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Spring road restrictions

grandpa

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Oct 15, 2009
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1,979
Location
northern minnesota
Just curious as to what other states do for spring road restriction? Here in Minnesota the state puts them on when they feel and by law can keep them on for a total of 60 days. In the beginning of the period its not to bad as the ground is froze, but now its towards the end, time to go to work and cant because of the restrictions. Makes one very frustrated.:Banghead
 

245dlc

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Mar 16, 2010
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1,228
Location
Canada
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Heavy Equipment Operator
Just curious as to what other states do for spring road restriction? Here in Minnesota the state puts them on when they feel and by law can keep them on for a total of 60 days. In the beginning of the period its not to bad as the ground is froze, but now its towards the end, time to go to work and cant because of the restrictions. Makes one very frustrated.:Banghead

Well I'm only a little way north of you and the Province here in Manitoba can have restrictions on from the end of March till almost the middle of June some years. This year with the warmer weather they went on March 18 and I think, I'm not sure entirely because of how they word things they go off May 26. Hence why I call Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation the Department of Holidays. Some of the local municipalities including the city here will restrict every road municipal road that doesn't have a concrete underlay whichis what makes our construction season so short compared to the other Prairie provinces.
 

CATcountry

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Apr 6, 2010
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15
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Champlain Islands, VT,USA
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Really?
Here in Vermont its generally march 15-april 15 not sure of their regs, the 60 day thing but some towns leave the signs up later, even though they have march15-april 15 on them. The state per my experience doesn't post their roads.
Frank
 

stock

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Aug 4, 2008
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2,022
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Eire
Occupation
We have moved on and now were lost....
Boys for the not so local what are all the restrictions about ??
 

stuvecorp

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Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
307
Location
lake wissota, wisconsin
When the frost comes out they only let you drive things that are less than 20,000 pounds on certain roads. I agree it's needed in the beginning but it can really hold stuff up at the end and almost seems spiteful to keep things posted.
 

xcmark

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
357
Location
Foxboro , Ma.
Occupation
construction
New Hampshire has posted signs on there gravel roads in the sping , cant recall exactly what it was but I think its 16000 lbs. could be less , the road my camp is on has signs and gets some good ruts from just cars and light pickups. With out 4x4 your stuck
 

OneWelder

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Messages
483
Location
Derry, New Hampshire
It is usually the towns that post the Roads in New Hampshire - They do it two ways one is flat out weight restriction - the second allows you to use the the road if you have buss. on the road -but you can be held responsible for damages
I think there is a removal date , but do not remember what is
 

Canadian_digger

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Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
811
Location
Ontario
Our restrictions in Ontario is 5 tons per axle. It starts in march and normally ends May 15, If the weather is better they end early. They ended today!
 

245dlc

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Canada
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Heavy Equipment Operator
Our restrictions in Ontario is 5 tons per axle. It starts in march and normally ends May 15, If the weather is better they end early. They ended today!

Must be nice I'm one province over and we still have them on, I looked on the province's web site and they're not coming off till May 26.
 

Deerehauler

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Feb 19, 2009
Messages
78
Location
SW Nebraska
In Nebraska (at least locally) we have no spring road weight restrictions. This spring was HORRIBLE due to soft spots randomly appearing in our county gravel roads.

What causes these soft spots? How can they be fixed effectively?
 

Turbo21835

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Oct 20, 2007
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1,135
Location
Road Dog
Michigan is the same. Our frost laws usually go on in the beginning of March, and are off in April. This year they went on early. They went off about the normal time, maybe a week early. Our axle load ratings are roughly 50% of the normal load. This virtually shuts down all our work. No one can afford to run trucks at half loads.
 

245dlc

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Mar 16, 2010
Messages
1,228
Location
Canada
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Heavy Equipment Operator
In Nebraska (at least locally) we have no spring road weight restrictions. This spring was HORRIBLE due to soft spots randomly appearing in our county gravel roads.

What causes these soft spots? How can they be fixed effectively?

Usually stuff like excess moisture in the roadbed around here we call them frost boils and can also be aggravated by heavy truck traffic and impurities in the roadbed material like silt. The particles of silt or even organic materials kinda act like quicksand they never really bind together and when they become saturated vehicle traffic will cause it act like soup. Probably the best way to solve it is to dig it out and fill in the hole with coarse crushed stone and top off the surface with regular 3/4" crushed gravel. I've seen the city here digging up big sections of road and placing a geotextile fabric before placing 4" minus limestone and finally 3/4" limestone. Since then the road has held up well.
 

Deerehauler

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Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
78
Location
SW Nebraska
Thanks for the explanation, 245dlc. Our county crews are doing just as you say with regard to repairs. They are digging out the mush, and placing a thick base of crushed recycled concrete. They then top it with a thick layer of road gravel.

I had always wondered why the soft spots occur where they do. The silt really makes sense as most of the soft spots are in the bottom of a valley or on a transition from original ground to a fill on a long hill.
 

biggrader

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Jan 16, 2010
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221
Location
Red River Valley of the North
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Owner/Operator
yep agree with 245dlc. Probably work well in your area. Up here we generally have to dig out all of the topsoil used to build the roads, install fabric and then use granular to bring up to grade. In some areas that can be 4' to dig out. I can go on and on about how to fix it right but it costs lots of $$$$. Sometimes have to do a cheaper fix just to get by and live with the roads being a little soft.
 

245dlc

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Mar 16, 2010
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Canada
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Heavy Equipment Operator
Yup buy a vehicle on tracks. lol:)
 

sandnsnow

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Jul 27, 2008
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149
Location
sandpoint idaho
Occupation
adult babysitter
Up here in north Idaho they go by tire width. They use 250lbs per square inch of tire. In general you could drive a dump truck ect. but not loaded. The state will put them on the highways and commerical travel is restricted to 30mph and limited axle weight.
 

245dlc

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Mar 16, 2010
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Canada
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Heavy Equipment Operator
That's not so bad I guess but we're all metric here and you almost need a mathematician and a lawyer to determine what you're allowed here. But you guys in the State's are lucky that your State and Federal government's actually spend money on building and fixing roads properly. The things I could tell you from having worked for the Provincial government and how they regard things like highway maintenance.
 

hvy 1ton

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Jul 24, 2006
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1,942
Location
Lawrence, KS
That's not so bad I guess but we're all metric here and you almost need a mathematician and a lawyer to determine what you're allowed here. But you guys in the State's are lucky that your State and Federal government's actually spend money on building and fixing roads properly. The things I could tell you from having worked for the Provincial government and how they regard things like highway maintenance.

You ever see Tiny's pictures of bridges in Missouri?:pointhead
 
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