Bridges - Load restricted & load posted

FY2023

Number of WSDOT-owned load restricted and load posted bridges decreases

As of June 2023, a total of 133 WSDOT-owned bridges longer than 20 feet were load restricted or load posted, a 1.5% decrease from 135 in June 2022 and a 19.8% increase from 111 in June 2019.

Of the load posted and load restricted bridges as of June 2023, 70 were on the National Highway System. Of these, 67 were load restricted and three were load posted for emergency vehicles. Posting bridges for emergency vehicles follows requirements to perform emergency vehicle load ratings on all bridges on or within one mile of interstate roadways.

WSDOT performs load rating evaluations as part of its bridge inspection program to verify whether bridges can safely carry the weight of traffic. If a load rating evaluation shows a structure cannot safely carry certain loads because of bridge deterioration, damage or because a bridge was designed and built when standard truck weights were lower than they are currently, WSDOT implements weight restrictions to reduce the risk of further damage and to ensure bridges are safe for the traveling public.

When the load carrying capacity of a bridge is low, WSDOT first looks at placing load restrictions on the bridge, which limits or prohibits overload vehicles (also known as permit vehicles) from using the bridge. If a load restriction is insufficient to protect the bridge, WSDOT will place a load posting on the bridge. This limits the allowable weight of trucks to below typical legal weights and requires any trucks over the posted weight limit to take an alternate route. Structural improvements are required to correct load restricted or posted bridges.

WSDOT closes bridges that are beyond the thresholds of being load posted or load restricted. Closed bridges may be reopened after sufficient repairs and strengthening have been completed. Closed bridges are reported as being in poor condition.

Bridges with weight restrictions due to deferred maintenance mean longer trips for trucks delivering goods to stores or raw materials to manufacturers, increased costs to consumers and longer waits for restocking. WSDOT cannot forecast the future status of load-posted or restricted bridges throughout the statewide inventory. However, years of limited preservation funding have required us to defer repairs, incur more expensive repairs or reconstruction in the future, and extend assets beyond their useful service life. These actions negatively affect structural capacity, which will result in load postings and restrictions.

FY2022

Number of WSDOT-owned load restricted and load posted bridges increase

As of June 2022, a total of 135 WSDOT-owned bridges longer than 20 feet were load restricted or load posted, a slight increase from 131 in June 2021 and a 12.5% increase from 120 in June 2018.

Of the load posted and load restricted bridges as of June 2022, 104 were on the National Highway System. Of these, 71 were load restricted and 33 were load posted for emergency vehicles. Posting bridges for emergency vehicles follows requirements to perform emergency vehicle load ratings on all bridges on or within one mile of interstate roadways.

As part of the bridge inspection program, WSDOT performs load rating evaluations to verify whether bridges can safely carry the weight of traffic. If a load rating evaluation shows a structure cannot safely carry certain loads because of bridge deterioration, damage or because a bridge was designed and built when standard truck weights were lower than they are now, WSDOT implements weight restrictions to reduce the risk of further damage and to ensure bridges are safe for the traveling public.

When the load carrying capacity of a bridge is low, WSDOT first looks at placing load restrictions on the bridge, which limits or prohibits overload vehicles (also known as permit vehicles) from using the bridge. If a load restriction is not sufficient to protect the bridge, WSDOT will then place a load posting on the bridge. This limits the allowable weight of trucks to below typical legal weights and requires any trucks over the posted weight limit to take an alternate route. Structural improvements are required to correct load restricted or posted bridges.

WSDOT closes bridges that are beyond the thresholds of being load posted or load restricted. Closed bridges may be reopened after sufficient repairs and strengthening have been completed. Closed bridges are reported as being in poor condition.

FY2021

WSDOT-owned load restricted and load posted bridges increase

As of June 2021, a total of 131 WSDOT-owned bridges longer than 20 feet were load restricted or load posted, a slight increase from 130 in June 2020 and a 10% increase from 119 in June 2017.

Of the 131 load posted and load restricted bridges as of June 2021, 101 were on the National Highway System. Of these, 69 were load restricted, two were load posted for legal loads and 30 were load posted for emergency vehicles. Posting bridges for emergency vehicles follows requirements to perform emergency vehicle load ratings on all bridges on or within one mile of interstate roadways.

