§291-35  Gross weight, axle, andwheel loads.  No motor vehicle or other power vehicle or combination ofsuch vehicles equipped wholly with pneumatic tires, which has a total grossweight, including vehicle and load, an axle load, or a wheel load in excess ofthe limits set forth in this section shall be operated or moved upon any publicroad, street, or highway within the State; provided that the maximum grossweight, axle loads, and wheel loads allowed under this section shall beinapplicable when its application would adversely affect the receipt of federalfunds for highway purposes; and provided further that no vehicle or combinationof vehicles shall be operated on or moved over any bridge or other highwaystructure if the total gross weight, including vehicle and load, exceeds theposted maximum gross load limitation for the bridge or other highway structure.

(1)  The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on anypublic road, street, or highway within the State by any group of two or moreconsecutive axles, on a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed thefollowing when the distance between the first and last axles of the group underconsideration is:

(A)  Forty inches or less, the weight imposedshall not exceed twenty-two thousand five hundred pounds.

(B)  More than forty inches but not more thaneight feet, the weight imposed shall not exceed thirty-four thousand pounds. This grouping of two consecutive axles shall be known as tandem axle.

(2)  The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed oninterstate highways within the State by any group of two or more consecutiveaxles, on a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed that resultingfrom application of the formula:

W = 500(LN/(N-1) + 12N + 36)

when the distance between the first and lastaxles of the group under consideration is over eight feet and where W = maximumweight in pounds carried on any group of two or more axles computed to thenearest 500 pounds,

L= Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutiveaxles, to the nearest foot, and

N= Number of axles in group under consideration;

provided that two consecutive sets of tandemaxles may carry a gross load of 34,000 pounds each providing the overalldistance between the first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandemaxles is thirty-six feet or more and provided also that the overall grossweight does not exceed 80,000 pounds.

(3)  The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on anypublic road, street, or highway, other than interstate highways, within theState by a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed that determinedby the formula:

W = 900(L +40)

when the distance between the first and lastaxles of the group under consideration is over eight feet and where W = maximumweight in pounds carried on any group of two or more axles computed to thenearest 500 pounds and

L= Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutiveaxles, to the nearest foot;

provided also that the overall gross weight doesnot exceed 88,000 pounds.

(4)  No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall beused or operated on any public road, street, or highway within the State (A)with a load upon any single or tandem axle or combination of axles whichexceeds the carrying capacity of the axles specified by the manufacturer, or(B) with a total weight in excess of its designed capacity as indicated by itsdesigned gross vehicle weights or gross combination weights.

(5)  The total gross weight imposed upon the publicroad, street, or highway by any single axle shall not exceed twenty-twothousand five hundred pounds.  For the purpose of this section, axles placed inthe same transverse plane and are spaced forty inches or less apart, shall beconsidered as one axle.

(6)  The total gross weight imposed upon the publicroad, street, or highway by any one wheel, either single or dual mounting,shall not exceed eleven thousand two hundred and fifty pounds.

(7)  The director of transportation, in the case ofstate highways, or the county engineer, in the case of county roads andstreets, may place and maintain signs to limit the gross weight of a vehicle orcombination of vehicles traveling over a bridge or other highway structure inthe interest of public safety when it is determined through engineeringinvestigation and analysis that the theoretical load carrying capacity of thebridge or structure is less than the maximum gross vehicular weight allowed bythis chapter.  In determining the weight limits and in posting the weight limitsigns, the director or the county engineer need not comply with rulemakingprovisions of chapter 91; provided that if any person objects to the weightlimits, the person may object to the rule as provided in chapter 91. [L 1941, c216, pt of §1; am L 1943, c 76, §1; RL 1945, §11714; am L 1949, c 94, §1; RL1955, §311-20; am L 1957, c 251, §1; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §26; am L 1967, c48, §1; HRS §291-35; am L 1970, c 168, §1; am L 1971, c 75, §1; am L 1977, c184, §1; am L 1980, c 281, §1; am L 1986, c 42, §1; am L 1989, c 311, §1; am L1990, c 32, §1; am L 1993, c 82, §1]