Trucker Fined, 51,000 lb Truck Goes Over 3 Ton Bridge

A few years back there was a serious truck accident on I-10 west of Las Cruces that had the eastbound lanes shut down between the Akela flats exit and the exit before the truck parking area opposite the border patrol checkpoint. The DOT had to shut down the old back road (NM549, old US80) because trucks were bypassing the accident using that road and it goes over an old bridge that passes above the UP railroad tracks that's a mere 17 feet wide and is rated for 10 tons.

 

One thing when You deliver freight from warehouse/plant to warehouse/yard.Travelling mostly on interstaes/sr/cr,using company provided routes:use this knowledge on a daily basis.

I do HHG delivery/p-up:from storages to customers houses,going places like Downtowns in any city,Beverly Hills 90210,rural areas.
Not all those roads designed for 80,000lb/53'.

Last week in Maryland i made a turn into 6,000lb limit road,no way to turn for a few miles......
Bridges in DC area way below my limit and no way to take another road/check it before(not listed ).

Most of the times its only few minutes from the customer,shipping papers are helpfull,but all depends on a cop if they stop.

 

When I was 17 years old I got a job working for the Ontario government building camping spots in the wilderness of northern Ontario. They would load us up in these big troop carriers type trucks and drive us out to these remote locations. The bridges were something else. Just a couple of huge squared timbers laid across the stream or whatever we were crossing. The rest of the guys thought I was quite a wuss as I refused to stay in the truck as they crossed over. The bosses comment that they haven't lost too many, just a few somehow didnot give me a lot of confidence in these timber bridges

 

Same thing can be said for local no truck routes.. Many times I have came up to a sign that said no trucks with absolutely no where to turn around.. No warning at all ahead of time neither.. would only make sense for a notice ahead of time so trucks can have the opportunity to turn around.


I as well have been over a few bridges I should not have been on. mostly small country bridges.. Farmers do it all the time with grain trucks so I figure my truck should be able with no problem.. We know farmers don't overload the trucks lol..

 

There is a restricted weight bridge on US 84 in Repton, AL. There's even a sign to warn you that it's ahead... but that's all it says. You are informed of the 33 ton limit exactly 1 foot before the bridge! There are no alternate routes around the bridge that would be excessively out of the way.

Just west of Repton in Perdue Hill, is the Alabama River Paper company. I don't think I need to tell you that 99.999 percent of all loaded trucks coming from or going to that mill are WELL over 33 tons. If the bridge was in that bad of condition, I'm sure the DOT would be stopping the 88,000 lb log trucks and making them turn around. Or the scrap paper trucks from Andalusia that regularly tip the scales a tad over 80K.

This one appears to be a revenue maker for the town of Repton.

As for myself, if a truck is coming the other way, I slow down to make sure both of us are not on the bridge at the same time. Ya never know.