The first weight scale to monitor trucks is to be constructed at Harbour View in Kingston at a cost of $100 million, Jamaica House announced Wednesday.

The contract to erect the permanent structure, which has cleared the final hurdle, Cabinet approval, goes to Tank-Weld.

The National Contracts Commission had earlier endorsed the $100.11 million award in July.

Jamaica, to contain its road repair bill resulting from damage caused by overladen commercial traffic, will be erecting four scales nationwide to ensure that trucks and commercial vehicles conform to weight limits.

Transport Minister Mike Henry said in June that Jamaica is facing a $20-billion road repair and maintenance bill - a figure that incorporates the impact of much more than just commercial and industrial traffic - for infrastructure under the portfolio of the National Works Agency.

"Harbour View has been selected as an urgent location as the entry point of trucks transporting marl, aggregate and shale from quarries and mining operations along the Pamphret main road from St Thomas to the Corporate Area," said Jamaica House.

The contract was announced by Daryl Vaz, minister with responsibility for information, telecommunications and special projects, at the weekly post-Cabinet briefing.

The scale facility, one of four to be established along popular truck routes, is intended to reduce government spending on the repair and maintenance of roads that are prematurely damaged by overloaded vehicles.

The equipment that Tank-Weld will install has already been purchased.

business@gleanerjm.com