Temporary weight restriction placed on Fort Madison bridge after inspection
The toll bridge connecting Fort Madison to Niota, Illinois, has been placed under a three-ton weight limit after an inspection revealed an issue with the highway portion of the structure.
BNSF officials announced the weight restriction Friday.
"Please be advised that following a planned inspection and highway bridge re-rating, the highway portion of the Ft. Madison Bridge needs to be temporarily reduced to a 3 Ton limit, due to a condition found on the non-railroad portion of the highway bridge just west of the movable span," BNSF said in a news release.
The restriction is expected to be in place for 10-14 days while BNSF works to address the problem.
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BNSF did not immediately respond to The Hawk Eye's request for comment about the nature of the problem.
This is the second time in about two years that a three-ton weight restriction has been placed on the bridge. Most recently, that restriction was enacted in January 2021 while repairs were made. Later that month, the limit was raised to 20 tons, with additional repairs planned to raise the rating to 30 tons.
The double-decked swinging truss bridge was built in 1927 with 29 million pounds of metal and 46,000 cubic yards of concrete at a cost of $5.5 million. It is privately owned by BNSF. It serves as the river crossing for BNSF's Chicago–Southern California main line and is crossed by between 40 and 100 trains each day.
The bridge remains open for vehicles but under the road weight limit.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Weight restricted to 3 tons for Fort Madison toll bridge
