County Highway officials are monitoring roads to know when to post and lift road restrictions. Fond du Lac County Highway Commissioner Tom Janke says that you may not see damage right away for hauling over the load limit as it is a progressive damage that deteriorates the infrastructure or pavement over time. He reminds farmers to pay attention to the weight of their loads and that there are permits available for heavy loads as the fines you may encounter otherwise can be costly. 

“Our roads were built well before our current farming practices and larger agricultural equipment came to be,” Janke explains. “Pavement life is roughly 20 to 25 years and if people don’t follow the load restrictions for certain roads, it is ultimately affecting that lifespan.”

Janke inspects the roads every other year and rates them on a scale of 1 to 10 for cracks and different tests to determine the functionality. He says the dead of winter is the time to move your heaviest loads before things start thawing out in order to cause less distressing of the pavement and keep the roads rating high.