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DAILY NEWS
Jul 19, 2007 12:12 PM
Big rigs to be banned from 135 "questionable" Quebec structures
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By: Adam Ledlow
MONTREAL, Que. -- The Quebec Transport Department is going public with a list of 135 questionable bridges, overpasses and ramps and will no longer allow overloaded trucks to cross these structures, according to a report in The Gazette.
Trucks with permission to go over their legal limits of about four tonnes per axle will be barred from the 135 structures, department official Jacques Gagnon said yesterday, which will mean virtually all loaded semis will not be permitted to pass. The normal legal limit for a semi-trailer is 18 tonnes.
The department have previously refused make the list available to the public, claiming its inspection of the 135 structures is not an indication they are unsafe.
Last week, Gagnon said the suspect structures will be identified only "if there is a sign of danger and public safety is in question," according to The Gazette. However, the list will now be publicized after the Quebec Truckers Association met with senior department officials and demanded to receive advance notice of any shutdowns or load limitations on specific roadways.
The Transport Department targeted the 135 structures after experts for the Johnson commission warned that concrete slab structures similar to the de la Concorde Blvd. overpass in Laval that collapsed Sept. 30, 2006, killing five people, could be unsafe because they lack sufficient steel reinforcement.
--With files from The Gazette
