
signal equipment,
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
s or supports for
overhead lines.
A related but separate gauge is the
loading gauge: a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
vehicles and their loads. The difference between these two gauges is called the
clearance. The specified amount of clearance makes allowance for
wobbling of rail vehicles at speed; consequently, in some circumstances a train may be permitted to go past a restricted clearance at very slow speed.
Road traffic application
The term can also be applied to the minimum size of road
tunnels, the space beneath
overpasses and the space within the
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
of
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s, as well as
doors into
automobile repair shops,
bus garage
A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, a ...
s,
filling station
A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Gasol ...
s,
residential garages,
multi-storey car park
A multistorey car park (British English, British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian English, Canadian), parking ramp, parking ...
s,
overhangs at
drive-through
A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word ''through''), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the Unite ...
s and
warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...
s.
Accidents
Motor vehicles hit railway bridges 1789 times in 2019 in the UK, where such incidents are known as bridge strikes, with several bridges being hit over 20 times in a single year. The total cost borne by the state was around £23 million.
A high
overpass bridge
An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...
near St Petersburg, Russia, is known as the "Bridge of Stupidity" because it is often struck by vehicles despite many warning signs. In May 2018, after it was struck for the 150th time by a
GAZelle
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...
truck, a birthday cake was presented to the bridge. This made national news.
Similarly, an
overpass in Durham, North Carolina, USA, was frequently struck by vehicles, and made the news a number of times until it was raised in 2019.
Infrared sensors which trigger warning signs when a high vehicle approaches were added to an
underpass in
Frauenfeld, Switzerland, only after several incidents.
A similar situation exists at an
underpass on
Guy Street in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
.
Truck removed
/ref>
Another problem is the Montague Street Bridge
The Montague Street Bridge is a railway bridge in South Melbourne, Australia, an inner suburb of Melbourne. The bridge is located at 83 Montague Street, between Woodgate Street and Gladstone Lane.
The bridge has a very low height clearance of , ...
in South Melbourne.
Gallery
Image:Gabarit-ferroviaire.svg,
File:Lichtraumprofil.png,
File:Pont Ducharme Est.jpg, Structure gauge limiting the height of vehicles for Pont Ducharme
The Ducharme Bridge (French: ''Pont Ducharme'') is a covered bridge with a lattice truss structure, which crosses the Bostonnais River in the center of La Bostonnais, Quebec. The bridge was built in 1946 and it is long. It was classified as ...
to .
File:Lichtraumprofilbrücke (001).JPG, Calibration bridge in Germany, used to indicate the maximum height of vehicles on approaching a railway bridge
See also
* Air draft, applies to bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s across navigable waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...
s
* Berne gauge
The Berne Gauge or Berne Convention Gauge is an informal but widely used term for the railway loading gauge considered the standard gauge in most of Europe. The term arises from the international railway conference held and consequent convention ...
* Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
* Clearance car
A clearance car is a type of railroad car in maintenance of way service. Its purpose is to check the clearances around the tracks and ensure that trains conforming to the railroad's standard loading gauge or ''dynamic envelope'' will not encou ...
* Cut
* Disadvantages of third rail (additional infrastructure restrictions)
* Engineering tolerance
* List of bridges known for strikes
This is a list of bridges and overpasses whose low clearance or structure gauge causes a notable amount of accidents, also known as bridge strikes. Simply being struck by a vehicle is not criteria for inclusion on this list. To be included, the b ...
* Loading gauge
* Railway platform
A railway platform is an area alongside a railway track providing convenient access to trains. Almost all stations have some form of platform, with larger stations having multiple platforms.
The world's longest station platform is at Hubbali ...
* Railway platform height
* Tunnel
* Wayobjects
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United St ...
References
External links
Transport Canada, Standard Respecting Railway Clearance
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN RAILROAD HIGH AND WIDE CLEARANCES
Railway line clearances and car dimensions including weight ..., Volumes 87-90
www.ipm.fraunhofer.de/railway
Clearance Guidelines for Industrial Railways (BC)
Rail infrastructure
Road hazards
{{Rail-transport-stub