Truckers Assessed $1 Million in Fines Over Weight-Restricted Bridge in R.I.

This story appears in the Oct. 13 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

More than $1 million in fines have been assessed this year in Rhode Island against truckers for crossing the Pawtucket River Bridge on Interstate 95 that has a weight limit of 18 tons, an attorney for the state trucking association said.

The fines on the highway that is the main truck route along the East Coast now are as much as $5,000 per violation, following an increase that was approved in June by the state legislature.

Patrick Quinlan, staff counsel to the Rhode Island Trucking Association, said the weight-restricted bridge can be avoided by using Interstate 295, which bypasses the city of Providence to the north and west.

The 50-year-old bridge over the Seekonk River in Pawtucket, R.I., now used by 162,000 vehicles a day, has been restricted since an inspection found significant erosion in steel girders and damage to concrete parapets in the breakdown lanes. Bridge inspections were stepped up nationwide after the Interstate 35 bridge collapse last year in Minnesota that killed 12 people.

“We are trying to get the word out, but people are still going over the bridge,” said Quinlan. “We have sent letters to carriers in the region telling them that unless there is a local delivery in Pawtucket, take I-295 around Providence.”

The fine is assessed against the carrier. The driver is ticketed for failing to follow the signage. Some drivers may not know that the bridge is restricted if their in-cab navigational systems do not show the weight limit, Quinlan said.

The limit for the Pawtucket River Bridge was reduced to 18 tons from 22 tons and two-axle trucks after a follow-up inspection, and the fines were adjusted at that time. The fine now is a base of $3,000, which includes an additional $125 a ton for each 2,000 pounds above the 18-ton limit.

A new bridge will be built, but construction will take three years or more, he said. The State of Rhode Island has estimated the cost of the replacement bridge at $100 million.

Charles St. Martin, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Transportation, said that two dozen or more signs have been in place since the first restriction was put in place last year.

The signs are both conventional warnings and information that is posted on variable message signs over the highway and major roads that connect with I-95 in the region, he said.

Drivers can exit I-95 just before the Pawtucket River Bridge and use local roads to get back to I-95, Quinlan said, to avoid the fine.

“After the [bridge collapse] in Minnesota, everyone took a much closer look at the inspection reports,” Quinlan said. “That is when they discovered this bridge was an accident waiting to happen.”

The original 22-ton weight restriction was imposed in November last year.

Similar restrictions are in place on a bridge on Rhode Island route 24 near Newport.