NEW YORK—In what truckers described as a knee-jerk reaction to the tragedy of the I-35W Bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) has once again imposed a ban on trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds crossing its Bronx-Long Island bridge spans.

Trucking interests, including the Road Transport Association (RTA) and the Construction Trucking Association (CTA), sought a temporary injunction in August to lift the ban, specifically on the Throgs Neck and Triborough bridges. A hearing was held on the issue on Thursday, Aug. 16, in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan and was adjourned until Thursday, Sept. 6, effectively making the new weight restrictions a fait accomplis.

The RTA was successful two years ago in reaching a settlement with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (also known as MTA Bridges and Tunnels) that allowed heavy trucks with six and seven axles up to 105,000 pounds to travel over the Throgs Neck Bridge 24 hours a day, but with minor restrictions such as using the center lane and traveling at no greater speed than 30 miles per hour. The RTA took the TBTA to court in order to lift the daytime ban on heavy trucks over 80,000 pounds that the agency had imposed due to a growing number of cracks in the deck span of the bridge.

Because of recent structural issues it has found on the Throgs Neck, the agency said it has once again imposed the daytime ban on six-and seven-axle trucks over 80,000 pounds. Those vehicles with New York City and New York State divisible load permits and carrying up to 105,000 pounds, and five-axle trucks carrying up to 100,000 pounds are now permitted to travel over the Throgs Neck Bridge between the hours of 11:00 pm and 4:00 am. A Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority spokesperson said the agency is banning heavy trucks over 80,000 pounds from traveling on its other bridge spans—the Triborough and Whitestone bridges.

In support of the RTA, the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley Inc. organized an informational meeting on Aug. 13 at the Crowne Plaza LaGuardia in East Elmhurst, Queens to update heavy trucking interests and other regional transportation organizations about the issue. About 100 truckers and heavy trucking representatives attended the meeting, with several arguing that the TBTA has not banned heavy trucks from using the Triborough Bridge until recently.

Brian Gardner, a partner with the New York City law firm Sullivan Garner PC of New York City, argued for the heavy trucking industry at the court hearing and told CONSTRUCTION NEWS that, while State Supreme Court Justice Paul G. Feinman adjourned the hearing until Sept. 6, a TBTA engineer who testified at the Aug. 16 session conceded that repairs to the cracks in the stringers (part of the metal supports of the bridge) could be completed within several weeks. The problem was one of the main reasons that the TBTA reinstituted the heavy truck ban.

Mr. Gardner said while the heavy trucking industry is pursuing legal remedies in the courts it also plans to undertake a campaign to convince politicians that the bridges are safe and the heavy truck ban is unnecessary. He also noted that the move will have significant impacts on the regional economy.

Catherine Sweeney, chief of staff and vice president of MTA Bridges and Tunnels, said the agency had no comment on the pending court action taken against it by the heavy trucking industry. She did, however, release a statement on the agency’s decision on the Throgs Neck Bridge.

“The Throgs Neck Bridge is safe for the motoring public. In order to maintain its safety, MTA Bridges and Tunnels is taking certain necessary actions that affect a segment of the trucking industry in order to maintain its safety. The maximum vehicle weight on the bridge is 80,000 pounds. The authority is rescinding, until further notice, a two-year program that has allowed certain state-permitted trucks with six or seven axles weighing 105,000 pounds to travel in the center lane of the bridge at 30 miles an hour at any time. These trucks will now have to either reduce their loads to the bridge weight limit (80,000 pounds) or follow the same procedures as other overweight vehicles and apply for special handling and travel over the bridge at night. Truck weight enforcement is also being stepped up because there is evidence of other trucks ignoring the weight limit.”

She added that a ban on heavy trucks remains in effect on the Whitestone and Triborough bridges.

Ross Pepe, president of the Construction Industry Council, who organized the Aug. 13 Elmhurst meeting on the issue, termed the issue “a political nightmare” in terms of trying to get the TBTA to change its mind or perhaps have state and city politicians put pressure on the agency to lift the ban, in light of this month’s tragic Minneapolis bridge collapse.

At the session Mr. Pepe said he has written a letter to Elliot G. Sander, executive director and chief executive officer of the MTA, stating that the heavy trucking industry is interested in working with the agency on the matter.

“We understand the infrastructure concerns that they have, but at the same time they just can’t shut down the industry. It has too great an impact on the economy,” Mr. Pepe noted.

Leonard J. Luiso, president of Byram Concrete & Supply Inc. of White Plains, attended the Queens session, saying that, although his firm does not truck over the Throgs Neck and Triorough bridges, his suppliers use those spans to transport materials to the Byram site.

“It drastically affects our material suppliers – the sand that we use from Long Island. This dramatically increases the prices of it,” Mr. Luiso said. “They were bringing over 32-ton loads and now they’re down to 22-ton loads. It is almost doubling the trucking costs, which translates to approximately a 10-percent increase in the cost of our product.”

Mr. Luiso said that his firm will have no choice but to pass those increases onto his customers that include firms undertaking private commercial and residential projects as well as school construction, public transportation, and public works jobs.

Other speakers at the event charged that the trucking industry has been thrown into chaos as a result of the sudden ban, with confusion and inconsistencies surrounding its implementation. Some truckers maintained that the ban is irrational because smaller trucks will now crowd the same roadways and bridges.

They also charged that adding more trucks at 80,000 pounds throughout the day would actually lead to far more weight on the bridges at peak traffic times. This would make the overall weight danger even greater than the fewer heavy trucks using the bridges in the early hours of the morning when there is very little general traffic.

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