New Weight Restrictions Coming to 1,000 Pennsylvania Bridges

PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch has authorized his department to add or increase weight restrictions to about 1,000 structurally deficient (SD) bridges statewide to ensure bridge safety and preserve our aging bridge system.

PennDOT must take this step because of legislative inaction this past June on transportation funding, leaving the department’s future resources in question.

Reducing the weight traveling on these bridges will slow down their deterioration and preserve safety while funding for their repairs remains uncertain.

As PennDOT has regulatory oversight over all bridges in the state, Schoch’s authorization applies weight restrictions to 530 state-owned and about 470 locally owned bridges. In an effort to maintain safety for all motorists, a change in PennDOT’s weight-restriction criteria must be implemented for all bridges, regardless of owner. Pennsylvania currently has 567 state bridges and 1,685 local bridges posted with weight restrictions.

National bridge weight-limit posting criteria allow restrictions to be applied anywhere from when a bridge’s ability to handle more than 80,000 pounds begins to decline, down to when a bridge has lost half of this ability.

Pennsylvania currently leads the nation in the number of SD bridges with 4,479. Pennsylvania ranks 35th in the nation with the percent of SD bridges that are posted or closed – after these new restrictions are put in place, Pennsylvania will rank 27th in the nation.

“In the past we’ve been able to hold off on restricting bridges, but now we have to be more conservative,” Schoch said. “We have some of the oldest bridges in the nation and many of them need major repairs.”

“We have a serious funding need and the legislature still has not acted to pass a comprehensive transportation plan. I have to look ahead to the future and preserve these bridges because, without action, we will not have money to invest in them for a long time.”

Even if the legislature passes a transportation funding plan in the fall, the earliest the weight restrictions could be removed would be when their repairs can be programmed for funding within two years. If conditions warrant, the restrictions could remain in place until repairs are made.

Category: General Update