PROVIDENCE – For years, the maximum weight allowed per vehicle crossing the 6,000-foot-long Mount Hope Bridge was 40 tons, or 80,000 pounds.
But updated federal guidelines have led the R.I. Turnpike and Bridge Authority to announce Thursday that the weight limit has been cut by 25% to 30 tons – a development that a local trucking industry official said caught some by surprise and will likely affect freight transportation to and from Aquidneck Island.
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RITBA said the change is unrelated to any bridge maintenance or the upcoming cable and anchorage dehumidification project for which the state was awarded $10 million as part of the federal omnibus package approved by Congress earlier this month. The modification is due primarily to changes in the rating manual used by the Federal Highway Administration and because of the bridge’s original design, specifically the outside girders that were reinforced with steel plates 50 years ago.
Opened in 1929 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the two-lane wire cable suspension bridge carries approximately 15,000 vehicles daily between Bristol and Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, according to RITBA.
Congress enacted the Bridge Formula in 1975 “to limit the weight-to-length ratio of a vehicle crossing a bridge,” according to the USFHA website. A request for comment from the administration’s Providence office was not immediately returned.
The turnpike authority is “coordinating with [R.I. Department of Transportation] bridge and traffic engineers to identify and communicate detour routes for impacted drivers” and conducting “outreach to the municipalities and commercial enterprises affected by the new restrictions to ensure that emergency vehicles and freight carriers are aware of the new weight limit posting,” according to the announcement.
Chris Maxwell, CEO and president of the Warwick-based Rhode Island Trucking Association, said the industry was caught off guard by the swiftness of the changes, which he said will “put a crimp” in the local and regional supply chain, especially the transport of goods to Aquidneck Island.
“Eighty thousand has been the long-standing standard. And almost overnight our trucking industry and small businesses that move freight over Mount Hope [Bridge] have lost 20,000 pounds of production,” he said. “It came out of the blue.”
Maxwell praised the communication efforts by RITBA officials who must comply with federal regulations. But he was critical of the announcement’s timing and lack of opportunity for commercial freight carriers to prepare for logistical changes.
“This is going to have major impacts on freight movement,” he said. “This could mean more trucks. And more trucks mean more drivers needed.”
RITBA Executive Director Lori Silveira said the most recent updates to the federal guidelines required the change.
“It is our obligation to do load rating analysis and we take this very seriously,” she said. “It is meant to make certain that the bridge is safe.”
State transportation agencies will be monitoring the rule change’s effect on freight movement.
Silveira said she was sympathetic to any additional burden on the commercial sector.
“It remains to be seen what the impact of the reduction is going to be,” she said. “We understand that this may have an impact on how freight moves. We certainly appreciate that. And we’ll have to take a look at what the results are.”
Maxwell said the organization is still gathering information on the scope of the impacts to commercial trucking outfits. It is common for semi-trailer commercial trucks to exceed 40 tons in weight, he said. Many will now have to seek alternative routes to reach Portsmouth, Middletown and Newport.
“We are certainly going to look into it to make sure it is justified,” he said. “They have changed the rules on engagement, so to speak. It would have been nice to have a little more time to make these logistical adjustments.”
(UPDATE adds paragraphs 11-15 with comments from RITBA Executive Director Lori Silveira.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
