The Hidden Engineering of Wildlife Crossings

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

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[@MonkeyJedi99]

So. Would the people who study this discipline be called "road scholars"?

[@wigglespeedturbo6324]

Ground News is bad

[@A_GoogIe_User]

why would you call it the largest wildlife crossing when there are so many more that are larger. For example the Natuurbrug Laarderhoogt is 700 meters longs (up to 40 meters wide) or Wildwissel Terlet 70 meters long 60 meters wide.

[@sandmehlig]

The wildlife crossing near my place did not work as intended until there was temporarily no personnel that cut back the vegetation. Apparently the species they wanted to cross over did not like an empty horizon with no place to hide.😀

[@timjones9206]

No, the project itself did not cost $92 million. And it’s really sad that you don’t address these situations properly. All the legislation and environmentalist drove the cost to $92 million. $92 million had nothing to do with construction. Have a nice day, Grady.

[@andrewjmarx]

I interned for the Santa Monica Mountain carnivore monitoring project over a decade ago. One of the bobcats we were monitoring went missing. I found its body Christmas Eve on the edge of the 101 almost exactly where the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is now. It took two decades of wildlife monitoring, full of people with sad experiences like mine, to finally see this happen.

[@brandongaines1731]

Just be grateful that it's finally coming to fruition :-)

[@noahh6186]

While in community college studying up to start pursuing my engineering degree, I was mesmerized by the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) project, and it became a primary topic for me to reference when telling people what I'd want to do with my degree. Taking my FE exam in 2 days, and then hopefully I'm going to start working on projects exactly like this. Thanks a ton, Grady, for featuring animal bridges right when I needed a reminder on my motivation!

[@Shart-santha]

Good luck on your exam!🖤 how exciting!😭🖤🖤

[@kindlin]

Hopefully the FE goes smoothly. At the UW we had something like a 90% pass rate, but I know that's not the same everywhere. It was basically easier than most normal tests I took, because it wasn't topic specific, it never wentr into depth about... anything. As long as all your math and basic science and engineer fundamentals classes were all passed well, you should be fine. The PE on the other hand, definitely takes a LOT more studying, and your normal workload does not compare at all in the same way as your normal coursework prepares you for the FE. I would try and get the PE ASAP, tho, as it's just one more test, so keeping your college study habits and refined test taking skills will be very helpful.

[@ng2371]

Good luck

[@Jo-Anne.Clarke]

I’m excited to hear there is a Yellowstone to Yukon Project(Y2Y)❣️ I’m going to make an internet search to see what I can learn about the project. Tk you @noahh6186 for your comment. I hope your FE Exam went well.

[@MrHugemoth]

After the highway department installed a couple wildlife crossings on hwy 97 in Oregon deer collisions went way down. Works great!

[@danielwarren7110]

came here to say that it went down by over 80% per year, reducing call outs to police, ambulances, fire service, but also increased local business as less shut downs on the highway leading to less traffic congestion leading to less loss in revenue to the businesses in local townships

[@t1mmy13]

We've seen the same results in the netherlands, and also it's made the local wild life population boom

[@Kram1032]

plus, they are usually quite pretty

[@brianmulholland2467]

@@danielwarren7110 Went down 80%...in how large an area? And 80% from what? What would I need to apply this 80% figure to a wide area? Am I looking at an animal crossing every 20 miles? 10? 5? 1? Do I now need one over EVERY road in a region? Because I live in a state that's quite a bit more densely populated than Oregon. There's a grid of major highways every few miles. Building and maintaining bridges is expensive. My intuition has a hard time accepting that this is not a massive expense for minimal gain. I mean, it's cool A.F., but 'cool A.F.' doesn't tend to scale.

[@havoc1482]

@@brianmulholland2467 Did you even watch the video? He literally brings up the economic justification.

[@Tiffanye2o]

On an animal overpass in Norway, I once observed a large moose come up to the middle of the overpass and then stop to watch the cars passing beneath him for a few moments before continuing on his route. The silhouette of the large moose on top of the overpass, monitoring the automobiles on the highway, was a breathtaking sight.

[@kellymoses8566]

That would be a great picture.

[@karabenomar]

Thank you for that amoosing mental image.

[@Marines_Memelevolent]

TIL moose are in Norway too

[@blahfasel2000]

@@Marines_Memelevolent Moose are circumpolar, their range covers the subarctic and cool temperate forests of Northern Europe, Russia and North America all around the arctic circle. It's a bit confusing though because they're called elk in Europe and Asia. They're notably absent from Great Britain, which is why English settlers were unfamiliar with them and based on vague descriptions applied the name to a different species (the wapiti) instead when they arrived in North America. For the ACTUAL elk they then took over the local Algonquin name thinking it was a new species.

