The Road Vehicles (Authorisation of Special Types) (General) Order 2003

PART 3 CONDITIONS RELATING TO USE

General restrictions

8.  Engineering plant must not be used on roads for, or in connection with, engineering operations of any description if those operations may safely be carried out by a vehicle that complies in all respects with the Construction and Use Regulations and the Goods Vehicles Type Approval Regulations.

9.  Engineering plant may only be used on roads for—

(a) testing;

(b) demonstration;

(c) delivery on sale;

(d) proceeding to, or returning from, a manufacturer or repairer for repair or maintenance;

(e) proceeding to, or returning from, the site of engineering operations; or

(f) carrying out such operations.

10.  Engineering plant which has an overall width exceeding 3 metres may only be used on roads for, or in connection with, engineering operations that are of the character that the plant is specially designed and constructed to carry out.

Restrictions on carriage of loads etc

11.—(1) Engineering plant which is used on roads must not—

(a) carry any load; or

(b) lift or transport goods or burden.

(2) But that is subject to paragraphs 12 and 13.

12.  Engineering plant may carry its own necessary gear and equipment.

13.—(1) This paragraph applies at any time when engineering plant is engaged on the construction, maintenance or repair of roads.

(2) Engineering plant may carry—

(a) materials that have been excavated and raised from the ground by apparatus on the plant; or

(b) materials that the plant is specially designed to treat while carried on the plant.

Restrictions on towing of trailers

14.—(1) Except as stated in sub-paragraph (2), engineering plant must not tow a trailer.

(2) Engineering plant falling within sub-paragraph (3) may tow—

(a) a trailer which is itself engineering plant; or

(b) a living van or office hut used in connection with the construction, maintenance or repair of roads.

(3) Engineering plant falls within this sub-paragraph if it is a motor vehicle with an overall length that does not exceed 8 metres.

Maximum width

15.  The overall width of engineering plant, together with the width of any lateral projection or projections of any load carried on it in accordance with this Schedule, must not exceed 6.1 metres.

Maximum length

16.  The overall length of engineering plant (or of any vehicle-combination permitted by this Schedule), together with any forward or rearward projections of any load carried on it in accordance with this Schedule, must not exceed 30 metres.

Restrictions relating to weight: gross weight

17.—(1) The gross weight of engineering plant, together with the weight of any load carried on it in accordance with this Schedule, must not exceed 150,000 kilograms.

(2) The weight of the plant is to be calculated—

(a) in the case of plant which is a motor vehicle, by taking the sum of the weights transmitted to the road surface by all the wheels and tracks of the vehicle;

(b) in the case of plant which is a trailer, by taking the sum of the weights transmitted to the road surface by all the wheels and tracks of the trailer and of any weight of the trailer imposed on the towing vehicle.

Restrictions relating to weight: weight transmitted to road surface

18.—(1) This paragraph applies to determine the maximum weight that may be transmitted to the road surface by the wheels of any engineering plant that is a wheeled vehicle or a wheel-track combination vehicle.

(2) The wheel weight of the plant must not exceed 11,250 kilograms.

(3) The weight transmitted to any strip of road surface on which the wheels of the plant are resting must not exceed the following limits (measuring the strip of road surface referred to in those limits as the distance contained between any two parallel lines drawn on the road surface at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the plant)—

(a) if the strip of road surface measures a distance of 0.5 metre or less, the weight must not exceed 45,000 kilograms;

(b) if the strip of road surface measures a distance that lies between 0.5 metre and any greater distance up to, and including, 2 metres, the weight must not exceed the sum of—

(i) 45,000 kilograms; and

(ii) an additional weight allowance which is to be calculated by reference to the difference between 0.5 metre and the overall measurement of the strip of road surface, with additional weight being allowed in respect of that difference at a rate of 30,000 kilograms per metre;

(c) if the strip of road surface measures a distance of more than 2 metres, the weight must not exceed the sum of—

(i) the weight determined in accordance with paragraph (b), as calculated in respect of the first 2 metres of the measurement of the strip of road surface; and

(ii) a further additional weight allowance which is to be calculated by reference to the difference between 2 metres and the overall measurement of the strip of road surface, with further additional weight being allowed in respect of that difference at a rate of 10,000 kilograms per metre.

