Weights and bridges

[fxdwg]

So in our travels, I've now been paying more attention to bridge restrictions and such. What do you guys do when you are trying to plan out a route? I've got a motor carrier's road atlas, but it doesn't seem to list restricted bridges- or at least I can't figure out that it does. I see the "restricted roads" section in the front of the book, but nothing for each state map. I run a 2 lane road in the hills of Arkansas routinely, have noticed an 18T (3 axle) bridge restriction on one bridge, but don't see any acknowledgement in the atlas. What's up with that?????? Am I just reading the restrictions wrong or the atlas wrong? The atlas "colors" the road as a "designated route".

tia!

[iamflagman]

Originally Posted by fxdwg

So in our travels, I've now been paying more attention to bridge restrictions and such. What do you guys do when you are trying to plan out a route? I've got a motor carrier's road atlas, but it doesn't seem to list restricted bridges- or at least I can't figure out that it does. I see the "restricted roads" section in the front of the book, but nothing for each state map. I run a 2 lane road in the hills of Arkansas routinely, have noticed an 18T (3 axle) bridge restriction on one bridge, but don't see any acknowledgement in the atlas. What's up with that?????? Am I just reading the restrictions wrong or the atlas wrong? The atlas "colors" the road as a "designated route".

tia!

It has been my experience from my past LIFE of escorting heavy and oversized loads around the country for over 30 years, that the posted weights on structures (Bridges and Overpasses), always take precedent over any map. http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/finn..._cars&page=all But I have also moved loads similar to this one, http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/14574533 to the NUCOR steel plant near Blytheville, Arkansas over some of the back roads in eastern Arkansas, that made me shudder as we crossed weight restricted structures that the State of Arkansas routed us over by special permit, when we crossed those structures though, we were normally restricted to a 20 mph, or what they refer to as walking speed for some of them, plus we had to CENTERLINE the structure too, meaning that we had to move the load across the structure placing it in the center of the two lanes, plus it could only be on that structure by itself.

There is one of these structures located on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, that a lot of you have crossed in your 'Bird, that required us to do that, it is the long bridge crossing Douglas Lake located west of Newport, TN just past the rest area and about one mile east of exit #424, since it is so long it required the escorts to slow the following traffic down significantly in order to allow the heavy load to completely cross the structure by itself, this was made easier by asking a couple of big trucks to get behind the escorts and help slow down the traffic, they usually were very happy to help, after we informed them of the weight of the load that we were escorting and they didn't want to cross with it.

The Rand McNally Motor Carrier's Atlas is a good tool to use;
http://store.randmcnally.com/product...+road+atlas.do

If you read it closely you will find a statement declaring that the STATE routes that they show as truck routes come from each individual state and are subject to change. I have a very old copy dated 1994, but in small print it states designated TRUCK routes are from 1988, so the current map may not be as acurate as you may think. This disclaimer is located on my Motor Carries Atlas, at the bottom of the State and City Maps list. I use it mainly as a suggested route guide.

Here is a list of all of the States DOT websites and phone numbers http://www.bts.gov/publications/stat...ppendix_02.xls

Usually you can find a current map on most of the individual state DOT websites that will give you more acurate weight limits for structures, although you may have to search through the website to find it. Here is the one that I found for Arkansas;
http://www.arkansashighways.com/Maps...strictions.htm

I'm not going to tell you how to deal with a weight restricted structure that you may come upon, but here is how I have handled that situation in my travels. First thing is I already know how much each axle weighs on my 'Bird, if you don't have that information you need to find that out, by reading Wanderlodge Owners Group > Links, Files, Database and Downloads > LinksTires and Wheels and Weighing Your 'BirdHOW TO WEIGH YOUR BIRD.pdf

As I approach the weight restricted structure, I stop and pull to the side SAFELY if I can and look at the weight on the bridge listed per axle, then I look at the length of the structure and quickly estimate which axles will be on the structure at the same time, usually these weight restricted structures are marked well in advance but not always and they are usually two lanes, meaning the posted weigh is for each lane if two trucks can fit on it at the same time while passing in opposite directions, so in effect the weight is doubled if only one vehicle is crossing in the centerline of the bridge, unless it is marked otherwise. They are also usually very short and with the long wheelbase of my 'Bird, I normally will not have the complete 'Bird on the structure at one time, then if I think that it is safe I head to the centerline of the structure and cross it. I have a lot of experience doing this for many years and I can usually accomplish it while just slowing down and not stopping, but the old eye site is not as good as it used to be, so I usually now days slow down even more and if I need to I will stop.

I usually run mostly roads other than the Interstate and I have only had this happen twice. I'm not advocating anybody do it the way that I do, but I have never crossed a structure where I was concerned with my axle weights. If I were to come upon one that I felt was too risky, I personally would practice my backing up skills to where I could turn around, but I have never had that happen.......YET!!

There are some very good, but expensive GPS software items that you can place on your laptop, that give much more details than a GARMIN, or a DeLorme GPS, check out; http://www.dieselboss.com/Travrout/cptruck.htm

Even these systems have to be constantly updated to be acurate. Last of all................DON'T ASK WOODY HOW HE HANDLES WEIGHT RESTRICTED STRUCTURES

Good luck in your travels.

