CONTRACTS SIGNED FOR DESIGN OF TENDER DOCUMENTS RE: WEIGH SCALE STATIONS

From left to right: Dr. Alwin Hales, Mr. Marlon Baker and Mr. John Algrove.

A contract amounting to over $3.6M for the design of tender documents concerning the construction of weigh stations, was signed between the Ministry of Transport and Works and Wallace Evans Jamaica Ltd. on November 8, 2007.

Signing on behalf of the Ministry was Permanent Secretary, Dr. Alwin Hales and Mr. John Algrove on behalf of Wallace Evans Ltd. The signing took place at the Ministry's Corporate Office at 138H Maxfield Avenue.

Erection of the Weigh Scale stations is being undertaken to combat the deleterious effects of overweight trucks on the nation's road network. Proposed regulations to address the problem include setting out prescribed axle loading where there will be a front axle load limit of 5,000kg and 10,000kg for the remaining ones. This is being done a studies reveal that as the load of an axle exceeds 10,000kg, the damage to the roads increase exponentially.

In October, 2004, a Bill to amend the Road Traffic Act was tabled in the House of Representatives. These amendments sought to introduce new restrictions and penalties to the legislation wherein it would be illegal to transport goods in a vehicle along the main road network which would cause the vehicle in total weight to exceed its upper weight limit. Violation of the proposed legislation would attract a fine based on a sliding scale of increasing amounts.

The introduction of these measures is a direct result of the observations made over the years relating to the tremendous additional damage and rapid deterioration of the road surface along major trucking routes.