(4) But where the plant has one or more wheels that are not fitted with a pneumatic tyre, the total weight transmitted to the road surface by—

(a) any such wheel (if no other wheel is in the same line transversely); or

(b) all such wheels as are in line transversely;

must be such that the average weight per 25 millimetres width of tyre in contact with the road surface does not exceed 750 kilograms.

19.—(1) This paragraph applies to determine the maximum weight that may be transmitted to the road surface by the tracks of any engineering plant that is a track-laying vehicle or a wheel-track combination vehicle.

(2) The weight transmitted to any strip of road surface on which each track of the plant is resting must not exceed the following (measuring the strip of road surface referred to in those limits as the distance contained between any two parallel lines drawn on the road surface at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the plant)—

(a) if the strip of road surface measures a distance of 0.5 metre or less, the weight must not exceed 11,500 kilograms;

(b) if the strip of road surface measures a distance that lies between 0.5 metre and any greater distance up to, and including, 2 metres, the weight must not exceed the sum of—

(i) 11,500 kilograms; and

(ii) an additional weight allowance which is to be calculated by reference to the difference between 0.5 metre and the overall measurement of the strip of road surface, with additional weight being allowed in respect of that difference at a rate of 7,500 kilograms per metre;

(c) if the strip of road surface measures a distance of more than 2 metres, the weight must not exceed the sum of—

(i) the weight determined in accordance with paragraph (b), as calculated in respect of the first 2 metres of the measurement of the strip of road surface; and

(ii) a further additional weight allowance, which is to be calculated by reference to the difference between 2 metres and the overall measurement of the strip of road surface, with further additional weight being allowed in respect of that difference at a rate of 2,500 kilograms per metre.

Speed restrictions

20.—(1) Unless paragraph 21 applies, engineering plant must not travel on roads at speeds exceeding—

(a) 30 miles per hour on a motorway; or

(b) 12 miles per hour on any other road.

(2) Engineering plant falling within sub-paragraph (1) is referred to in this Schedule as slow plant.

21.—(1) This paragraph—

(a) applies to any engineering plant that satisfies the speed condition specified in sub-paragraph (2), and to any vehicle-combination that includes engineering plant and that satisfies that condition; but

(b) does not apply to engineering plant mentioned in paragraph 2(1)(a).

(2) The speed condition is that the plant or vehicle-combination would be able to comply with such requirements of Schedule 1 to this Order as are specified in sub-paragraph (3), if those requirements applied to it as they apply to an AILV (or AILV-combination) falling within Category 1, 2 or 3.

(3) The requirements of Schedule 1 referred to in sub-paragraph (2) are—

(a) the requirements as to brakes, plates and signs in paragraphs 7 to 15;

(b) the requirements as to weight in paragraphs 26 to 33; and

(c) such of the requirements of the Construction and Use Regulations, the Authorised Weight Regulations and the Lighting Regulations as are specified in paragraph 35 or 36.

(4) For the purposes of the remaining provisions of this Schedule, any engineering plant, or vehicle-combination that includes engineering plant, which complies with the requirements applicable to an AILV (or AILV-combination) falling within Category 1, 2, or 3 (as the case may be) is itself to be treated as falling within the Category in question.

22.—(1) Engineering plant, or a vehicle-combination that includes engineering plant, which falls within Category 1, 2 or 3 must not travel on a motorway, dual carriageway or other description of road at speeds exceeding the speed specified in Table 10 for that Category in respect of the description of road in question.

Table 10

Speed restrictions for engineering plant treated as falling within Category 1, 2 or 3

Vehicle or vehicle-combination	Motorway	Dual carriageway	Other roads
Category 1	60 mph	50 mph	40 mph
Category 2 or 3	40 mph	35 mph	30 mph

(2) But where the plant or vehicle-combination does not have suspension on all axles, the plant or vehicle-combination must not travel at speeds exceeding 20 miles per hour.

23.  Nothing in this Schedule is to be taken to authorise travel at any speed in excess of any speed restriction imposed by or under any other enactment.