The VaaaN-Regnum-NDE Joint Venture has been appointed to supply, install, commission and maintaining 10 low-speed weigh in motion scales for the Bangabandhu Bridge in Bangladesh.
The systems includes real time web-based live video and data monitoring with RFID along with an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera system to identify overweight vehicles.
The 5km-long box girder pre-stressed bridge was opened in 1998 and crosses the Jamuna River, connecting the Bhuapur district to the city of Sirajganj, about 110km northwest of the capital Dhaka. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority is installing the units on the approach roads leading up to the bridge on both sides.
Despite its relative newness, there have been issues with cracks, according to the Bangladesh Government which in the past has imposed weight restrictions on vehicles.
The bridge, also called the Jamuna River Bridge, carries a four-lane carriageway, two rail lines, a high voltage power line and a high-pressure natural gas pipeline. Telecommunication ducts run through the box girder deck and the gas pipeline is under the south cantilever of the box section.
The bridge was built by the Korean firm Hyundai Engineering and Construction as a design-and-build' contract. TY Lin of San Francisco carried out the design as a sub-contractor for Hyundai and the approach roads were constructed by Samwhan Corporation, based in Korea.