Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Work has begun on the next stage of installation of the weigh-in-motion scales for the new Taupō hi-tech weigh station.
Five sites on the roads leading to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre at the State Highway 1/ State Highway 5 intersection are having in-road weighing technology installed. The affected lanes have been coned off for the past month while new asphalt cures. Work installing the communication systems continued in the meantime.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) says now the asphalt has hardened it can be cut for the scales to be installed.
“While it may have looked like nothing was happening beyond the cones, it was essential to give the asphalt time to cure and be ready for cutting and carrying traffic,” says Waikato/Bay of Plenty Regional Manager for Infrastructure Delivery, Darryl Coalter.
“We couldn’t remove the traffic management and run traffic over it because the soft asphalt would’ve resulted in an uneven compaction. The new asphalt either side of the scales has been laid to precise levels to allow the scales to read truck weights correctly.
The scales are being installed on 5 of the roads heading towards the safety centre.
The locations are:
- SH1 north of the SH1/5 roundabout
- SH1 south of the roundabout
- SH5 east of the roundabout
- Napier Road west of the roundabout
- Nearby Crown Road
Temporary lanes on the road shoulders allow traffic to pass around the work areas and minimise the use of stop/go or temporary detours. Speed restrictions are in place.
This work will run through to mid-to-late June when all traffic management can be removed.
Cutting asphalt in preparation to install the in-road scale on Napier Road.
The Taupō weigh station is one of 12 facilities NZTA is building on high-volume freight routes around the country for NZ Police to operate. The safety centres are part of the national Commercial Vehicle Safety Programme.
This technology will screen passing traffic and number-plate recognition and electronic signage will direct any suspected non-compliant heavy vehicles into the safety centre. Police officers on site will check vehicle weights, road user charges, certificates of fitness, logbooks and driver impairment.
Read more about the Commercial Vehicle Safety Centres:
