Original Scope: AASHTO Load and Resistance Factor Rating provisions provide a major advance in applying uniform guidelines for overload permits. As the size and weights of Superloads keep increasing, there is a need to better understand the current state of practice within the United States and achieve enhanced uniformity and safety in this area. NCHRP Synthesis 359: Bridge Rating Practices and Policies for Overweight Vehicles summarized permit rating policies, and this scan builds upon the those findings. The scan focuses specifically on Superload permitting and the compilation of further detail on the current policies and procedures that govern the authorization of Superload moves within the United States.
Implementation and Impact
Following the scan peer exchange held in late 2013, the scan team worked at the state and national levels to advance implementation of the scan findings. Highlights of follow-up activities and outcomes follow.
- A delegation of the scan team met with the AASHTOWare Bridge Rating (BrR) software oversight panel and made implementation recommendations for creation of a software module to accommodate the rapid analysis of oversize/overweight loads on bridges. This concept was advanced and piloted at a state transportation agency.
- Scan members outlined with AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures technical committees T-5 (Loads and Load Distribution) and T-18 (Bridge Management, Evaluation, and Rehabilitation) the need and benefit of developing a permit truck for design and a permit truck for evaluation. These recommendations generated significant discussion on appropriate next steps at the national level.
- Scan members presented as part of FHWA’s LRFR Implementation Webinar Series. Webinar sessions 13, 14 and 15 feature key scan findings and detail states’ oversize/overweight policies and practices as outlined by scan team members.
- Scan members made state and regional presentations, sharing findings and lessons learned at an AASHTO SCOBS meeting; an AASHTO Subcommittee on Transport meeting; an AASHTO Rating and Design Bridge Users Group meeting; an FHWA peer exchange in New Hampshire; the Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference; and other state and regional meetings.
Scan Members
Pictured left to right
- Hani Nassif, Rutgers University, Subject Matter Expert
- Randy Braden, Alabama DOT
- Jonathan Mallard, Virginia DOT
- Scot Becker, Wisconsin DOT
- Lubin Gao, FHWA
- Jeff Honefanger, Ohio DOT
- Matt Farrar, Idaho DOT, Scan Chair
- Michael Wight, Maine DOT
- Kevin Keady, California DOT
Workshop Participants
This scan was held as a workshop in Anaheim, Calif. from December 1 to December 6, 2013. In addition to the scan team, workshop participants included:
- Florida DOT
- Illinois DOT
- Indiana DOT
- Louisiana DOTD
- Michigan DOT
- Minnesota DOT
- New York State DOT
- Pennsylvania DOT
- South Dakota DOT
- Texas DOT
- Washington State DOT
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