Firestone bans heavyweight trucks
The management of Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia says until further notice, all non-Firestone Liberia trucks exceeding 5 axles will not be allowed passage through its production area, as a result of the significant damage done to the Harbel – 15 Gate road, particularly the collapse of the Du River Bridge.
The company based in Harbel, Margibi County issued this week after the collapse of the Du River Bridge in the county on Wednesday, 7 June. The management says the Du River Bridge located on the Harbel-15 Gate road inside the Firestone Rubber Plantation collapsed under the weight of an excessively overloaded truck carrying aggregate stone for the Roberts International Airport or RIA runway project.
The company says there was no injury sustained in the incident. The Harbel-15 Gate route is the primary access to the Firestone Medical Center at Du Side, the company says further. It adds in the statement that due to the bridge’s collapse, Firestone has been forced to reroute traffic through the center of the production area resulting in an increase in travel time to reach the hospital.
The company complains that since the RIA construction project began early 2017, there has been extensive damage to the Harbel-15 Gate road due to excessively overloaded non-Firestone Liberia trucks traveling the route. It says the decision has been made in order to limit further damage to roads and also to preserve the integrity of other bridges in the production area.
Firestone Liberia says it is now working closely with the Liberian Government, the owner of the overloaded truck that was on the bridge when it collapsed, and contractors working on the RIA project to reach a solution to the collapse of the Du River Bridge and the excessive damage to the Harbel – 15 Gate route. –Press release
