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Old 15-01-2025, 13:02   #1
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bridge clearances North America

I'm trying to find closed and fixed bridge clearances for more than just the AICW or Loop routes- including the Gulf ICW, more of the inland waterways (like from Nashville to Pittsburgh)

I'm familiar with the general lists for the ICW and the "19 foot" Chicago loop bridge. But- well, for example-, just off the Loop is the Piankatank River in Virginia, a fixed bridge with a ~43 foot clearance. -not part of the Loop guides I've seen, but useful to know.

Is there a list, site, or spreadsheet that covers more or less ALL of this? At least the Eastern seaboard and greater Mississippi watershed?
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Old 15-01-2025, 13:44   #2
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Download OpenCPN.
Download the charts for the areas you are interested in.
Voila, there’s the info.
Not conveniently listed but it is available for free.
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Old 15-01-2025, 14:08   #3
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
Download OpenCPN.
Download the charts for the areas you are interested in.
Voila, there’s the info.
Not conveniently listed but it is available for free.
I can probably manually search every chart for every waterway, yeah. I wonder if that's something I can get flat files for and grep....

Anyway- while I probably "should" learn opencpn at some point, I am currently cruising with a Chromebook and don't want to blow $10 for something designed for tablets that might not run once I get int unpacked.
I do run the Linux dev tree, so maybe I'll try something like that in my copious free time.
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Old 15-01-2025, 14:09   #4
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Re: bridge clearances North America

They are not looking for a list or spreadsheet, they are looking for specific info.
I’m pessimistic about that info being found in a list or spreadsheet and offered a less convenient but free way to get to get that info.

I’m hoping they find somebody that has compiled the info but now they have a backup means of getting what they want.
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Old 15-01-2025, 14:18   #5
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Quote:
Originally Posted by koyote View Post
I can probably manually search every chart for every waterway, yeah. I wonder if that's something I can get flat files for and grep....

Anyway- while I probably "should" learn opencpn at some point, I am currently cruising with a Chromebook and don't want to blow $10 for something designed for tablets that might not run once I get int unpacked.
I do run the Linux dev tree, so maybe I'll try something like that in my copious free time.
US navigation chart downloads, including major rivers, are free from the US govt.
Nav charts show vertical and horizontal clearances for all bridges.

OpenCPN is free. I know it will run on Windows, Android and MacOS. If you don’t have a device that runs one of those OSs then you are out of luck.
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Old 15-01-2025, 14:20   #6
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
They are not looking for a list or spreadsheet, they are looking for specific info.
I’m pessimistic about that info being found in a list or spreadsheet and offered a less convenient but free way to get to get that info.

I’m hoping they find somebody that has compiled the info but now they have a backup means of getting what they want.
I would assume that, for example-, a given USACOE district would have a list of bridges, and one could sort by height.

Obviously, I would assume incorrectly, as actually having the data be data would be something the government wouldn't do

I'm looking for specific, but very broad information, not necessarily a single route.

If I *could* search by district, or state, or even waterway, that would be cool. If I use charts- aquamap or WG or whatever- I just have to scroll through everything manually. Which is time consuming but, yes, I'll probably eventually come up with a sort of impression of kind of what might be the lowest bridges clearances for most possible US inland or coastal gunkholing. maybe.
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Old 15-01-2025, 14:30   #7
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adelie View Post
US navigation chart downloads, including major rivers, are free from the US govt.
Nav charts show vertical and horizontal clearances for all bridges.

OpenCPN is free. I know it will run on Windows, Android and MacOS. If you don’t have a device that runs one of those OSs then you are out of luck.
currently the play store lists opencpn as $9.95 for Android.

I understand the only approved answer is and will continue to be to use opencpn because it is the supported software of the forum. I'm totally okay with that. I apologize for asking a question involving the potential for information outside those boundaries.

