Uniontown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is announcing a newly established weight limit on Route 4073 White Cloud Road Bridge over Route 56 (Leechburg Road) in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County.
The new restriction will limit the weight of single vehicles to 23 tons and combination vehicles (trucks pulling trailers) to 27 tons, except for emergency vehicles with permits issued by the department. The bridge has not had a prior weight restriction.
The posting was implemented after a special inspection uncovered deterioration of the primary load-carrying members of the bridge. It will reduce strain on the bridge and preserve safe passage until significant rehabilitation can occur, which is not anticipated for several years.
Vehicles exceeding the posted weight limit are suggested to use Routes 56, 356, and 4048 (Melwood Road), an approximate 14-mile detour.
The White Cloud Road 149-foot, steel, I-beam bridge was built in 1953 and has an overall condition classification of poor. Approximately 393 vehicles use the bridge daily, with 19% (74 trucks) anticipated to be affected by this posting. The remaining 81% of traffic is anticipated to be below this limit and can continue to use the structure without restriction. Route 4073 White Cloud Road is currently limited to vehicles weighing 10 tons.
District 12 maintains 2,350 bridges across Pennsylvania’s four, far southwest corner counties of Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland. The commonwealth has the third-largest number of bridges in the nation, with more than 25,400 state-owned highway bridges greater than or equal to 8 feet in length. The average age of bridges on the state system is over 50 years old. For more information on its bridge locations and conditions, please visit https://gis.penndot.pa.gov/paprojects/bridge-conditions.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices by calling 5-1-1 or following regional X alerts.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District12.
Information about infrastructure in District 12, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D12Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Laina Aquiline, laquiline@pa.gov or 724-415-3748
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