Uzbekistan will tighten quality oversight during road construction works and the movement of heavy-duty vehicles, announced the Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov at the Government Hour in the Legislative Chamber on July 11.

One of the MPs pointed out the rapid destruction of some new roads and named three main reasons: poor quality of work, overloads from heavy trucks, and repeated excavations of utility lines.

“New roads are being built, but in some cases their condition worsens or they deteriorate shortly after … In hot weather, for example, when the asphalt temperature reaches 50-60 degrees, overloaded vehicles cause serious damage to the road surface. The wave-like deformations that we see on roads are directly due to this,” he said.

The MP also touched on the problem of a shortage of personnel in inspection authorities, emphasizing that one inspector is not capable to cover the entire district. In addition, he raised the issue of the lack of comprehensive design during road construction.

"We still encounter situations where utility networks are laid after the completion of road works. This causes fair discontent among the public," he stressed.

Minister Makhkamov acknowledged the validity of the claims: "You are absolutely right, 100 percent. One of the main reasons for the deterioration of new roads is the bad quality of works. We are taking measures to improve it," he said.

He stressed that a program for the installation of truck scales is being implemented in the country: 56 mobile, 9 stationary and 24 scales for entrepreneurs are being installed. In total, weighing equipment is planned to be placed at 162 locations, selected taking into account the main directions of movement of overloaded vehicles.