Specialised abnormal
load weighing company,
MGI Weighbridges,
working together with the
Department of Transport
Freight Directorate in
KwaZulu Natal, has
received the green light
from Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT) for
the re-constitution and
upgrading of the abnormal
load weighing facility at
the Port of Richards Bay.
“Construction on the
facility is expected to start
within the next weeks
and we hope to have it
completed within nine
weeks,” said Phil Warren,
managing director of MGI
Weighbridges, speaking at
a joint FTW/JCCI seminar
on container weighing in
Johannesburg last week.
He pointed out that
once this facility was
operational it would
cut down dramatically
on the time it took to
weigh abnormal loads –
specifically “superloads”
of over 125 tonnes. “With
the old portable weigh-mat
facility it could take a full
day – up to eight hours
– to weigh a superload.
With the new weighbridge
facility, even a complex
vehicle combination
superload will take as little
as 10-20 minutes,” Warren
pointed out.
He said the Richards
Bay facility was being
treated as a pilot project
for implementation at
other strategic locations
throughout the country.
In addition, the company
is at the tender stage for
the proposed construction
of a weighbridge facility –
including abnormal load
capability – at the Port
of Ngqura in the Eastern
Cape.
“There is potential
for other abnormal load
weighbridges outside of
Durban,” added Warren,
highlighting the fact South
Africa’s traffic authorities
were increasingly focusing
on enforcing the current
abnormal load regulations
and that the number of
weighbridges that could
assist in this regard were
“few and far between”.
He pointed out that the
National Road Traffic Act
(Act 93 of 1996) had very
specific requirements to be
fulfilled in order to obtain
an exemption permit for
any abnormal load that
exceeded
the width,
height and
weight
limits.
According
to Warren,
permits are
issued by
each of the
provincial
authorities
which can be
challenging
for operators
carrying a
significant
abnormal
load through several
provinces. “There are
not enough weighbridges
equipped to handle
abnormal loads in South
Africa with existing static
weighbridges only catering
for normal heavy goods
vehicles as a rule,” he said.
According to Warren,
there will be a trial
period window after
which abnormal load
weighbridges will come
on stream. This window
period would provide the
opportunity to educate the
abnormal
load
industry
as to the
capabilities
of the
facilities, he
said.
He added
that the
objective
would be
to educate
industry that
such facilities
were not
intended as
a “policing”
tactic but rather as a tool
to help the abnormal load
industry streamline permit
issuing and steer towards
a self-policing operation
similar to that of the RTMS
(Road Traffic Management
System) control.
INSERT & CAPTION
With the new
weighbridge facility,
even a complex
vehicle combination
superload will take as
little as 10-20 minutes.
– Phil Warren
Abnormal load weighbridge for Richards Bay port
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