Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1993 TAG: 9305190139
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Soon, the highway department hopes, those two words will be a thing of the past - at least at the truck scales along Interstate 81 in Troutville.
For years, those scales seemed closed more often than they were open. In fact, they nearly were, as truck traffic on the interstates quadrupled while the weigh station did not change much from when it opened in 1964.
As soon as 11 trucks backed up on the access ramp, the scales would have to be closed. Otherwise, the line would start backing up onto the highway and snarl traffic.
The result: Truckers by the hundreds of thousands were bypassing the scales, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Billy Pierce, who oversees the Troutville scales for the Transportation Department, estimated that as much as one-third of the truck traffic traveling on I-81 - 65,000 trucks a month - went unchecked.
But that was before the scales were upscaled.
Now, after a year of construction, the weigh station sits almost ready to take on the convoys again. Monday and Tuesday, the southbound scales were open for testing, and in another month, both directions should be up and running, the Transportation Department says.
Pierce said the scales then should be able to handle everything coming down the pike. They will stay open around the clock, and not a truck should pass by unchecked anymore.
The new scales are vastly different from the antiquated models that had been used for nearly three decades. Transportation Department officials say they are the most technologically advanced scales in the state.
Trucks no longer have to stop to be weighed, as they did for the old scales. Now, they only have to slow to 30 mph. In addition, the access ramps to the weigh station have been lengthened.
The net effect, the department says, is no more backups. The station can handle many more than the 11 trucks it could accommodate before. How many more? Officials are not sure yet.
But Monday and Tuesday, Pierce reported that there were no long lines on the southbound scale during what appeared to be two typical days of truck traffic.
Nor does he expect any problems to develop unless the number of trucks on the road quadruples again. Pierce and other Transportation Department officials hope that the new scales will last at least as long as the old ones.
Pierce also is thankful to have a new control building for his staff of nine weight officers. The old building was overcrowded and outdated, he said.
There are other improvements, too.
The station boasts two hazardous-waste containment pits - one on each side of the interstate - for collecting hazardous material that might be found spilling from trucks.
Both the southbound and northbound scales also have inspection stations with pits for state police to more easily check trucks that are suspected of safety violations.
The construction cost of the upgrading was $8.9 million, in addition to engineering costs, making it one of the most expensive highway projects in Western Virginia since the interstates were built.
It is about 98 percent complete, but still needs more testing, some additional erosion-control measures and highway signs. There is one sign, however, the Transportation Department doesn't expect to need:
Scales Closed.
by CNB