Spokane County is reviewing 155
bridges in the road network and at this point we have completed the evaluationof 53 of them. As a result of the review process, 6 bridges are currently
weight-restricted – and another 9 will soon have load limits posted.
The current schedule is to completethis review by June of 2020, and it is expected that additional bridges will
require weight restrictions/load limits. These bridges are safe for mostvehicles and trucks…however, Specialized Hauling Vehicles (SHVs), freight
traffic, snow plows, garbage trucks, rock product delivery trucks, concretetrucks, grain/fertilizer trucks, and school buses that exceed the posted weight
limits should use alternate routes.
In a parallel effort, SpokaneCounty engineers are reviewing the newly weight-restricted bridges to determine
if strengthening can be performed or if replacement is required for therestrictions to be removed. This effort will prioritize the restrictions
with the highest impact first. A list of the 9 soon-to-be restrictedbridges is included and two maps are attached. The information and detour
maps are available at www.spokanecounty.org/publicworksunder Bridge Design Projects, Proposed Bridge Load Limits.
To comment, please send an email to
Bridge Program Manager Neil Carroll at [email protected].
Background:
In November of 2013, the FederalHighway Administration (FHWA) issued a memorandum directing bridge owners to
load-rate their inventory of bridges for Specialized Hauling Vehicles (SHV) andestablished a timetable for compliance. Spokane County has a total of 155
bridges which require load ratings and to date, 53 of these have been re-ratedto include the SHVs. The memorandum requires the balance of the inventory
to be rated by December 31, 2022. The current goal of Spokane County’sBridge Department is to complete this task by June 30, 2020.
With approximately 100 bridges yet
to rate, the department’s work plan calls for the rating of 40 bridges in2018. Currently, we have 6 bridges that are weight-restricted and another
9 bridges will soon be posted with weight restrictions. While some ofthese were previously restricted for other loads, ALL of them require weight
restrictions for SHVs. Moving forward we expect to find that more bridgeswill require load limits and will announce those additions.
Spokane County Proposed Weight-Restricted Bridges
- Sunset Highway Bridge
over Deep Creek (Bridge No 0514) - Badger Lake Road Bridge
over Overflow (Bridge No 1102)
- Wells Road Bridge over
Sanders Creek (Bridge No 2203)
- Cheney-Spokane Road
Bridge over UP & BNSF RR and Marshall Creek (Bridge No 2404)
- Colbert Road Bridge over Little Spokane River (Bridge No 3703)
- Little Spokane Drive Bridge over Little Spokane River (Bridge No 3704)
- Shady Slope Road Bridge
over Little Deep Creek (Bridge No 3705)
- Chattaroy Road Bridge over Little Spokane River (Bridge No 3801)
- Deer Park-Milan Road
Bridge Little Spokane River (Bridge No 3902)