[@bigwebsite727]

Cap.

[@ryans7097]

Engineering to help people and nature to better coexist is some of my favorite engineering.

[@veldtwalker]

Even more should be done in this direction

[@MiH1IT]

Sometimes, animals can adapt too much. They built new road next to small lake. This caused an issue for frogs that were trying to get to it. So they made underground passage for animals. Two years later and storks found out that why bother searching for frogs when they have to use this passage. So in the season, you can always see one or two storks standing next to entrance enjoying all you can eat frog buffet

[@3nertia]

Often times the wildlife are smarter than humans heh

[@fdssdfsdfs]

You will always have unexpected (or expected) side effects when you change nature. Nature will adapt if you give it a chance.

[@Kram1032]

sounds like an issue solved in principle by more bridges. Or maybe it's possible to design the bridge entry and exit in a way that possibly allows frogs to hide out for a bit

[@FreejackVesa]

Here in Louisiana, the tricolored heron is always stalking the drainage ditches and diversion canals.

[@calaverx11]

Reminds me of the story of that wildlife photographer who accidentally befriended a wild leopard; sometimes he'd scare smaller animals when he moved and the leopard would start hanging out near him for an easy meal.

[@JoelReid]

In Perth, Australia, there is a nature reserve along the river called the "Canning Reserve". the interesting thing is south of this reserve, the suburbs have been designed with "nature corridors". These are essentially drainage ditches, but are planned to link up the various parks of the area. The idea with these corridors is that animals can move from the reserve to the parks via these corridors. Considering that the reserve is a wetland, and the parks all have small lakes in them (often with reeded areas along the banks), this is designed to supplement the local ecosystem and allow the natural environment to mesh with the suburban environment. Long neck turtles, birds, insects, and amphibians all use this network of corridors to keep each parkland freshly supplied by animals.

[@maebhryan3040]

Australia... Wetland... Reptiles.... Crocodiles?

[@HughZantu]

Sounds lovely; we have some similar designs in Colorado, though ecology I don't think was the reasoning since it isn't consistent, but our water laws make it possible to sue your neighbor if their rain drains onto your land so we have many creeks and ditches connecting parks that can allow mountain wildlife to go deep into the city

[@e1123581321345589144]

is that a good idea in Australia?

[@JoelReid]

@@maebhryan3040 crocodiles live in the northern half of Austrlaia, not Southern half, where Perth is. Also, snakes tend to avoid humans. The reptiles in question are turtles and skinks

[@wildlifecorridors3207]

And everyone in Perth will be happy to help nature and be apart of it!

[@kickpushlongboards]

Bridge engineer in Arizona, just finished designing my first wildlife bridge!

[@1Heirborn]

Congrats! What was the biggest challenge designing the bridge?

[@kickpushlongboards]

​@@1Heirbornlots of things! Abandoning all traffic regulations I've learned to design bridges around and learning to think like animals and not about the people. I overestimated the soil weight and assumed it was always saturated. I estimated 25% more snow than the extreme case due to climate change causing larger storms. Designing approaches and fencing to block line of sight to the freeway as much as possible. Designing for appropriate deck drainage underneath the soil and snow, and deep enough soil for local animals who bury their dens to not reach the concrete deck. Trying to take into account construction methods and future inspection access. Locating where local drinking water holes are to appropriately place the bridge in a useful location and with the proper elevations. Fun project and hopefully I get to design more!

[@chevyinlinesix]

​@kickpushlongboards that's really interesting, thanks for sharing 👍

[@tvrift]

Unless there are tampons in the male bathrooms I wont be happy with this bridge.

[@Shart-santha]

@@chevyinlinesixI second this! Absolutely cool info to read! 😊🖤

[@hub.ski_]

I must correct something. With the dimmensions you provided it definetly is not the biggest in the world. The wildlife crossing near me in Poland (Coordinates via Google Maps: 51.56354422392632, 16.862301457556867) is 310,55 m (1018,85ft) wide and 100,96 m (331,23 ft) long. And I'm pretty sure it is not the biggest either.

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Thanks for this correction! You're completely right that the script should have said "largest of its kind." It's unfortunate that both the project's website and several reputable news organizations called it the largest in the world without that important caveat. I've added a note to the description with this correction.

[@khulhucthulhu9952]

yeah, it didn't seem that big to me😅

[@prywatne4733]

I'm pretty sure the biggest one is in the Netherlands, so yeah this Los Angeles crossing is only the "largest in the world" if the "world" means "USA"

[@georgobergfell]

Americans call everything they make the biggest in the World, even, if it's not. They just don't care to research

[@huwillysh]

@prywatne4733 world pretty much means the USA (and sometimes Canada) in USA😂😂😂

[@KevinT3141]

I think one of the biggest difference is that animals can't read signs, while humans don't read signs. Either way, you have to engineer a bridge to be so obvious and intuitive that it won't be disused.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

Road signs shouldnt be text, they should be logographs.

