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Shire To Get Tough On Bridge OverloadingEast Gippsland Shire is to get tough with truck drivers exceeding the posted load limits on bridges following a number of recent reports. By East Gippsland Shire Council - 28th August 2006 - Back to News Shire manager assets Gordon Charles said load limits signs are obvious, posted on the approaches to bridges and were there for good reason.
"We have a growing number of reports about trucks with a load in excess of the limits using these bridges," he said.
"Penalties apply for doing this and will be enforced."
Mr Charles said a load limit placed on any bridge directly reflected the state of the structure and to ignore it was to do so at great risk to the driver and his vehicle.
"When a load limit is imposed it is to protect the structure until it is upgraded and to ensure the safety of users," he said.
"It also follows a process that involves an engineering report that advises on the condition of the bridge."
Mr Charles said that Council had an extensive program in place to strengthen or replace bridges.
"We have 214 road bridges within the shire and of these 110 are timber, 38 timber and steel and 30 currently have load limits in place," he said
"Bridge maintenance and replacement is a major activity for us and accounts for a large slice of our annual budget."
Mr Charles said that Council appreciated that inconvenience can be caused but stressed that drivers were responsible for ensuring their vehicle did not exceed posted load limits.
"Drivers can apply for a permit to exceed load limits for once off occasions," he said
"Each application will be considered on its merits and against the state of the bridge or bridges in question."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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