Axle Load Limitations in South Sudan
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Road Barrier Implementation Programme
The WFP Emergency Road Repair Project is assisting the Ministry with this project by constructing and installing these barriers as well as disseminating information about them. The intention of the barriers is to protect the roads from damage after heavy rains.
As anyone using the rural road network in South Sudan knows, the onset of the wet season sees a dramatic deterioration in the road conditions. The majority of the damage is due to overloading and overloading in wet conditions. First, the axle load and gross load limitations of the Sudanese state are not being adequately enforced in South Sudan. Grossly overloaded trucks are breaking bridge decks and culverts throughout South Sudan and, in the case of the Juba bridge, have collapsed one of two spans. The loads are up to twice what would be allowed on tarmac highways in other parts of the world. The combination of the heavy loads on wet murram road has a similar effect. The current level of road construction can not withstand axle loads of more than 5mt in the wet season and 8mt in the dry season. Unfortunately, many transporters are regularly loading 12-16mt per axle year round and this has lead the deterioration on the roads you see now.
The barriers that are being installed will assist in protecting these roads by temporarily closing them for some hours after heavy rain events. This will protect the roads while wet - the most vulnerable period. Once the rain event has passed, they will be reopened to road traffic.
Activities : Transport
Type of document : Update
Country : SD SDN 736 Sudan, Democratic Republic of the
Location : South-Sudan
Publication date 2007-Aug-16