[@anothersquid]

Driving licences should probably be harder to get.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@anothersquid In the USA very much so.

[@Eric-dr5bj]

The best wildlife bridge is essentially a tunnel

[@stefanmolnapor910]

Humans are animals, except we think we are "smarter"

[@jesperwall839]

I work for the Swedish police to track traffic wounded animals, so this video was right up my alley 👍 Here in Sweden, if you hit any animal like a row deer or bigger, you have to call the police. Even if you don’t think the animal is wounded. The police then sends out one of us trackers, and we do a search for the animal with our dogs to either make sure that the animal is not wounded, or to put it to sleep.

[@FreejackVesa]

Depending on the State, there are similar laws in the US. As each State is essentially its own country though, there are pretty wide variations on what is considered correct / legal protocol. I know Florida, New York, and California have specific laws regarding animal vehicle collisions. Not too sure about other ones.

[@jesperwall839]

@ I know. But I have never seen dogs being used to track wounded or shot animals anywhere in the states. Even when hunting the tracking is made by “hand”. And that’s an almost impossible mission. The dog can track an animal for several kilometers, even without any blood in the tracks. A human can’t do that. And when it comes to traffic accidents, there is almost never blood in the tracks.

[@FreejackVesa]

@@jesperwall839 agreed. Was talking more about the police notification.

[@mnxs]

Hello neighbour! Can confirm this is a thing in Denmark too, I believe, although afaik the "trackers" here are not employed directly by the police, but come from the national hunting association. At least, that was who was sent when we found some poor deer with an apparent brain stroke when I was a child, 20 years ago or so. I'm not quite sure how that works out, actually, I'd think they were still paid? Anyways, awesome work that you guys do!

[@Thomas-vn6cr]

No mini road setup in your garage with adorable miniature animals?

[@LucarioBoricua]

Yeah, I know the video was missing something!!!!

[@atlanciaza]

🤣😂🤣😂 Dear lord, I nearly died laughing at this comment.

[@pyro-millie5533]

Make a mini wildlife crossing for the local feral cat population lol

[@GerardoRivera-l3k]

I think it's great how your video covers several conservation biology and genetic conservation points. It really shows how much you researched to produce a quality video. Lots of engineers would not bring in biology points and just focus on the engineering part. Keep up the fantastic work.

[@SoulerBk]

I live in small town in Poland on the edge of a major forest and on the intersection of two major express roads (basically a highway considering how they are almost the same as highways in Poland, but free from most of the pricy regulations that make building highways in EU a huge investment) and wildlife crossings are something that just seem to pop up more and more (by now I think there are like five of them around) and, seriously, I'm thankful they exist. Once I was going back from work outside of town in the winter and I fell off the bike because of group of boar crossing close to the town limits, luckily I just bruised myself (it was slippery and after my bike stopped I just fell to the side), outside of the express way collisions with wildlife are happening all the time. Nice to see a video on the topic, it also makes me feel proud that Poland doesn't have only to put money into lifting country out of the gutter and has enough spare funds to make travel safer for both humans and the rest of animal kingdom.

[@mpetrino7330]

Grady hi from Alberta, Canada. Great topic one which most highway users never give a second thought to. Here inside Banff National Park where the six lane Trans Canada Highway cuts straight through the park wildlife corridors were made a priority 15 years ago. Today there exists a total of 44 wildlife corridors, six overpasses and 38 underpasses within park boundaries. Research since construction prove they work. So much so the Province of Alberta Transportation Dept is currently constructing 3 outside the park overpasses and planning 2 more. Currently Parks Canada and Montana State University are working together monitoring existing wildlife corridor use and researching new designs. Wildlife crossings are responsible for raising the Black Bear, Mountain Lion, Coyote, Deer Family and Moose populations within Banff National Park back to 1970's levels. Again great topic as a B.Arch won't make any P.Eng jokes 😁. Thanks

[@kstricl]

I was thinking about the crossings through Banff the moment I saw the thumbnail. Definitely safer than constantly trying to reduce the speed of so many vehicles frequently like is done on Hwy 16 through Jasper. On the other hand, you get a much closer look at the bighorn sheep and elk in Jasper.

[@WhiteWulfe]

And more than likely because of everything going on in Jasper and Banff (plus research elsewhere), Edmonton made sure to add such things into the design of the Anthony Henday Drive, although those are on a significantly smaller scale by comparison.

[@Techpriest1010]

Shown at 4:37.

