Coffee Break Training: Bridge Weight Bearing Limits

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Coffee Break Training: Bridge Weight Bearing Limits

Access and Water Supplies: Road Bridge Carrying Capacities

Learning Objective: The student shall be able to describe conditions affecting bridge or elevated surface weight-bearing limits

Today’s picture illustrates a common problem found in suburban and rural environments: Access road bridges that are not capable of supporting the imposed weight of fire apparatus.

Depending upon the fire code adopted in the jurisdiction, fire apparatus access roads may be required for new buildings or facilities. In the model fire codes, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1, Fire Code, requires that access roads reach within 50 feet (15 meters (m) of an exterior door that provides access to the interior of the building.

The International Fire Code® requires access roads to reach within 150 feet (45 m) of all portions of the facility or first floor exterior wall of a building. Both require that bridges or elevated surfaces provide the ability to support the weight of fire apparatus. When specifying weight-carrying capacities, remember to include automatic or mutual-aid apparatus that may have to use the bridge.

Fully loaded fire apparatus can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds (36,287 kilograms (kg)), with the loads distributed among the axles.

* Fire apparatus manufacturers can provide specific details on the actual and rated weights of their vehicles, and for handling and safety characteristics, these limits never should be exceeded. (For an explanation of vehicle weights and axle distribution, refer to NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus.)

While NFPA 1 is silent on design standards, the International Fire Code® requires that bridges in fire apparatus access roads meet the criteria of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standard Specification for Highway Bridges. A competent civil or structural engineer should be able to provide documentation that the bridge is capable of supporting the live loads that fire apparatus impose. The code official is authorized to require that weight limit signs be posted at all entrances to the bridge or elevated driving surface.

The bridge shown in today’s picture creates a challenge for the local fire department since its apparatus cannot drive on it. A few minutes of preincident planning to find an alternative to reach the fire hydrant can go a long way toward eliminating a problem that might arise during an emergency.

* Fire departments should always check with their State motor vehicle division or transportation department to assure their apparatus purchases are in compliance with State-mandated weight limits.

CFN - California Fire News 2012

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Tuesday, October 9, 2012