Following a recent bridge inspection, the Colorado Department of Transportation is restricting heavy trucks from traveling on the State Highway 120 bridge over the railroad and Arkansas River, about four miles east of Florence.
Six tons is the gross weight limit for a straight truck, while seven tons is the gross weight limit for a tractor-trailer combination. This means that every large vehicle in excess of 12,000 pounds gross vehicle weight is restricted from travel on this bridge.
This is the highest level of restriction that the Colorado Department of Transportation ever places on a bridge. Only 10 bridges out of CDOT’s 3,757 bridges have this restriction statewide, the department says.
CDOT will be modifying its snow removal operations and now will use smaller pieces of equipment on the bridge, as the department’s midrange snowplows exceed the new weight limits.
CDOT says it is exploring options either to repair or replace the bridge, but plans have not been finalized. Heavy trucks should use U.S. 50 and State Highway 115 as an alternate route.
