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There are rules governing the size of vehicles which can
freely travel on the public highway. If anyone wants to move a load
that exceeds the criteria, they must tell us. Any load that falls
into this category is called an 'abnormal indivisible load'.
The critical requirement for an abnormal load to be allowed on the
road is that it must be indivisible. If it can be broken down into
loads that are within the permitted maximum size, then that must
happen.
Who needs to be notified?
For heavy vehicles, you need to notify the police and the
highway authorities (for Kent this will be Kent County Council,
Medway Council and the Highways Agency).
For wide and long vehicles, you need to notify the Police
How much notice do you need to give?
- For 40 to 80 tonnes you must give two working days'
notice.
- For 80 to 150 tonnes, you must give five working days'
notice.
- For loads over 150 tonnes, a 'special order movement' is
needed. These are generally related to the power industry, and they
require permission from the Secretary of State. This is
administered through the Department for Transport and the Highways
Agency.
Kent County Council accepts a shortened notice period for
emergency moves, such as cranes for recovering an accident, but
these are requests to move, rather than a notification of a move.
These must not go ahead until a positive response has been received
from the Council.
There is no legal requirement to notify of high loads but any load
greater than 16'3" should not be moved without first checking the
route with the Highways authority
How do you notify us?
You need to send the required details to the highway authority
concerned by fax, email or letter. You must also include a standard
form of indemnity for any damage that might be caused to
infrastructure as a result of the move.
For Kent County Council, contact Abnormal Loads Services by
email or telephone on 01622
695 841 or Fax 01622 695 810.
How are notifications dealt with?
Proposed routes are assessed on the basis of:
- the known strength of bridges
- safe clearances under bridges
- and any other restrictions
The process also looks at lorry ban areas, restricted access and
traffic management measures around road repairs and street works
because they are notifications of intent to move, no response is
made unless there is a problem with the planned
route. |