[@stephenmoncrieff2056]

Also from Alberta , I used to live in Banff before the overpasses were built . I remember later on going out to Lake Louise and seeing the first one . I thought it was one of the best ideas I had seen in a long time!!

[@edythethompson7671]

That’s where I first learned of wildlife crossings.

[@ChaoticEnigma-]

1:33 we had a bridge replaced near me this last year. The construction crew put netting under it in the springtime so the birds couldn't nest there, meaning they coukd safely replace the bridge without needing to evict any birds.

[@thirza9508]

Cool to see Dutch eco ducts mentioned, they're beautiful structures. Some near me have been around for quite a while now, and the shrubbery on top of them has got so huge it feels like driving underneath a patch of forest. In my town, we also have a few frog crossings, a small tunnel under the road surface for frogs to cross from the forest to a marshy river area. Every time I drive across them, I think of the little froggies in the tunnel and the earthquake they must feel when a car passes.

[@Brix_H]

We have an overhead wildlife crossing here in Singapore. I have the ecological appreciation for it and now after watching your video, an engineering appreciation for it.

[@sdqsdq6274]

fyi that bridge cost only 7.3 mil usd , imagine this one bridge cost 92 mil , lol , something is wrong ........

[@Brix_H]

@ ironically… I don’t even know how much that bridge cost us.

[@robertmacleod1310]

I attended a webinar about one of the wildlife crossing projects in Banff (Alberta) earlier this year. It's super interesting infrastructure, glad to see you covering it and sharing the knowledge with a larger audience!

[@katieluv8422]

Never would have thought someone would teach me more about roads and animals than I already know. Super impressed by the details in this episode and your passion for it really shows.

[@richardross7219]

Nice video. I worked on a project 15 years ago that had two culverts under roads that were dual purpose. A 5' RCP culvert was for a pond overflow and for crawfish to migrate to the pond. We were working on the headwalls when the biggest crawfish I ever saw started coming through. The transition wasn't finished so the guys were picking them up and carrying them the last 50' until we were done. The other crossing was a 6' x 8' box culvert that allowed deer through and carried stormwater/ We did see one buck use it. Happy Holidays. Good Luck, Rick

[@eedobee]

As a small scavenging mammal I appreciate these bridges.

[@Eric-dr5bj]

As a predatory bird, me too

[@NullScar]

I'm waiting for you guys and girls. Yours truly, *_Wolf._*

[@bobedwards8896]

as a mountain lion, lately all of my food has been crossing at the same location, how convenient!

[@feynstein1004]

😂😂😂

[@TheButcherHicks]

Great place for a predator species to sit and wait. These bridges are a great bottleneck to contain a prey species trying to cross.

[@fragglet]

Watching the news it always seems like only terrible things are happening in the world, but the fact we're willing to invest time and real money in projects like this gives me some hope for humanity.

[@mandowarrior123]

But denying aid in a hurricane to humans? I'm not sure it gives me much hope when I see how little help Americans received there, including racial hierarchies for aid. Many of these projects are merely motivated by the incestuous self enrichment of government projects. Here in the UK we spent millions on 'bat bridges' that didn't work at all, just as a signal of their virtue and to dismiss complaints about the impact. They're token gestures at best.

[@kindlin]

That's why the news sucks nowadays. It's nothing but doom and gloom, which is what holds attention. It's just not a great loop we've set ourselves up for.

[@kindlin]

@@mandowarrior123 You must be fun at parties....

[@blahx9]

I remember when they did the ones on Rt 78 in NJ, part of a class trip was to explore how they were made, and learned about the challenges they faced getting the animals to actually use the crossing.

[@jliller]

The first wildlife crossing bridge I ever saw is over I-75 in Florida. It's part of the Cross-Florida Greenway. In addition to facilitating animal movement, it also carries the Florida Trail.

[@kapa1611]

i go wandering a lot, and the whole video i was thinking: i want more of those bridges for people too 🤣 good to see i m not the only one who feels this way xD

[@rogue3398]

The WSDOT published a 30-minute documentary film following up on the I-90 wildlife crossing (and the replacement of a nearby culvert installation to make it more suitable to amphibious crossers). It's called Cascade Crossroads and it's free to watch here on KZbin.

[@titter3648]

One time on a animal overpass in Norway i saw a big moose walk up to the middle of the overpass, and then stop to watch the cars passing under him for a while before continuing to walk across. It was such a great sight with the silhouette of the big moose on the top of the overpass watching the cars on the highway.

[@eekee6034]

I was kind-of hoping that sort of thing happenned somewhere in the world. What a sight!

[@AddMehh]

I LOVE the idea of these animal crossing bridges and think we need to invest much more into them. Imagine how much money and lives we will save with these improvements to our environments.

