Encroachment & Hauling Permits

15.01 Introduction and General Regulations
The West Virginia Department of Highways has responsibility for preserving the operational safety, integrity, and function of our highway facilities. This responsibility includes controlling the use of all portions of the right-of way. Motor Vehicle Laws established by the West Virginia Code controls the normal use of our highways and allows the Department of Highways to regulate special occasion uses for specific needs, such as overweight and overdimensional hauling. The West Virginia Code also provide for establishing regulations relative to access and use of Department of Highways right-of-way by adjacent property owners, public utilities, and other commercial enterprises.

A. Encroachment Permits:
In order to obtain an encroachment permit, you would need to complete the following:

Contact your local county headquarters or the District headquarters to obtain the necessary application forms (a listing of the appropriate phone numbers will follow). All applications are field inspected, so the information that you give will be necessary to help our permit personnel locate the construction site and expedite permit processing.

B. Hauling Permits:
All State highways have load and dimension restrictions/limits established by law. As noted in Section 15.01.05.05 (Special Hauling Permit Application) it states that the conditions, definitions, and fees for the different types of vehicles, and instructions are printed on the reverse of the form.

The permit application requires a general description of the vehicle and load, manufactures name and model number of equipment being transported, or detailed description of the cargo. The gross load, the cargo weight, and the licensed gross vehicle weight of the cargo-bearing vehicle must be stated on the application. Any omission or error in this data can make the actual permit legally invalid, thereby making the operator or company subject to fines/penalties. It should be noted that when Special Hauling Permits are issued to include the return trip, the regular fee shall be collected for each direction of travel. Special Hauling Permits are limited to a period of five (5) days from the issuance date and the allowable travel dates shall be shown on the permit.