Videos of 11-foot-8 trestle eating 12-foot trucks

The Gregson Street train trestle in Durham, NC, is 11-foot-8-inches high. Occasionally, a driver of a 12-foot-tall truck approaching the trestle doesn’t pay heed to the flashing warning lights and gets the top ripped off his trailer. It happens often enough that Jürgen Henn has a Web site called 11foot8.com with videos of the unfortunate incidents.

Low clearance can be a real challenge for a truck driver. Especially inexperienced drivers of rental boxtrucks seem to be quite oblivious to the warning signs and flashing “overheight” warning lights at this railroad trestle in Durham, NC. So frequently do trucks crash into the 11-foot-8 clearance trestle, that the railroad company installed a crash beam in front of it. This massive steel I-beam bears the brunt of the impact, protecting the structure that supports this fairly busy railroad track. Believe it or not – they already had to replace the beam once!The videos of these crashes document the severity of the impact, and they show how frequently these crashes produce a real hazard for pedestrians and other vehicles.

Clearly, the warning signs aren’t enough to stop all drivers. Maybe the city could lower the street under the trestle? Or add a stop sign? I’m sure they’ve thought of those things already. Right?

Yovo’s Bridgecam of trucks hitting a trestle (Via Cynical-C)

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Computer Wire Dress by Tina Sparkles

“Systems Supernova”, a dress made out of recycled computer wires created by Tina Sparkles for the Keep Austin Beautiful Recycled Fashion Show.

Made mostly of recycled computer wiring, the Systems Supernova dress addresses the growing problem of e-waste in American culture and explores the concept of systems thinking as it relates to our ecosystem. Each computer wire is situated in a closed loop system that interacts with all the other systems within the dress. Movement within one system influences other parts of the whole.

photo by Andrew Sterling

via Craft

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Danish Rabbit Hopping Championships

Here are the winners of this year’s Danish Rabbit Hopping Championships.

via Nag on the Lake

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BioShock Infinite

Irrational Games has announced “BioShock Infinite”, the 3rd installment of the first person shooter series BioShock. Set in 1912, BioShock Infinite takes place in the sky city of Columbia (previously BioShock was in an underwater setting).

Former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt has been sent to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned in Columbia since childhood. Booker develops a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky. DeWitt must learn to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harness the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.

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Felted Explosives

Kerstin made a couple of adorable felted explosives in the form of a stick of dynamite and a bomb.

via Make

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Every Time Zone

Every Time Zone is a great visualization tool that gives you a snapshot of what time it is around the world.

via swissmiss

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