[@dinovlahopoulos7875]

For anyone interested in learning more, the book Crossings by Ben Goldfarb is an amazing look into road ecology and covers a bunch of the topics in this video including the mountain lion P22!

[@Eric-dr5bj]

It is an eye opening book. Humans have a massive impact

[@ahumanmerelybeing]

I'm reading that right now! I wonder if Grady read the same one, as he hit a lot of the points the book does.

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

Oooh now I know why those ramps exist in the nature area near me. To prevent animals from getting stuck on the wrong side of our fences

[@CanadisX]

Neat info! I wrote my Bachelors thesis in environmental sciences about this kind of bridges. And how relevant they are ecologically and economically (insurances pay a loooot of money because of collisions)

[@wildlifecorridors3207]

do you think these companies would push for funding for the bridges? out of there interest in saving Money/ lives / wildlife?

[@CanadisX]

@wildlifecorridors3207 they seemingly don't care. I asked a few but got no answers. Maybe today they would - I don't know.

[@ScoutSilico]

As a Washington State resident I absolutely love the wildlife crossing they put in over I-90 up in the mountains. I love watching the nature cams and seeing the deer and other animals cross over the area that we previously made inaccessible.

[@JesseGallego-pb2bk]

We need some in Oregon BAD!!! This last fall there was so much road kill.Its sad.

[@matthewhelsley2840]

As someone who got to attend the ceremony held for starting construction of one of the crossings mentioned, it's great to see it covered by a channel I regularly enjoy!

[@Vinemaple]

I-90 in Washington state now has wildlife crossings... there's a slow but surprisingly fascinating documentary about their design and construction, I believe it's from WSDoT themselves.

[@themattenthehat]

Oh heck yes I was hoping you'd talk about this thing! The way it was built was wild to watch, those cement girders are just gargantuan in person. As soon as I saw it I was thinking about all the engineering that goes in - dirt is heavy!

[@GuyChapman]

In Scandinavia they have a thing called the “elk test” which tests survivability for avoidance and non avoidance of a large elk or moose. I love the Dutch natuurbrugge. Netherlands is such a civilised country, Geert Wilders notwithstanding.

[@vishalbajaj4231]

Great video. The authors should look at the Mukundra Hills Project in Rajasthan India. It's a tunnel being built through the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve. Once compeleted it might be one of the biggest structures of it's kind. Here instead of cutting through the Reserve forest they have gone for a very costly option of building a tunnel so as to not disturb the local ecology.

[@jmodsbricks]

I’ve driven across the bridge at 10:22! They’re actually building a massive wildlife overpass just a few miles down the road from there😂 Edit: It’s 51°02'53"N 115°17'47"W for anyone who wants to go check out the street view of the area. The new overpass they’re building is at 51°04'00"N 115°05'50"W and although it’s not visible in satellite yet, you can go street view and see the construction. Great video Grady!

[@Tenetri]

Wow, I had no idea that roads could be so... complicated for wildlife! From 'repelled' animals to 'speeders', it's clear that each species has its own unique challenges when trying to cross a road. And let's not forget about the $8 BILLION in damages and human fatalities caused by wildlife-vehicle collisions each year! The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is an amazing example of how investing in infrastructure can make a huge difference for both humans and animals. Thanks, Grady, for sharing your expertise on this fascinating topic!

[@Majixsn]

This was great timing because today i happened to go somewhere where I needed to pass under the Wallis Annenberg wildlife bridge being constructed. I've watched it go from nothing to what's done now and I can't wait to see how it looks completed.

[@CarltonDodd]

I've seen several unused rail bridges in my area (Madison and St. Claire counties, IL) reused as bicycle/nature bridges. A great idea.

[@mandowarrior123]

More depressing to see unused rail bridges. Who maintains them now? Or they're there until they fall apart? Are they steel? Repainted each year?

[@TheLubeKing]

Grady, this video is super-cool, even by the high standards you've made us accustomed to.

[@girak2]

Great video Grady! However, I'm surprised you didn't mention animal detection driver warning systems. They are crossings that allow wildlife to cross the road but there are electronic detection and alert systems in place to alert the drivers with flashing lights when an animal is crossing the road. There is one on US-550 in NM (I think north of Cuba).

[@markpimlott2879]

'Mixed results on these and of course only practical and reasonably safe for drivers when installed on two lane roads or secondary highways!

[@gonderage]

Hearing you mention the weird things you have to include to make it appealing to animals to cross reminds me of how game developers sometiems have to design a level or a section to grab the player's attention in a certain way to get a certain behaviour lol. the overlap in philosophy is interesting to me

[@ahumanmerelybeing]

Ha, it totally is like that! It's a super fascinating topic--they'll choose certain kinds of brush or rocks or logs to attract different sorts of animals and make them more comfortable crossing.

