Spring Load Restrictions
County Information
County road posted load limits are not determined or enforced by the State. Please use the information below to contact the county for questions/concerns as county road load limits are not determined or enforced by the State.
State Information
Under the authority of SDCL 32-22-24, Highway Maintaining Authorities may restrict loads anytime from February 15 to April 30 to protect their highways from break-up during the spring thaw.
To avoid imposing Spring Load Restrictions earlier or longer than necessary, the South Dakota Department of Transportation monitors daily high and low temperatures at locations throughout the state and calculates accumulated freeze and thaw indexes. SDDOT also relies heavily on observed highway conditions and the experience of its field personnel to decide when to impose and remove load restrictions.
Through its ongoing highway construction program, SDDOT has worked hard to reduce the number of miles that must be load-restricted. The 2024 Summary & Historical Data lists the miles restricted annually since 1970.