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Govt aims for longer road durability with new truck scales
The government has set an ambitious target of slashing more than half of its road maintenance costs, amounting to up to Rp 20 trillion (US$1
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he government has set an ambitious target of slashing more than half of its road maintenance costs, amounting to up to Rp 20 trillion (US$1.5 billion) annually, with the operation of dozens of new weighbridges across the nation.
The facilities, also known as a truck scales, measure the weight of trucks and their cargoes. The measurement is intended to detect and single out overloaded trucks, which can easily damage road structures.
“Our roads should normally last for 10 years. However, most last for around two years partly due to these overloaded vehicles,” Public Works and Public Housing Director General of Bina Marga Arie Setiadi Moerwanto, whose department oversees road construction, said on Thursday.
The government aims to commence the operation of 25 weighbridges this month. The facilities are spread across the nation, including in Widang, East Java, and Bitung, North Sulawesi.
Indonesia actually has 141 weighbridges operated by regional administrations. However, such facilities are deemed to have had an insignificant impact as their operation has been marred by illegal levies, thus allowing overloaded trucks to easily pass inspection.
Law No. 23/2014 on regional administration, meanwhile, stipulates that the central government can take over the weighbridge operations starting this year, a policy that is expected to better preserve road infrastructure.
Arie said that with the weighbridge operation, the government expected to spend less, as maintenance costs made up almost half of his department’s budget of Rp 41.39 trillion in 2017.
Arie cited the recent case of the Cisomang Bridge, located on the Cipularang toll road connecting Jakarta and Bandung, West Java, which suffered structural damage when one of the six pillars supporting the bridge shifted slightly.
One of the reasons for the deformation of the bridge, according to the ministry, was overloaded trucks using the bridge. The ministry has identified 37 percent of the total vehicles passing the bridge, since its reopening on April 1, to be overloaded trucks.
On Thursday, officials from the Transportation Ministry, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry and the National Police, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the operation and supervision of the new weighbridges.
The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is currently responsible for maintaining around 90 percent of more than 47,000 kilometers of national road.
Transportation Ministry Director General for Land Transportation Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said the ministry also aimed to attract private participation with the upcoming open bidding for the weighbridge system and consultancy.
“We will open the bidding for six out of nine [weighbridge] pilot projects,” he said,
Meanwhile, Indonesian Truck Operators Association (Aptrindo) deputy chairman Kyatmaja Lookman said the government should standardize the permitted weight (JBI) for vehicles within various areas as they currently varied from one province to another, confusing most service providers.
“We don’t want a vehicle leaving from Java, passing the requirements here, but being deemed as overloaded in Sumatra,” he said.