[@TheNathansblog]

I'm happy to see this. My partner and I talk so much about how much wildlife is hit on roads. We talk about how important these are. This is lovely to see ❤

[@rudagamer9589]

You don't know how vital wildlife crossing is until you go hiking in a forest, try going 10 km in some direction, and run into a motorway without any way to cross. The helplessness you feel translates very well to what the animals probably feel. And you at least know what the motorway is and don't view it as a totally scary alien structure

[@sIosha]

Great video! The lengths we go to to accommodate cars is truly insane. At the end of the day, this is car infrastructure.

[@jamesengland7461]

So?

[@susansage7218]

I LOVE that this has become important !!

[@Cipher_Codex]

Wildlife crossings built over the road are real pleasing to the eye.

[@tweaker1968]

Love the bear cubs walking upright....... "Look at us, this how humans walk... LOL"..... Another awesome video, keep up the good work!

[@PropagandasaurusRex]

They're not cubs. They're Russian spies.

[@jackmckeown2869]

nothing like a hot cup of grady to start my morning

[@MattH-wg7ou]

😂 that's an...interesting way to put it!

[@MrEazyE357]

Gross dude!

[@sheldoniusRex]

Lol my cousin often answers the phone with, "Road kill cafe. You kill it, we grill it."

[@robgrey6183]

I live in northwest Wyoming, where we have a number of these structures, almost exclusively directed toward channeling migratory ungulates: elk and mule deer here in Teton County, and antelope farther south in Sublette County. South of Jackson we have a few wildlife underpasses. I was skeptical that they would be used at first, but winter track patterns indicate that they are effective. One thing you failed to emphasize is just how many miles of very high fencing is required to get animals to use these structures. And, that every driveway, side road, and other access points in these fences require cattle guards, and gates to allow access across the fence lines by people on horseback. I'm guessing the fencing infrastructure may be as expensive as the overpass. Down in Sublette County the fencing and access structures go on for tens of miles, on either side, to direct the antelope migration. Another factor to consider is the ongoing cost of maintaining these fences.

[@Pingviinimursu]

7:00 CUTE KITTY ALERT 😊😊😊

[@Pingviinimursu]

13:47 THERE'S MORE CUTE ANIMALS 🥰🥰

[@flyingfool5215]

Much appreciated 🙏

[@walheidespitzer5605]

My birth country the Netherlands has had animal crossings for over 40 years or more and they are great.

[@sondrelarsson5320]

Watching instead of studying engineering 😅 update the video is over fantastic as always but now I have to get back to the books

[@TechOne7671]

You learn something new everyday, this channel is not always about power systems and massive utility infrastructure. Civil engineering is all around us. We have underpasses on the A9 in Scotland to allow deer to cross. I discovered one when I stopped for a pee one day😂.

[@xyzxyzxyzxyzxyzxyz]

I remember back in the 80's (Sweden) when I saw one of the wildlife overpasses for the first time. I wondered why there weren't more of them. Today there are quite a few of them in just my local area. There's even one over a country road, not a highway.

[@andrewfidel2220]

I78 in New Jersey was actually one of the first roads in North America to use wildlife bridges, they were incorporated in the designed phase for the route in the 1980s. If you've ever driven the road you'll know just how striking and awesome these structures can be.

[@kathrynsavage2211]

Loved to learn that even animals avoid “back alleys” 10:15

[@scottmcg857]

I'm interested in what specific branch of engineering is in charge of wildlife bridges. Is it more civil engineering, or environmental engineering?

[@Evilution516]

I think it would mostly be civil engineers working in collaboration with ecologists.

[@LucarioBoricua]

Definitely civil, and chiefly the structural, geotechnical and transportation engineering specialties.

[@Duiker36]

The ecologists would be asked to determine what kinds of loads the bridge would need to be able to sustain, and then the civil engineers would meet that requirement. The types of soil, the width and shape, the foliage packed in, anticipated herds of animal X weighing an average of Y pounds, etc. etc. When designing other bridges, the civil engineers would get similar data from other sources and use that as requirements (e.g., how much foot traffic is expected for a foot bridge; estimated rush hour traffic for a bridge for cars, etc.)

[@kindlin]

All of the design and support of the bridge itself is all civil/structural. As Duiker notes, everything we design comes with design-specific guidance and recommendations. We base all of our designs on the information provided by the other experts, or more likely, some standard code document like the manually discussed throughout this video. Even in civil, we have entirely different disciplines that JUST do soil (geotechnical), or only look at the locations and designs of a road (transportation), or only think about how you actually build the things (construction), or about how the water will run over and around this (hydraulic/civil), etc. While civil covers about 7 broad topics, it's also a specific subdiscipline that's all about specific site layout considerations like pedestrian traversal and meeting water removal and safety sight line requirements, among many other ground-level things.

