Weight Restricted Bridge Crossing Permit Program

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

In a collaborative, multi‐agency effort, the Chesterfield County Department of Transportation (CDOT) successfully established a new, replicable, bridge testing process to allow all Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) to cross posted bridges during emergencies. The initial bridge tested using this process has a load posting of ten (10) tons which would only permit an ambulance to cross, not the Fire Department’s heaviest vehicle an aerial ladder truck, rated at forty (40) tons. After successfully implementing the initial live‐load test of the Mt. Hermon Road posted bridge, several other locations in Chesterfield County and other localities in the region were successfully tested and permitted for ERV crossings. This resulted in a significant improvement to the emergency response times for millions of dollars’ worth of property and increased safety for those residents.