In Ewing, fire trucks banned from bridges

Monday, October 19, 2009

By JOAN GALLER
Staff Writer
EWING — Getting to a raging fire as fast as possible just got harder for Ewing’s fire
departments, whose multi-ton vehicles are deemed too heavy to cross three state-owned
bridges spanning the Delaware & Raritan Canal, reports West Trenton Fire Chief Ralf
Brandmaier.

A recent letter from the New Jersey Department of Transportation informed Brandmaier that the
travel restriction on these bridges — which have posted 20-ton weight limits — applies to West
Trenton’s Engine 33, which weighs 47,620 lbs., Engine 33-1 at 41,400 lbs., and Rescue 33 at
31,780 pounds.

All three vehicles are not allowed to traverse the wooden bridge at Lower Ferry Road, the
concrete span at Wilburtha Road and the wooden bridge at Bernard Drive. However, all three
rigs may cross the West Upper Ferry Road bridge at 5 mph maximum speed.

West Trenton’s fourth ladder rig, Tower 33, weighing 77,060 lbs., is not permitted to cross any
of these bridges, and would have to take detours via I-95 and Route 29, resulting in delays of 10
to 20 minutes, depending on time of day.

What’s on the other side of these bridges? Busineses, houses, and a 23 apartments in a two-
story complex on Country Lane — the scene of a fire extinguished four years ago by firemen
from Mercer and Bucks counties, under the mutual aid system.

Brandmaier said yesterday he sent copies of the DOT letter to Ewing’s other fire departments,
Prospect Heights and Pennington Road, and to all fire departments in Mercer County through
the Mercer County dispatcher.

Brandmaier said he has also arranged for the Trenton Fire Department to provide an engine
and ladder truck when needed in the affected area.

“This is not our problem now, it’s the township’s problem,” Brandmaier said.

Mayor Jack Ball, reached for comment last night, said he is working with DOT officials to find a
solution as quickly as possible, and he expects feedback within a week.

“A fire doubles in size very minute, that’s quite a statistic,” Ball said, “so a 10 to 20 minute delay
can have a horrific impact on what’s taking place. And losing a million-dollar fire truck in the
canal is not an option.”

Such a delay can occur during commuter rush hour periods for area businesses, notably New
Jersey Manufacturers Insurance, which has 5,000 employees accessing roads near Route 29.

Ball also expressed concerns about public safety implications for other heavy-weight township
trucks, such as a fully-loaded garbage truck, a snow plow or a truck filled with salt or sand.
Ball noted that he spoke last night to Councilman Bert Steinmann and learned that “Bert had
reached out to our legislators, Sen. Bonnie Watson-Coleman and Reed Gusciora,” who said
they would try to get a short-term exception for emergency vehicles as a temporary solution.

“I told Bert I would still be concerned about our trucks and one of them going into that canal, “
Ball sid.

The truck problem surfaced in late summer after a township resident complained to Ewing
police about traffic and requested “speed bumps.”

Advised that the police could not order speed bumps, the resident replied, “then you better give
a ticket to the fire department” and noted its trucks exceeded posted bridge weights.

After the police relayed this information to Brandmaier, the fire chief reached out to the state
transportation department for clarification, which arrived in a letter dated Oct. 1 from Gregory
Renman, DOT’s manager for structural evaluation.

The letter says the DOT “would not approve crossing on the following structures” — citing the
list of bridges and truck weights supplied by Brandmaier — because West Trenton’s fire trucks
“produce significant overstresses on these structures.”

Renman also advised Brandmaier that “West Trenton Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 must contact
Mercer County officials for crossing roads and bridges within their jurisdiction, since the DOT
office reviews only structures under state jurisdiction.”

Mayor Ball questioned the overall impact on public safety at Tuesday’s township council
meeting, after Brandmaier read the DOT letter into the public record.

The mayor noted he was informed of this problem earlier and had made two attempts to reach
DOT officials by phone.

Last night, Ball reported he spoke yesterday to Brian Strizki, DOT’s director of bridges, who
offered to help by attempting a more detailed analysis of all those bridges in terms of what the
state can do.

“He talked about steel-plating them, possibly to increase their strength, and he talked about
doing at least one bridge as quickly as possible,” Ball said.

“(Strizki) said he would get back to me in about a week with more information on what they plan
to do, and that’s not bad. I can live with that,” Ball said.

The mayor said he then discussed this DOT offer yesterday with Brandmaier “to lay out a plan”
setting bridge repair priority. The fire chief, according to Ball, wants West Upper Ferry Road
fixed first, followed by Wilburtha, Lower Ferry and Bernard Drive.
URL:
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