[@professormoore4876]

Great video on an often overlooked topic. The summary at the end really nailed it.

[@rhouser1280]

You guys remember the girl that called the radio station asking if they could move the deer crossing sign to a less traveled area? There were too many accidents with deer after they put the deer crossing sign there so the animals knew where to cross.

[@LoisoPondohva]

That's flowers. They've put a landslide sign near where I live, now all landslides will flock here.

[@heronheronhero]

​@@LoisoPondohva they put a flowers sign near me and now the bluebonnets take over the highways during their migration!

[@tianamarie989]

😂😂😂 i do remember that.

[@andywomack3414]

I have seen big-horn sheep licking the salt from the shoulder of a mountain interstate. The salt is part of the sanding mix used to aid traction on snow-packed roads. The animals seemed perfectly aware of the meaning of the white line marking the edge of the travel lane. They did not seem bothered by the traffic passing by at 50+ mph.

[@privacyvalued4134]

0:23 Guaranteed that within 24 hours of the crossing being finished there will be an accident with some wildlife and some yahoo will call this project a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.

[@OldWhitebelly]

I'm local to the featured crossing in this video, and have supported it for years. People have been saying that from day one. We have a significant population of people who are against everything, simply because they were told to be.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

​@@OldWhitebelly people seem to hate on things just to make themselves fit in somewhere.

[@marcelk.4371]

In Austria we have these crossings too over the "Autobahn", never heard about any accidents... They just work 👍

[@SPDLTD]

bums will move in and start living there

[@TheNorminalHuman]

well some individual animal will still cross the road, maybe not herd specie like deers.

[@Adriell.h.b.]

I love your channel, all your videos pique my interest. But this is my favorite so far. I'm really interested in the intersection of humanity and nature. Thanks for the fantastic video!

[@jamiesuejeffery]

I would love to see you do a video on the dam removals in Oregon and the near immediate return of salmon to their native habitat. That is an incredible story that has been documented by OPB but I am sure you would have a different perspective with the same or similar conclusion.

[@sarah.j_ca]

thank you for doing this one, i love wildlife over and undercrossings and was so happy to hear of the massive infrastructure investment

[@tobiasL1991]

Man I seriously underestimated the cost of wildelife crossings, 200 fatalities and 8 billion in a single year is an incredible cost.

[@ahumanmerelybeing]

I heard an ecology journalist talk about this (Ben Goldfarb, wrote an amazing book on the subject called Crossings) and he was saying how it's one thing that people across the whole political spectrum can agree on; if you don't care about the environment, at least you usually care about the money. :D

[@EB_1059]

The wildlife crossing on the 101 in Los Angeles gets a lot of negative pushback from locals that see it as a huge waste of money. Unfortunately, the general public doesn't see this as critical infrastructure because they are not affected by it directly (i.e. collisions).

[@witchdoctor6502]

I always wondered why there is so little of wildlife crossings, I figured cost would be one factor, but it would be interesting to see comparison of different crossings and their cost relative to cost of fencing etc to stop animals from getting on the roads.

[@rogertemple7193]

This is another great episode about engineering especially with the crossings for the local wildlife have a Merry Christmas Grady to you and your family thank you.🎄🛣️🇺🇲🛣️🎄

[@NickDoddTV]

I find in BC, Canada the most animal strikes happen in rural areas on 2-4 lane highways...the animals tend not to go out onto a 10 lane highway at all...

[@lt4ryan]

Cool to see the Tobin bridge and to hear you’re near to SATX!

[@esnok76]

If you watch his older videos he was (is?) an engineer for SAWS and he covers the purple pipe network (Water used after treatment at the sewage facility)

[@dannyness6319]

There’s a in-depth book on this exact topic called Crossing by Ben Goldfarb that I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn more! It’s a lot more interesting than it sounds

[@diamanteduul8084]

11:23 'Nutty Narrows Bridge' 😭😂

[@Pottery4Life]

I think there are a total of 8(?) squirrel bridges in the area. World famous. yes.

[@FallGuyManiac]

It’s a reference to the famous Tacoma Narrows bridge 100 miles north. Even looks similar.

[@bruceu1419]

This really sounds like Grady recently read the book "Crossings" by Ben Goldfarb. It's pretty good, I listened to it on a road trip for Thanksgiving

[@ahumanmerelybeing]

I thought the same thing--he used a lot of specific examples that also appear in the book, like the mule deer and the LA cougars. Terrific book!

