CABT: More than 72,000 U.S. bridges can't handle heavier trucks

A study done in coordination with the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) shows that more than 72,000 bridges nationwide would not be able to safely handle heavier truck weights as proposed in a bill introduced in the U.S. House.

H.R. 471, which would increase semitruck weight limits on interstates and National Highway System roads to 91,000 pounds from the current 80,000, was introduced earlier this year, according to a CABT press release.

The study's report was coauthored by county officials responsible for maintaining local bridges. The coauthors evaluated more than 474,000 bridges and found roughly 15% could not handle the higher weight limits. Nearly 90% of bridges rated in poor condition are local, they said.

Replacing those bridges would cost about $61 billion, according to the report.

The top 10 states with the most at-risk bridges are (in order of most at-risk structures) Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, South Carolina, Nebraska, Louisiana, California, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Georgia.

"No truck trip starts and stops on the interstate," said Josh Harvill, a Chambers County, Alabama, engineer who coauthored the report. "Trucks travel on our local roads every day, and proposals to raise weights would compromise additional bridges at a cost of millions to our local taxpayers."

The Association of American Railroads has opposed legislation calling for increases in current truck size and weight limits.

"Congress should not consider changes to federal truck size or weight limitations until the full extent of the impacts of different truck configurations are thoroughly understood, and trucks are paying for the damage they cause to our nation’s roads and bridges," AAR states in its policy position.