SMEC has been appointed by the Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh, to design and supervise construction of 28 axle load control stations, installed at key freight transport depots all over the country.  

The Bangladeshi Roads and Highways Department, which constructs and maintains 22,000-km of the country's road network, has seen roads deteriorate ahead of their time and maintenance costs increase due to exceedingly heavy vehicles regularly using the network.  

The new axle load control stations aim to reduce road maintenance costs and prevent premature deterioration of the network by developing, calibrating, and validating a freight transport model to establish an effective load control mechanism. 

Over the next 30 months, SMEC’s specialist teams will review physical infrastructure facilities and develop specifications for all electromechanical equipment. The company will also contribute to sustaining the axle load control system, once complete, by developing an appropriate knowledge, skills and institutional framework.  

Both images are artist’s impressions of axle load control station (© SMEC)