20000119

Law soon to check overloading for highways health

ISLAMABAD: The government will promulgate an ordinance to check overloading of vehicles using highways, to save the huge amount being spent on road repairs.

The Chairman of National Highway Authority, Waqar-ul-Haq Khan Khalid, said that overloading poses is the most serious problem causing damage to highways, which are being designed for single axle load of about eight tonnes and are subjected to loads of as high as 24 tonnes and gross truck weight of about 80 tonnes.

He said that greedy truck owners reduce haulage cost by overloading but it was causing severe damage to the pavements in terms of maintenance and rehabilitation of highways.

At present, there is no law to check this menance, he said and added that time has come to ban the overloading and enforce legal axle-load limits and induce much more efficient prime-mover and trailer combination.

He said the National Highway Authority will instal weigh stations along the highways and motorways to check overloading. APP