I am currently searching the opencpn manual for how to sort and search bridges in charts and not finding anything, do you know how to do this?
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Old 15-01-2025, 15:22   #8
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Re: bridge clearances North America

I believe the closest thing will be the Coast Pilots, na?
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Old 15-01-2025, 15:25   #9
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Re: bridge clearances North America

This appears to be what you are looking for: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our-Organiz...de-Clearances/

Click on the link below the text for "Clearance Guide". You have to scroll down a bunch of pages to find the actual clearances.
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Old 15-01-2025, 15:57   #10
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Waterway Guide shows that bridge as Fixed, with a 43.0' clearance. Useful resource. I've always trusted it to be accurate. ymmv
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Old 15-01-2025, 16:13   #11
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Re: bridge clearances North America

ScottieD -

That's an interesting resource - but I'm not sure exactly what it is or how helpful it would be. For instance - there's no listing for the Piankatank (that I could find). Also, the Guide mentions two bridges on the Potomac from the mouth to Haines Point (in DC). One of the bridges is listed as "fixed", with a vertical clearance of 135'. I suppose that is the Harry Nice bridge that carries Rt. 301 over the Potomac. The other bridge is listed as "drawbridge", with a vertical clearance of 10' and 135'. I suppose that is the Wilson Bridge that carries I-495 over the river. However, the Wilson Bridge has a vertical clearance of 70' (or 76' - depending on the source) under the westernmost span. There's no mention of that.
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Old 15-01-2025, 18:53   #12
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Re: bridge clearances North America

My interpretation of the word document: These are guidelines for all bridges on the waterways listed, not that actual heights of every bridge. For example, from the mouth of the Potomac to Haines Point, all fixed bridges should have a clearance of 135' and all drawbridges should have a clearance of 10'.

The information text on the web site states that these are guidelines only, and some bridges may be higher or lower, as you said.

For the OP: I would check against bridge clearances on actual charts, as Adelie has suggested. I do not know of a database of every bridge clearance. You can view the coastal charts on-line for free without installing anything at: https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/...enconline.html but I don't think that includes the inland charts you want.
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Old 15-01-2025, 19:50   #13
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Re: bridge clearances North America

I believe what the National Bridge Inventory has what the OP seeks,at least for road bridges, although as a land-based data service I do not know how trustworthy is the information on navigation values. Doesn't include cable or pipeline crossings or railroad bridges. Nevertheless, the database fields "NAV_VERT_CLR_MT_039" and "NAV_HORR_CLR_MT_040" contain vertical and horizontal navigational values. For the Piankatank River Bridge these are listed at 13 and 24.2 meters, compared with the NOAA ENC viewer which shows 13.1 and 24.3.

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The whole NBI can be downloaded as an Excel file, or in many other formats. There are 623k records, but you can filter the data before download. If you filter on "NAVIGATION_038" = "1" that brings the data set down to 4200 records, if you include all the not zero values it is about 20% of the total. The 4200 list is too big to load here (2.4 MB), so you'll have to grab it yourself.

https://geodata.bts.gov/datasets/usd...417840%2C13.36

Click the "Download" button, then you will be offered all the various options, along with the filter tool which can be used to filter by the "NAV" keys, as well as by location and 127 total fields.
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Old 15-01-2025, 20:18   #14
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Quote:
Originally Posted by koyote View Post
Is there a list, site, or spreadsheet that covers more or less ALL of this? At least the Eastern seaboard and greater Mississippi watershed?

Yes. The USCG Light List is the definitive source of truth for this information on waterways that are currently considered navigable. The light list is updated annually and is available in seven volumes, in print and PDF formats.


https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/light-li...al-publication
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Old 15-01-2025, 20:24   #15
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Re: bridge clearances North America

Accurate, comprehensive information about clearances for inland waterways is devilishly hard to find. In many cases the ACOE charts are the only complete and accurate source of data that has a clearly defined datum for low steel elevation, or clearance from the surface of the water. I have found that there are gaps in PDF charts and electronic charting materials so the (expensive) paper charts are necessary to get the full picture.

Navionics, C-Map, etc., will give you clearances that are within five feet but closer than that you'll be wondering what datum they used, whether that's clearance at the edge or center of the channel, whether that's the old bridge or the new bridge that was built in 2023, etc. The paper charts published by the USGPO for the Upper Mississippi are far better than any other source in their detail, and when accompanied by the data from the more-frequently-updated Light List, will tell you everything you can find out without making measurements yourself.

And yes, I have been found to be walking on bridges while in possession of a 100' tape measure at times.
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