[@irispeckedthat]

This is what I needed this morning!! New Practical Engineering!!

[@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat]

I hope you have a great day 😊

[@mc116]

I work for environmental services at a multidisciplinary engineering/consulting firm and we worked on bunch of these projects. I'm a CAD technician and worked on many of these designs from overpass crossings for wildlife to culverts for smaller critters or fish passage. There's also habitat restoration and offsetting for marine wildlife to offset the impacts of engineering projects that causes damage to existing coastal, wetland and underwater habitat.

[@ahumanmerelybeing]

That's super cool!

[@twowingsstudio]

We should have hundreds, if not thousands of wildlife crossings!😊

[@toyfreaks]

I was blown away on driving to Seattle to see how many natural overpasses there are

[@alveolate]

would love to see a more in-depth dive into all the specific considerations for different focal species, and the special engineering required to meet those needs! might make for a fun collab with some nature youtuber... have you heard of Maya Higa at the Alveus Sanctuary in Austin Texas?

[@punditgi]

Fascinating video! Grady never fails to illuminate! 🎉😊

[@thejacksloan]

I recently read Crossings by Ben Goldfarb that discusses these crossings. Super interesting book that I'd highly recommend.

[@lizburgess4398]

I'd love to see you on Bluesky.

[@marscaleb]

I drive through three wildlife crossings in Nevada every week, and now I know what those "jump outs" near them are for!

[@pool_noodle420]

Thank you for being so awesome!

I used to think wildlife briges were a dumb waste of money. But now I very much appreciate them. And with the coming Administration in the US I dont think you will se more beeing build

[@tenesto]

2:32 no matter how calm they look, i wouldnt open the door. the window has to be enough to watch ehm ^^

[@hanzzel6086]

Glad I wasn't the only one thinking that!

[@RangerMcFriendly]

Former Yellowstone Park Ranger here, I used to work Bison Jams and the expletives we received for working the jams and all of the doofuses getting out of their vehicles was unbelievable. I don’t miss working there at all.

[@MrEazyE357]

People are idiots. There's probably one or two of them that would try to put their own child on a bison's back for a picture, like that one family did with their small daughter and the seal/sea lion.

[@RangerMcFriendly]

@ that (kids on bison) happens at least once a year. Even more frightening is those are only the ones we catch. No joke. I once saw a couple chase after a sow grizzly and her cub for a photo. Not a good idea…

[@Amalgamotion]

Yea more of this. We have some that are at grade crossings for the seasonal deer and elk in some of the towns in and around the mountains. The area lights up for the drivers to stop.. the herds sorted it out pretty well and its kinda cool to get stopped and watch them cross. Another issue I've seen over the years are the wide open but curvy roads in the valleys of the mountains. To have something engineered for headlights, would be huge, well placed attenuation on the curves or something. As the shine of a sudden car(s) on a dark field spooks them and you'll sometimes have bad accidents from the chaos that ensues.

[@gregknipe8772]

where I live in big sky montana, a few dozen elk, and a dozen big horn sheep are hot by trucks and cars each fall, attempting to cross two lane US 191.

[@kenbrown2808]

in MT, there are two kids of driver: those who have hit a large animal, and those who will.

[@Eric-dr5bj]

Sounds like a restaurant could be set up near by

[@Kel-d7v]

The Blue Ridge Parkway is practically in my backyard and I live 2 country roads away from a 6 lane highway, and I LOVE this idea. Deer reproduce like rabbits around here and so many get hit. I've seen them jump in front of Harleys doing 50mph. This could save a lot of lives a lot of misery.

[@AmongUs-c9o]

Your channel rocks🤘🤘

[@freetolook3727]

There is an animal crossover in Cherry Valley, NY over route 20 that's been there for decades.

[@ericcox6764]

As a motorcycle enthusiast, I fully approve of these structures!!

[@MichaelMossmanNZ]

Thank you @PracticalEngineeringChannel for another enlightening video. Slightly off-topic, those two baby-bears were hilarious ... it's almost like they were performing for the camera =)

[@swissfreek]

0:41 Is that I-90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington? I always wondered what on earth they were building there. Made no sense as avalanche protection since it slopes upward on both sides, and it’s clearly not for vehicles. Very cool!

[@1a1u0g9t4s2u]

Really enjoy your KZbin Channel. As a retired electrical engineer I still crave and enjoy learning about things around my.I have seen many examples of the fencing designed to guide deer and elk to safer places to cross. Also notices birds of prey part of the road kill seen on the road sides. Perhaps they were trying to catch rodents in the treeless space along the road side. One question my civil engineer colleagues have not been able to answer is When does the width of an overpass change the classification of the space under it into a tunnel? Thanks for sharing.