Ban restricts truckers

[Cybergal]

Ban restricts truckers
3/19/08
Meridian Booster, Canada

Saskatchewan truckers and shippers are being reminded to lighten their loads with spring thaw softening up land and roadways in the province.

The southwest area of the province will be under spring road bans for six weeks. The spring bans will sweep northwest across the province as temperatures increase, and are aimed at minimizing damage to secondary highways and municipal roads.

“In springtime, many roads are vulnerable to soft spots and surface cracks as the frost comes out of the roadbed,” said Wayne Elhard, Saskatchewan highways and infrastructure minister. “Spring road bans are a tool that the province and rural municipalities have used for decades to mitigate damage to infrastructure during this sensitive period.”

fctAdTag('bigbox',MyGenericTagVar,1);

The spring bans are used in areas that are in their most fragile periods of spring thaw, and coincide with the winter weight season coming to an end, which ended at midnight on March 14.

During the winter trucks can carry heavier loads because the ground is frozen more solidly, but must bring their weights back down throughout the rest of the year. With the spring ban also in effect, drivers must reduce their truck’s weights by an additional 10 to 15 per cent. The spring bans do not apply to primary weight highways with structural pavement.
A map of all roads and bans in place can be viewed on the ministry of highways and infrastructure’s web site.

http://www.meridianbooster.com/News/385631.html