Truckers fined for using Rhode Island bridge

Updated Aug 3, 2010

Drivers and trucking companies are getting fined for crossing a Rhode Island bridge that has been off-limits to heavy tractor-trailers for almost three years.

Carriers are getting fined up to $3,000 and drivers $85 for not complying with multiple detour signs to avoid the I-95 Seekonk River crossing between exits 27 and 28 in Pawtucket, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation said.

More than 400 trucks a month are getting stopped this year, and more than 20,000 trucks have been pulled over since the ban began in November 2007. Fines imposed since the ban began have totaled $6.9 million in the past two and half years, the Providence Journal reported paper reported.

Vehicles weighing more than 18 tons or with more than two axles are banned from traveling on the bridge.

The bridge is scheduled to be replaced by a $90-million span by June 2013, the RIDOT said. Construction on the new bridge is expected to begin this year.