During spring thaw, the roads are 40% more fragile than other times of the year and a single overloaded truck can cause lot of damage.
To minimize road deterioration during this period, the ministère des Transports subjects highway carriers to stricter vehicle load limits and the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec carries out intensive heavy vehicle moni toring operations to protect the road network.
During this period :
monitoring operations are more numerous;
all heavy vehicules found to be flouting weight regulations will be obliged to unload excess cargo before being allowed back on the highway.
Spring Thaw: A Critical Period
As everybody knows, the Québec climate is particularly harsh. The ground freezes to a depth varying from 1.2 metres to 3 metres for over 4 months. This, combined with temperature fluctuations and humidity, has major consequences on pavement performance. Freeze and thaw cycles also make pavements more fragile.
In the spring, the layers of materials of which the road is composed are weakened by water accumulation. Studies on load bearing capacity conducted by the ministère des Transports have proved that pavement reactions to a load are 50% to 70% greater in the spring than in the summer. This means that the same axle can cause between 5 and 8 times more damage in the spring than it would at other times of the year. A vehicle with an overload of 25% will increase damage by close to 150% at any time of the year.
The impact of heavy vehicles during thaw periods is considerable especially since the number of commercial vehicles has increased greatly over the past 25 years. This is why carriers are subject to weight regulations.
Road Vehicle Load Reduction
To protect the Québec road network, the ministère des Transports made the Vehicle Load and Size Limits Regulation which limits the length, axle load and total loaded mass of vehicles and vehicle combinations.
All the necessary information on load limits during periods of thaw may be obtained by consulting the Vehicle Load and Size Limits Guide or calling Transports Québec's Information service.
Load Inspection During Spring Thaw
Ensuring that heavy vehicles comply with load limits is the responsibility of the road inspectors from the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec. During the spring thaw, about 320 road inspectors are extremely busy with weighing operations.
In order to improve the efficiency of the weighing operations and to protect the road network, the Société has proposed a compliance policy. Under this policy, overloaded vehicles may not proceed until they have complied with the regulations. This policy prevents overloaded trucks from further damaging the road. Therefore, truck drivers must either spread the load more evenly between axles or unload any excess weight before being allowed to drive on.
An overloaded trucks not only damage the roads, but can also affect the vehicle's performance, which may be hazardous. Complying with load limits is of primary importance and the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec has decided to increase its efforts to ensure compliance, since protecting the road network is a control priority.
