The private sector is mostly blamed for damaging highways for carrying overloaded goods, so are government agencies to blame equally for conveying overweight building materials and heavy machinery to different project sites.
In these cases, sources say, allowable limit becomes unlimited on phone calls and threats from influential quarters.
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD), which continues to face challenges in controlling overloading to save its 4,000-kilometre artery, often faced such pressure from agencies like the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited and the Bangladesh Power Development Board.
Although these agencies are responsible for building third terminal of Dhaka airport, metro rail, power plants and other mega projects, sources said Padma Bridge, Dhaka Mawa Expressway and similar projects somehow contributed to damage of highways.
Among these agencies, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), however, manages its weighing limit in its own bridges over 1.5 kilometre located at various highways, much to the damage of the road infrastructure.
According to sources, ALCS (axle load control station) operators force vehicle operators to unload extra weight near a station before crossing respective bridges.
The goods are later uploaded to the same vehicles on the other side of the bridges as those are transported to different project sites by small trucks.
The BBA has so far five ALCSs at Padma Bridge, Bangabandhu Bridge, Muktar Bridge, Dhaka Elevated Expressway and Bangabandhu Tunnel.
However, Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna witnesses the highest cases of overloaded vehicles due to its connectivity with the northern part of the country.
When asked why the BBA remains silent about such massive road damage, BBA chief engineer Quazi Mohammad Ferdous said the BBA could not go beyond its jurisdiction to avoid any row with other agencies.
At present, the RHD could operate only four ALCS at Sitakunda, Meghna and Gumti bridges and Manikganj, but not fully operational as those are often shut on different grounds.
However, the Sylhet ALCS has remained totally inoperative as this is the important corridor for transporting stones from border areas.
The Sitakunda ALCS is the lone fully operating station of the RHD due to its location near the country's main export-import seaport of Chattogram.
Despite the demand for a station on the port site to check overloading at source, it is yet to be established.
However, the RHD has been trying to set up 28 more ALCSs at different parts of the country for the past six years.
In a recent study conducted under a JICA-funded technical project at the Sitakunda station, it is found that the overloading trend from 5.0 per cent above the allowable limit to more than 40 per cent were detected from all kinds of overloaded vehicles at the same ALCS during March-May 2023.
But the identified overloaded seven-axle vehicles had uncontrolled ceiling of goods than its allowable limit of 52 tonnes.
The study also detected forgery in the wheels and axles of overloaded vehicles at the time of measuring the weight on the static scale at Sitakunda ALCS.
It also found that operators often played tricks with the axle control authorities by shifting loads on the front axle with intent to manipulate measurement.
It is also alleged that many overloaded vehicles usually cross the station areas midnight through other lanes paying bribes.
RHD chief engineer Syed Moinul Hasan says controlling overload is applicable to all stakeholders and the RHD has been trying to bring discipline to save the taxpayer's money.
"Overload is overload. It doesn't mean any government agency is allowable to do it. Rules are applicable to all contractors, projects concerned," he told the FE over phone as his comment was sought over the issue.
Dhaka Zone's additional chief engineer Mohammad Sobujuddin Khan said highways under his areas faced continuous overloading pressure due to massive ongoing development projects in and around Dhaka city.
For not checking overloading from source points as well as axle-load control stations, the official said his team had to face the pain.
He disclosed that the RHD had to allow overloaded vehicles of metro rail, Padma bridge and third terminal projects after tracing them within Dhaka zone.
Overload can be measured even without scale machines, said Mr Khan, admitting that they had nothing to do than letting the vehicles go when pressure from top officials came.
While talking to different stakeholders, the FE found that goods vehicles that carried construction materials like cement, rod, sand and stone mostly violate the allowable limits of axle load.
However, analysts say the RHD's contractors themselves are engaged in the violation of the allowable limits to carry road infrastructure works.
A recent stakeholder meeting at the RHD headquarters disclosed that operators in land port areas always remain silent as they check weight of Indian vehicles, not the local ones.
According to a land port official, Indian vehicles never cross their allowable limit of 18.5 tonnes for two-axle vehicles and 28 tonnes for three-axle ones against 22 tonnes and 30 tonnes respectively for the Bangladeshis vehicles.
But those extra weight limits given in an office order by the Ministry concerned were also not complied.
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