Washblog

From the Aberdeen Daily World:

The undersheriff said Zepp had a permit from the county allowing him to haul the equipment up Harp Road, but it was unclear whether the county permit trumps bridge weight restrictions.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating that issue.

And:

Large load permits can be acquired directly from the county, or through Hoquiam Licensing, a private business contracted by the state and county to supply permits and vehicle license tabs, among other things.

County officials say they haven't determined yet where Zepp got the permit, but restrictions are clearly printed on it, they said. "There's a route that they're permitted to travel on," said Bruce Clevenger, operations supervisor for Public Works.

"With bridges, they have to allow no other traffic while crossing the bridge, go at a maximum speed of 5 mph and mind the weight restrictions," he said.

Loads that exceed the bridge's posted limit have to be inspected by the county's engineering department. Zepp's load was not inspected by the department, Clevenger said.

If a private subcontractor can issue a permit for an oversize truck to use a small capacity bridge, who is making sure all the t's are crossed?

If the  "loads that exceed the bridge's posted limit have to be inspected by the county's engineering department," why weren't they? If they had, would the truck driver had been allowed to use the bridge?

If speed could make the situation worse, how fast was the driver going?

I'm not really asking these questions for this small bridge in Grays Harbor County (even thought it will mean a 20-plus mile detour for the folks living on the other side), but for the hundreds of other bridges that might be being used by uninspected, yet permitted, over sized loads.