I’m from Ohio, there are signs all over the place that say things like “weight reduced 50% during January-May”. There’s not any bridges on most of these roads so why/how would the weight matter?
I’m from Ohio, there are signs all over the place that say things like “weight reduced 50% during January-May”. There’s not any bridges on most of these roads so why/how would the weight matter?
Comments
Weight limit reductions are usually in the spring, when the ground is thawing (and therefore “softer”). The restricted weight is meant to limit the damage to the roadway and it’s substrata that such thawing and refreezing can cause.
EDIT:
What I mean is that, as the ground UNDER the roadway is going through these freeze/thaw cycles, the “normal” allowable weight limits can cause damage to that substrata, and thus the roadway itself. Limiting the weight carried mitigates the potential damage during this freeze/thaw cycle.
Spring break up. Roads get soft and heavy trucks blow out the roads. Letting the roads dry out in the spring saves maintenance costs.
Spring is mud season. The ground is saturated with water making the road weaker.
That’s my best guess anyway
During the winter the frozen soil provides a nice strong base for the road. As things thaw that road base expands and contacts the changing temperature making it less stable than normal. When the temperature is stable in the summer then it’s solid again because it’s just warm all the time.
In a word? Mud. I’ve usually seen signs like those on either dirt/gravel roads or roads built on top of earthen embankments. When the soil is saturated it’s more likely to have the roads get torn up if dirt/gravel road or have a land slip if on an embankment and there’s snow melt and rain in the late winter and early spring
I was following a truck one time that was actually leaving ruts in the asphalt. It belonged to a company with strong political connections. Anyway, I called the highway patrol after I got home. (Before cellphone time) The next day the highway patrol had a portable scale out there. I stopped to talk and with a big smile, they said they had been very busy.