On a new norm allowing to save roads from premature damage

Today in Kazakhstan the length of public roads is 157 thousand km. The network of roads of international and republican significance has a length of 24.9 thousand km, which are in good and satisfactory condition.

At the same time, one of the main factors in the destruction of roads is the intensity of heavy cargo transportation. In most cases, these are dump trucks with a large payload. The volume of cargo transportation over the past 10 years has increased by 2.7 times. More than 450,000 trucks are registered in the country, of which 55,000 are dump trucks. The increased weight of the machine creates a load on the roadway, which is not designed for such a mass. Accordingly, the life of roads is significantly reduced. Huge trucks are massively exploited for the transportation of inert cargo from quarries to construction sites on public roads. According to estimates, about 20% of vehicles go to the highway with an overload on the axle, while not having documents for additional cargo.

It should be noted that the roads are built in accordance with the standards and are designed for a certain maximum load. Overloaded transport destroys them, not only worsening the conditions of passage, but also causing multimillion-dollar losses to the country’s road industry.

At present, in developed countries (USA, Japan and Western European countries), the passage of mine dump trucks with a large load capacity on public roads is prohibited. However, in the CIS countries, in particular in Kazakhstan, such vehicles are engaged in cargo transportation on public roads and city streets.

Daily control over the passage of domestic and foreign vehicles on the roads of the Republic of Kazakhstan is carried out at 3 stationary and 30 mobile transport control posts in 17 inspections. During the day, each post must provide control on more than 7 thousand km of roads, which is physically impossible, the consequences of which lead to low control coverage and a decrease in transport and road safety. In this regard, the Ministry is actively implementing a digital system to detect illegal transportation of goods and passengers.

It should also be noted that no advanced technologies and materials used in construction and repair will ensure the standard state of roads if they are operated in excess of the design characteristics and parameters. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the road network and exclude their premature wear, prevent damage to the roadway, and in connection with the complaints of the population, the deputies of the Majilis raised the issue of the need to introduce an amendment “prohibiting road transport of goods by dump trucks, the permitted weight of which exceeds the permissible total established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. mass of vehicles, on public roads and streets of settlements.

The adoption of the proposed norm of deputies will ensure the safety of roads and traffic safety.

According to the calculations of “KazDorNII” JSC, with an intensity of 200 mine dump trucks per day with an overload of 10 tons, more than 240 billion tenge is damaged on roads in 5 years. At the end of 2021, the transport control bodies of the Transport Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan collected fees and fines to the state revenue of more than 4.9 billion tenge of vehicles in violation of the weight and size parameters. Damage to the roadway in the amount of 1.7 trillion tenge was not allowed tenge. Over the past period of 2022, about 18 thousand vehicles were checked, of which about 678 mine dump trucks were identified with a violation of 85%, fines were imposed in the amount of 92 million tenge, tolls of 26 million tenge were collected.