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and roads devastated by floods, work on the Sperryville bridge dropped in priority. “In the interests of public safety, we closed the bridge,” Askew stated. If the bridge is reopened, it will have to be upgraded to a 20 ton legal limit and Sperryville residents will “have to accept the fact that trucks will use it...We CANNOT post signs prohibiting tractor trailer and truck traffic,” Askew emphasized. “They’re tax payers just like the rest of us.” The resident engineer explained that only towns which maintain their own street system have the option of closing roads to through truck traffic. Askew noted that the 20 ton limit for the rebuilt bridge is the approximate carrying load weight of a concrete truck. “Why does it have to be upgraded to 20 tons?” asked Julian Brown, the first of several people to voice the same question. The department has an obligation to bring it up to legal limit,” Askew replied. He added that the substructure would be left as is with additional steel beams added underneath to strengthen the bridge and a new deck installed. “Why was the bridge closed so quietly?” asked a member of the audience, adding that highway department employees in the county knew nothing of plans beforehand. “A Culpeper crew closed it up. Why were they sent in?" “It was my decision to close the bridge. It was done to protect the public.” Askew replied. “The Culpeper signing c-rew is the crew that I requested," he said.
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