Kenya is shifting to virtual weigh-bridges in a bid to boost speed and transparency in the clearance of cargo on its roads.
The
Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) plans to set up 10 virtual
weighbridges on key transport corridors amid ballooning costs of road
maintenance and delays in the screening of vehicles.
The
electronic devices will be located at Archers Post on the Isiolo-Moyale
road, Sagana Bridge on the Thika-Nyeri road, Yatta on the Thika-Garissa
road, Kamulu on the Nairobi-Kangundo road and Eldama Ravine on the
Eldama Ravine-Eldoret road.
Others will be at Kibera on
the Nairobi Southern By-pass, Moi’s Bridge on the Eldoret-Kitale road,
Mayoni on the Mumias-Bungoma road, Ahero on the Mau Summit-Kisumu road
and Mwatate on the Voi-Taveta road.
Unlike the
brick-and-mortar toll stations blamed for congestion and corruption on
major roads, the virtual weigh stations are able to pick records in
real-time without asking the driver to slow down or stop the vehicle.
The
agency says in its tender documents that the virtual weighbridges will
be set up and managed by private contractors. “Vehicles shall
automatically be weighed and the weighing data transmitted to a central
data point for integration.
‘‘The process is initiated by a vehicle stepping on a
weigh-in-motion sensor,” KeNHA said, adding that the weighing data will
automatically be recorded and the vehicle’s details captured through a
combination of image and automatic number recognition cameras.
Kenya
currently uses the statistic scale weigh-bridges to help rid roads of
overloaded vehicles. There are nine static weigh-bridges located at
Mtwapa, Mariakani, Athi River, Gilgil, Webuye, Rongo, Juja, Busia and
Isinya.
The facilities have become synonymous with
massive delays and gridlocks, often inviting the wrath of neighbouring
landlocked countries which rely on Mombasa port.
It is
believed that police officers often take bribes to allow overloaded
trucks to proceed with their journey, a habit blamed for high road
maintenance costs running into billions of shillings annually.
A
notable downside of the static weigh-bridges is the lengthy and
strenuous process of attending to each vehicle, which is a major cause
of massive traffic gridlocks around the facilities. The roads agency is
betting on the digital stations, also known as weigh-in-motion devices,
for efficiency to boost regional appeal of Kenya’s roads. “An automated
system will be activated whenever a vehicle with beyond threshold
overloads is encountered,” KeNHA said.
Random mobile checks
The government has lately stepped up the crackdown on overloaded vehicles in an attempt to tame rising road maintenance costs.
Statistics
show that Kenya Roads Boards (KRB) in the fiscal year 2015/2016
disbursed Sh29.17 billion for maintenance of roads countrywide, a
significant rise from the Sh25 billion disbursed for the year ended June
2015.
Besides the virtual weigh-bridges, KeNHA also
targets random mobile checks of vehicle weights along various transport
corridors to deal with the menace of overloaded vehicles.
Officials
at the Transport and Infrastructure ministry argue that regional
landlocked countries’ high dependence on Mombasa port means that the
roads are always under pressure even at a lower axle weight.
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