As part of the bridge inspection program, WSDOT performs load rating evaluations to verify whether bridges can safely carry the weight of traffic. If a load rating evaluation result shows a structure cannot safely carry certain loads because of bridge deterioration, damage or because a bridge was designed and built when standard truck weights were lower than they are now, WSDOT implements weight restrictions to reduce the risk of further damage and to ensure bridges are safe for the traveling public.

When the load carrying capacity of a bridge is low, WSDOT first looks at placing load restrictions on the bridge, which limits or prohibits overload vehicles (also known as permit vehicles) from using the bridge.

If a load restriction is not sufficient to protect the bridge, WSDOT will then place a load posting on the bridge. This limits the allowable weight of trucks to below typical legal weights and requires any trucks over the posted weight limit to take an alternate route. Structural improvements are required to correct load restricted or posted bridges.

WSDOT closes bridges that are beyond the thresholds of being load posted or load restricted. Closed bridges may be reopened after sufficient repairs and strengthening have been completed. Closed bridges are reported as being in poor condition.

FY2020

Washington sees increase in load restricted and load posted bridges in FY2020

As of June 2020, a total of 130 WSDOT-owned bridges longer than 20 feet were load restricted or load posted, a 17% increase from 111 in June 2019 and a 3% increase from 126 in June 2016. Approximately 46% (60) of these bridges were over 80 years old, 50% (65) were on the National Highway System and 32% (42 bridges) were on a T-1 or T-2 freight corridor.

There were 551 locally owned bridges in Washington that were load posted or restricted as of June 2020 (of which 20 were on the NHS), a 30% increase from 419 in June 2019. This was also a 6,787% increase from eight locally owned load posted or load restricted bridges in June 2016; this large increase was primarily due to a change in the federal regulations that govern load ratings.

As part of the bridge inspection program, WSDOT performs load rating evaluations to verify whether bridges can safely carry the weight of traffic. If a load rating evaluation result shows a structure cannot safely carry certain loads because of bridge deterioration, damage or because a bridge was designed and built when standard truck weights were lower than they are now, WSDOT implements weight restrictions to reduce the risk of further damage and to ensure bridges are safe for the traveling public.

When the load carrying capacity of a bridge is low, WSDOT first looks at placing load restrictions on the bridge, which limits or prohibits overload vehicles (also known as permit vehicles) from using the bridge.

If a load restriction is not sufficient to protect the bridge, WSDOT will then place a load posting on the bridge. This limits the allowable weight of trucks to below typical legal weights and requires any trucks over the posted weight limit to take an alternate route. Structural improvements are required to correct load restricted or posted bridges.

WSDOT closes bridges that are beyond the thresholds of being load posted or load restricted. Closed bridges may be reopened after sufficient repairs and strengthening have been completed. Closed bridges are reported as being in poor condition.

FY2019

WSDOT sees decrease in state-owned load restricted and load posted bridges

A total of 111 WSDOT-owned bridges longer than 20 feet were load restricted or posted at the end of FY2019, down from 120 in FY2018. Nearly half (53) of WSDOT's load posted or restricted bridges are on the National Highway System, and 28% (25) were considered to be in poor condition in FY2018.

There were 419 locally owned bridges in Washington that were load posted or restricted in FY2019 (of which 12 were on the NHS), an increase from 322 in FY2018. It is illegal for overloaded trucks to use load restricted bridges. Load posted bridges limit the allowable weight of trucks to below typical legal weights.

As part of the bridge inspection program, WSDOT performs load rating evaluations to verify whether bridges can safely carry the weight of traffic. If a load rating evaluation result shows a structure cannot safely carry certain loads because of bridge deterioration, damage or because a bridge was designed and built when standard truck weights were lower than they are now, WSDOT implements weight restrictions to reduce the risk of further damage and to ensure bridges are safe for the traveling public.

When the load carrying capacity of a bridge is low, WSDOT first looks at placing load restrictions on the bridge, which limits or prohibits overload vehicles (also known as permit vehicles) from using the bridge.

If a load restriction is not sufficient to protect the bridge, WSDOT will then place a load posting on the bridge. This limits the allowable weight of trucks to below typical legal weights and requires any trucks over the posted weight limit to take an alternate route. Structural improvements are required to correct load restricted or posted bridges.

WSDOT closes bridges that are beyond the thresholds of being load posted or load restricted. Closed bridges may be reopened after sufficient repairs and strengthening have been completed. Closed bridges are reported as being in poor condition.