Construction World December 2022

road user s , sur round i ng communi t i es and a f fected l andowner s .

The overa l l obj ect i ve was to upgrade the route to a d i v i ded f reeway standard wi th a 120 km/h des i gn speed . Acces s to the N7 wi l l be v i a grade - separated i nterchanges onl y. The route t raver ses a re l at i ve l y f l at topography wi th ro l l i ng ter ra i n whi ch i s t yp i ca l o f the area . A tota l o f 12 br i dge st ructures were const ructed for thi s cont ract . Ni ne o f these wi l l be new and three wi l l rep l ace ex i st i ng st ructures . The des i gn o f the br i dge st ructures has l arge l y been d i ctated by cost , const ructab i l i t y, const ruct i on sequenc i ng , road geomet r y and f uture geomet r i c requ i rement s as we l l as hydrau l i c requ i rement s , where app l i cab l e . Fu l l st ructures repor t s deta i l i ng the st ructure opt i ons and f i nd i ngs were requ i red by SANRAL . There were two r i ver c ros s i ngs a l ong the proj ect sect i on at the Sout R i ver and at the Swar t R i ver. The N7 onl y c ros ses each o f these r i ver s once whi l e a newl y proposed extens i on o f the K l e i n Das senberg Road a l so c ros ses the Swar t R i ver about 300 m east (downst ream) o f the N7 . Deta i l ed hydro l ogy and hydrau l i c i nvest i gat i ons were conducted for each o f the r i ver c ros s i ngs to determi ne the capac i t y o f the ex i st i ng st ructures and newl y proposed st ructures . The outcome o f the i nvest i gat i ons was that the ex i st i ng br i dge st ructures need to be rep l aced by l arger st ructures . On thi s proj ect i n par t i cu l ar eco l og i ca l susta i nab i l i t y was a key feature and pr i or i t y. An E I A proces s for thi s proj ect began i n Ju l y 2012 . The scop i ng phase o f thi s proces s requ i red the deve l opment o f mu l t i p l e proj ect proposa l s . The proposa l s were deve l oped through desk top stud i es , s i te obser vat i ons , pre l imi nar y des i gn i nvest i gat i ons , as we l l as the requ i rement s o f the Proj ect Br i e f, and were done i n consu l tat i on wi th SANRAL , SLR Env i ronmenta l Consu l t i ng and the muni c i pa l and prov i nc i a l roads author i t i es . The scop i ng phase conc l uded i n September 2013 wi th the Depar tment o f Env i ronmenta l Af fa i r s approv i ng the F i na l Scop i ng Repor t and prov i d i ng f ur ther cond i t i ons for the impact as ses sment phase o f the proces s . 

improved secondar y road network that l i nks to the N7 v i a grade - separated i nterchanges . Thi s had a s i gni f i cant impact on the sur round i ng l andowner s , communi t i es and other roads author i t i es . The Env i ronmenta l Impact A s ses sment ( E I A) proces s i nc l uded numerous proposa l s for the improved road network l ayout for the N7 upgrad i ng , each o f whi ch were as ses sed by a proces s wi th comment f rom a l l i nterested and a f fected par t i es . AECOM a l so under took separate meet i ngs wi th the d i rect l y a f fected l andowner s , as requ i red dur i ng the l and acqu i s i t i on proces s , and i ni t i ated meet i ngs wi th the prov i nc i a l and muni c i pa l roads author i t i es a f fected by changes i n the i r road networks . Severa l a l ternat i ve l ayout s were rev i ewed dur i ng the pre l imi nar y des i gn stages unt i l a pre fer red road network was f i na l l y se l ected for the deta i l ed des i gn stage . Thi s proces s , whi ch requ i red extens i ve p l anni ng , i nnovat i ve des i gn and consu l tat i on , took more than two year s ma i nl y due to a l l the impact s on stakeho l der s ,

PROJECT INFORMATION

• Company entering: AECOM • Client: S ANRAL • End date: 25 October 2020 • Main Consultant: AECOM (SA) • Subconsultant (Design and Construction Monitoring): ERO Engineers • Environmental Consultant: SLR Consulting (Design Stage), J G Africa (Construction Stage) • Main Contractor: Haw & Inglis Civil Engineering Construction (Previously Triamic Construction) • Piling Subcontractor: Keller-Africa (Legacy Franki Africa)

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21 st Best Project Awards 2022