Wildlife overpasses

[IgorEliezer]

It's a bit old but still worth sharing.

"Wildlife overpasses, green bridges, and ecoducts all refer to structures that have been built over roads to allow wildlife to cross safely to the other side of the road. The bridges are for the animals; the animals walk over the road, and the vehicles go through the structure. Most of the structures are between 10 m (30 ft) and 60 m (180 ft) wide. They typically have soil, litter, and vegetation on top to provide suitable habitat for a range of different species and species groups. The larger structures are typically intended for large mammals ranging from ungulates (e.g. deer, elk, moose) to large carnivores (e.g. black bear, grizzly bear, Canada lynx, wolverine, wolf)."


Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada



Ecoduct De Woeste Hoeve over the highway A50, Netherlands



Wildlife overpass near Keechelus Lake, Washington, USA

Originally from: http://www.marcelhuijserphotography.com/wildlifeoverpasses (EN)
Blog post: http://alizul2.blogspot.com.br/2012/07/unusual-bridges-for-animals-wildlife.html (EN)
Blog post: http://arquiteturasustentavel.org/pontes-vivas-para-a-passagem-de-animais/ (PT)

[Sarlock]

There are many such overpasses in Banff National Park.  The Coquihalla Highway, not far from where I live, has many underpasses for wildlife.

Critter crossings are a regular part of roadbuilding projects

You don't want to hit one of these at 100 km/h:

[prissi]

In germany they have built lots and lots. But one (actually two) beat them all: They are built for bats (no joke, they built two of those!)

[IgorEliezer]

You don't want to hit one of these at 100 km/h:

Let me tell a story, a true one:

Once my college bus hit a cow that escaped a pen at 80 km/h in a state road, past 6:30PM. I wasn't in the bus that day.

In the next day, I heard about the accident. And then, the following day, I asked my bus driver:

-- "Is it true we'll have a barbecue next weekend?"
-- "Uh? Not that I know of."
-- "I heard someone killed a cow..."^^

Okay, I'm a bad person. D:

[Ters]

Let me tell a story, a true one:

Once my college bus hit a cow that escaped a pen at 80 km/h in a state road, past 6:30PM. I wasn't in the bus that day.

In the next day, I heard about the accident. And then, the following day, I asked my bus driver:

-- "Is it true we'll have a barbecue next weekend?"
-- "Uh? Not that I know of."
-- "I heard someone killed a cow..."^^

Okay, I'm a bad person. D:

I guess the bus was rather small and flimsy, since it was a barbecue and not a stew.

[IgorEliezer]

I guess the bus was rather small and flimsy, since it was a barbecue and not a stew.

I get it... but it was a 40-pax bus.

[Ters]

I've seen pictures of trains that have smashed through what Europeans call elk and Americans call moose (or maybe it was a reindeer). The animal hadn't left much visible trace on the front of the train, but what it had eaten on the other hand was all over the front and sides.

As for reindeer and transportation, reindeer owners have a dispute with the government agency owning the railroad network in Norway as the latter refuses to build fences along their tracks in the (relatively) remote regions where reindeer are. Further south and in the valleys, fences are normal along railroads, but they were likely set up with children and cattle in mind. Long legged animals easily walk over them, especially when there is more than a little show. Unless they are scared by trains, then they prefer running along the tracks, especially when there is snow on the ground. Major roads have started getting more proper fences, with wildlife overpasses.

[Fabio]

In northern Italy we had a huge increase of wild boars and deer even near major cities. A few wild boars were spotted in a urban tunnel downtown Turin. Motorways are properly fence but accidents with wildlife are rather common on national and local roads, with seizable damage for the vehicles involved. I had myself an accident with a wild boar on a country road destroying the bumper of my car less than a year ago.

[sdog]

In northern Italy we had a huge increase of wild boars and deer even near major cities. A few wild boars were spotted in a urban tunnel downtown Turin. Motorways are properly fence but accidents with wildlife are rather common on national and local roads, with seizable damage for the vehicles involved. I had myself an accident with a wild boar on a country road destroying the bumper of my car less than a year ago.

"In central Italy, their [boar] weight usually ranges from 80 to 100 kg (180 to 220 lb) while boars shot in Tuscany have been recorded to weigh up to 150 kg (331 lb)."

you've been lucky there was only a bit of damage to the bumper.

too bad one can't eat those during most parts of the season...


@Ters:
Is it true some Norwegian locomotives have a locked cabinet with a hunting riffle, for a coup de grace when Elk are only injured and not killed in an accident? German wikipedia claims that, but it is not sourced and sounds too much like an urban legend.

[Ters]

I had myself an accident with a wild boar on a country road destroying the bumper of my car less than a year ago.

That's what bumpers are for. In Norway, it's usually the front windscreen, and sometimes also the rear windscreen, that gets destroyed by the animals. (You can fill in the blanks.)

@Ters:
Is it true some Norwegian locomotives have a locked cabinet with a hunting riffle, for a coup de grace when Elk are only injured and not killed in an accident? German wikipedia claims that, but it is not sourced and sounds too much like an urban legend.

According to a couple of posts from 2010 on a Norwegian railway/train (with a hint of busses, planes and ships) enthusiast forum frequented by people working on or with such things, it was once commonplace to have weapons on trains (doesn't say if it's the conductor or driver), apparently unlocked. As weapon regulations have been tightened (in general), requiring weapons to be locked in a cabinet when not in use, as well as other things, weapons on trains have become rare. But it apparently still happened. The one who posted this information did however point out that the weapons wasn't of much use, as unlike a car, which sometimes get more damage from the elk/moose than the other way around, a train does a good job of destroying the animal. Trains also take so long to stop, that the driver would rather not have to walk back several hundred meters, possibly in deep snow, to finish off any surviving animal. Better to let the municipal agency responsible for regulating hunting and finishing off injured animals do the job. (I don't know how normal that is, that every municipality has a group of hunters who are on call to track down and kill animals injured in traffic incidents, as well as other injured or sometimes just bothersome animals.)

[Sarlock]

That's what bumpers are for. In Norway, it's usually the front windscreen, and sometimes also the rear windscreen, that gets destroyed by the animals. (You can fill in the blanks.)

Indeed.

"On average, an adult moose stands 1.4–2.1 m (4.6–6.9 ft) high at the shoulder, which is more than a foot higher than the next largest deer on average, the Elk.[57] Males (or "bulls") weigh 380–700 kg (840–1,500 lb) and females (or "cows") typically weigh 200–360 kg (440–790 lb)."

What happens is when you hit one, you knock out its legs and the 500kg body comes through your windshield.