[Dieselbird01]

Originally Posted by iamflagman

It has been my experience from my past LIFE of escorting heavy and oversized loads around the country for over 30 years, that the posted weights on structures (Bridges and Overpasses), always take precedent over any map.
http://hometown.aol.com/iamflagman/page1.html

But I have also moved loads similar to this one, http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/14574533 to the NUCOR steel plant near Blytheville, Arkansas over some of the back roads in eastern Arkansas........

Hi John,

Did you happen to ever escort a truck like this from Milacron, Inc. in Afton, Ohio? (used to be called Cincinnati Milacron, PMD) They used to ship some heavy parts for the big Plastic Injection machines out on a truck like this. Those trucks really were something to see! I’m glad Blue Birds don’t have that many tires!

[iamflagman]

Originally Posted by Dieselbird01

Hi John,

Did you happen to ever escort a truck like this from Milacron, Inc. in Afton, Ohio? (used to be called Cincinnati Milacron, PMD) They used to ship some heavy parts for the big Plastic Injection machines out on a truck like this. Those trucks really were something to see! I’m glad Blue Birds don’t have that many tires!

I can't recall aver moving anything from there, but I may have and just not remember.

[fxdwg]

John,
The 2 lanes in western Arkansas typically have the weight signs at (they may actually be attached to the side rail ends) the bridges! That's what started me wondering, seeing a sign indicating a 2 axle truck was limited to 18t and a 3 axle limited to 21t. I'm speaking specifically of Highway 270, which is the main route into Hot Springs from the west. The MiL (mother in law) lives 45 mi west of Hot Springs, so the "weight unrestricted" route would be about 40 miles longer. At midnight, that makes some difference! On top of that, that route has some pretty sharp curves around some hillsides! The logging trucks run it all the time, but they tend to run in daylight. I'm sure I've seen an 18 wheeler running 270, but can't remember enough to be certain. So thats why the question came up. Shoulders are nonexistant; and turning around would be a 40 point exercise in futility! I just did it this weekend in my 3/4t p/u, and that was no fun, much less 42 big-uns! I'm thinking about traveling roads I don't know so well, and what to do in those situations.
Thanks for the advice and sites. I'm getting the bird weighed next week, though I don't think I'll be able to get each wheel done. At least I'll have axle weights.

[iamflagman]

Originally Posted by fxdwg

....................I only travel with about a 1/4 tank of fresh. Otherwise I'm carrying almost 800# of water; which is that much less dog food! We currently travel with three, so it is a consideration. Because of the travels we'd like to do, I'm now constantly looking at bridge capacities and my bus weight. Anything I can do to reduce weight is a plus. Ft Campbell has their RV park on the other side of a "9 ton" marked wooden bridge! When I asked about it before we got there, I was told "that's to keep most of the tanks off"! The first time across, I'm sure the pucker factor had reduced the weight sufficiently. Having to stop while the wife got a picture didn't help any!

John,

I'm using a quote of yours from another thread as a reference, to point out some things to everybody about weight limits on bridges, because eventually we will probably encounter one if it hasn't happened already.

A warning sign notifying you of a restricted weight limit on a bridge is SUPPOSED to be posted on the road approaching the bridge, far enough ahead so that you can take evasive action, but in my experience I have found that this is not always the case, the sign should look like this.



when you approach the restricted weight bridge, they can be posted in different ways, the most common are first a TOTAL VEHICLE weight limit for the entire bridge, it will look something like this one that says the total weight on the bridge for any vehicle is 10 TONS



Another of the common weight limit signs is this one that denotes how much weight of a given vehicle with different AXLE CONFIGURATIONS.


If there is a sign that restricts the bridge to ONLY ONE VEHICLE ALLOWED ON BRIDE, that USUALLY indicates that the posted weight that the bridge will safely handle is the weight(s) posted on the sign at the bridge itself. Sometimes there is a sign similar to this posted at the bridge.




Otherwise the weight signs posted are for each of the lanes on the bridge, in other words let's say on a two lane bridge, if the weight limit per axle for a FC or SP model 'Bird with two axles is restricted to 20 Ton (40,000#) that would mean that another FC or SP model 'Bird weighing 20 Ton or less could safely pass you on the bridge at the same time, going in the opposite direction.

Here is what I have done when I encounter a weight restricted bridge and I couldn't turn around or back up, I waited until it was safe to do so and then I positioned my 'Bird and trailer in the center of the road and then drove slowly across the center of the two lanes on the bridge, by myself.

In the case of my trailer, I treat that as a separate vehicle when it come to weight, as only the tongue weight of the trailer affects the weight of my 'Bird.

I want to again stress the importance of knowing what the actual weight of your 'Bird is and you can find out how to properly do that by going to
Wanderlodge Owners Group > Links, Files, Database and Downloads > LinksTires and Wheels and Weighing Your 'Bird > HOW TO WEIGH YOUR BIRD.pdf

Disclaimer; All of this may be different in the Republic of California

[gcyeaw]

Been there, done that.

[fxdwg]

The 9 ton bridge (which was about 30' long), had signs posted at each end! Fortunately, there was enough room to turn around at each end- even for my bus. That's good info about the 2 vehicles on a bridge, as we routinely cross an 18T 3 axle limit bridge running through Arkansas and I'd always wondered about the numerous 18 wheelers I'd seen running the road. That explains how they cross it. I doubt they slow down or run in the middle, though!

[Lee Davis]

I bet you guys wish at times like that you had one of these lightweight BMCs

[fxdwg]

I'd consider a BMC, but I hear they have lots of AquaHot problems. Something about the tank leaking all the time!