Towards Sustainable Transportation in Baghdad: Identifying Critical Roads and Strategically Locating Weighing Stations

Overloaded vehicle traffic accelerates road degradation, leading to early failures and high maintenance expenses. Identifying critical roads in areas like Baghdad, Iraq, is crucial for effective maintenance planning. Road maintenance involves systematic management to uphold road quality and functionality. However, the absence of weighing stations and awareness about critical roads in Baghdad exacerbated maintenance costs. This study aims to present a robust framework for identifying critical roads that necessitate weighing stations and subsequently determining the optimal locations for these stations in Baghdad. Through statistical analysis of responses collected from 61 road maintenance engineers, 22 influential factors for road criticality and weighing station location were identified. Some key factors emerged as crucial in identifying critical roads, including truck traffic volume, maintenance and construction costs, geopolitical importance and lane count. Furthermore, significant considerations for weighing station placement were identified, such as proximity to industrial hubs and drainage structures. Validation of the model through case studies affirmed its efficacy. Policy implications include the need for feasibility studies before weighing station implementation, data-driven decision-making, road criticality assessment and strategic weighing station placement. This research contributes to improved road management practices, aiding in decision-making for transportation infrastructure enhancement in developing countries like Iraq. Keywords: Weighing stations, Road maintenance, Critical roads, Locating the station weight in motion.