Infrastructure for a Resource-Rich State. With the highest mean altitude of any eastern U.S. state, West Virginia has always faced singular transportation challenges, but none more than in the last decade as efforts to tap the region’s extensive natural resources have amplified. The boom in shale oil and gas production alone has markedly increased the oversize/overweight load burden on the state’s transportation infrastructure with the movement of heavy pumps, drilling, and hydraulic fracturing equipment. The number of oversize hauling permits issued annually by West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has doubled since 2003, reaching 123,000 in 2011. Fortunately, WVDOT was in a position of readiness as this boom in oversize/over-weight loads occurred.

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