Low Bridge Map — United Arab Emirates

How to read this data

Every point on this map comes from open map data, where a height restriction is recorded against the road, the bridge or the barrier it applies to. We rebuild our copy of United Arab Emirates once a week, so a clearance corrected on Monday is here by the following weekend. The table lists the 100 lowest restrictions in the country; the map shows every one of them.

Of the 1,945 restrictions in United Arab Emirates, 93 carry no height at all. That does not mean the road is clear. It means somebody recorded that a limit exists without recording the number — an unsigned height barrier, a sign nobody has read closely, or a tag that says only "lower than the usual limit". Treat those as unknown obstacles, not as open road. The rest break down as 156 under 2.5 m, 64 between 2.5 and 3.2 m, 11 between 3.2 and 4.0 m, and 1,621 above 4.0 m, with a median stated clearance of 5.50 m.

Coverage is uneven, and honestly so

This data is surveyed by people, and people survey what they drive. Motorways and trunk roads in United Arab Emirates are close to complete; farm tracks, private yards and small village underpasses are not. Dubay alone accounts for 1,456 of the country's restrictions, which says as much about who maps there as about where the low bridges are. A road with no marker on this map has probably never been surveyed for clearance — it is not a guarantee of headroom.

How tall is your vehicle

Measure yours rather than trusting the brochure: an air conditioner, a solar panel or a roof rack routinely adds 20 cm to a figure that was measured empty, and a loaded suspension does not give it back. Write the number on a sticker on the dashboard — it is the only figure that matters at the moment you are looking at a bridge and a queue of traffic behind you.

Before you drive

Restrictions cluster where old railways cross old roads, and those are exactly the routes a satnav picks to avoid a motorway toll. If your vehicle is over 3 m, plan the route before you start rather than trusting the shortest line on a phone screen.