The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has proposed a spending of Tk 17.33 billion for installing 90 units of weigh machines, officials said on Friday.
The machines will cost Tk 2.56 billion.
The road developer will, however, spend the remaining Tk 14.77 billion, or 85.20 per cent of the total project cost, for ancillary work, they said.
The department has taken up the project to set up 90 sets of weigh in motion (WIM) scale at 21 points on the national highways and land port areas to control axle loads of the vehicles.
The department has taken up the costly project and has recently sent it to the Planning Commission for getting approval.
The road developer said some 90 sets of WIM scales will be procured for controlling axle loads on the highways as many trucks, trailers, vans and buses ply having overloaded, which damages the roads.
According to the RHD, it has proposed 14.8 per cent of the total costs for purchasing 90 sets of WIM scale while the rest will be utilised for the related work like land purchase, consultancy, overseas and local trainings for the manpower.
A senior Planning Commission official said the cost of the project is quite high as some less important and non-important components have been included in it.
"The government always lacks adequate funds. If an agency proposes costly projects, other important projects in the pipeline will be affected. So, they should proposed higher priority projects with rational costs," he told the FE requesting anonymity.
Fazlul Karim, superintendent engineer of the department who is involved with the proposed project, told the FE that the cost had been estimated based on the prices of the American and European-standard WIM scale.
"Since we want to set up a comprehensive axle load control station at 21 points on different national highways and land port areas, it will require the higher funds for ensuring that all the facilities are there," he said.
"We will appoint consultants who will suggest details of the scale and design of the stations," Mr Karim added.
When asked about the higher project cost estimation, he said besides the WIM scale at 21 points on the highways, there will be full-fledged axle load control stations with all the facilities.
"It will require funds for some related work like land acquisition, construction of separate parking areas, two-storey control station buildings, control room and consultancy to complete comprehensive project," he added.
According to the RHD's proposal, it has set aside Tk 517.44 million for consultancy services, Tk 32.1 million for local and foreign training, Tk 8.95 billion for land acquisition, Tk 811.36 million for road embankment construction and Tk 2.06 billion for traffic signs, among other components.
Additional chief engineer (Dhaka Zone) of the RHD Md. Abdus Sabur told the FE that the roads across the country are getting damaged before their life span due mainly to overloading of the trucks, trailers, vans, etc.
He said the proposed project will help the agency to control axle load.
"We will weigh the load of the trailers, covered vans, vans, trucks, buses and other vehicles at the control stations on the highways."
Transport analyst Professor Dr Moazzem Hossain told the FE the cost for land acquisition seems to be "quite high".
Besides, the inclusion of unimportant and less important components in the project may raise the overall project cost, said Mr Hossain, a professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
"The project is implemented with taxpayers' money. So, the agencies should use public funds optimally," he added.
