The first half of this year was not so good as far as bridges along NLEX are concerned. Just last March, a trailer truck carrying a container hit the girders of the Marilao Interchange bridge.

The girders fell and hit another vehicle beside said truck, killing one of the former’s passengers. What’s worse, a second truck reportedly hit the same girders, causing serious damage to the bridge.

This necessitated repairs that had NLEX waive toll fees for the affected area. But other incidents involving trucks hitting tollbooths and the same bridge have also happened in the following months.

Sadly, all of these could have been prevented had the truckers followed the height limits, and if the tollway operator had strictly screened the trucks before letting them enter the expressways.

This put NLEX Corporation in hot water. Finally, though, the tollway operator has announced the updated vertical clearances of bridges along NLEX and SCTEX, as well as other measures to avoid accidents with truckers using the expressways.

In a post on its Facebook page, NLEX Corporation announced that trucks with a vertical clearance of up to 4.35m will be allowed to use NLEX. As for SCTEX, trucks with up to 4.4m will be allowed to access the toll road.

The tollway operator made the announcement in response to the clamor of the trucking/logistics sector to allow its members to use the two expressways. To protect other motorists and the bridges along these highways, NLEX will continue to use gantry height limiters, implement the use of truck lanes, and continue to conduct patrol inspections.

The company has reminded truck drivers to measure the overall height of the truck before each trip. Truckers are also advised to stay in the designated truck lanes, follow the speed limit, and pass under the bridges with caution.

Whether these measures are enough or not, we leave it to NLEX to continue devising new ways to address these concerns. For now, we hope that the same are observed and implemented religiously to avoid damage to the facilities, and ensure the safety of all motorists using the toll roads.