Road Overbridges of Car Lift Type for Crossing Railway Tracks in Densely Built-Up Areas of Modern Cities

The theoretical prerequisites for construction of road overbridges of car lift type for crossing railways by automotive vehicles are suggested. A technical solution has been proposed that makes it possible to ensure the crossing by cars of «problem» railway crossings during periods of their long-term closure for road traffic. The same solution can be used to organise a road overbridge in other locations where there is no railway crossing. The technical solution itself is based on the use of overhead road overpasses and is a «simplified» version of the solution implemented by Elon Musk and his company in Los Angeles based on a tunnel, moving platforms and freight elevators. For development of car lift type road overbridges, computational methods of theoretical mechanics, technical diagnostics and monitoring, as well as the theory of queuing should be used to estimate the number of cars passed through it when crossings are closed. It is proposed that the structures of the overbridge should be «built-in» into the landscape, equipped with alternative sources of energy supply and technical means of control, diagnostics and monitoring of rolling stock and of location of direct intersection of automobile and railway roads (an intelligent monitoring zone). The proposed promising technical solution in the form of a road overbridge makes it possible to increase comfort of road transportation and improve traffic safety at level crossings.