Construction World October 2018

ROADS & BRIDGES

STRATEGIC ROAD UPGRADE

Duncan Murphy, a technical director with JG Afrika, has been involved in the project since December 2014 when the firm was initially appointed to undertake the design, and he has also been leading the team of engineers overseeing the construction programme. Scope Murphy says that the lion’s share of the work scope entails widening the road, which was built between 1978 and 1983, as well as upgrad- ing its intersections to better accommodate the increase in traffic over the years and raise safety levels for road users. “The road mainly comprised a single carriageway with surfaced lanes and shoulders. Its surface width varied between 11,5 m and 17,5 m, except for the first 1,12 km, which consisted of four lanes with a raised median island in areas. Once we have completed the project, it will have a minimum surface width of 13,4 m, including two 3,7 m-wide lanes and three metre-wide shoulders, in areas. Where there are existing climbing lanes, the road is being widened to allow for 3,7 m-wide passing and 3,7 m-wide climbing lanes, as well as a 1,5 m-wide surfaced shoulder. Some of the existing climbing lanes are being extended and we are constructing new climbing lanes,” he says. Five new climbing lanes are being built and five existing climbing lanes widened, lengthened, or a combination of both when travelling from Caledon towards Riviersonderend. Meanwhile, four new climbing lanes and five existing climbing lanes are being widened, lengthened, or a combination of both in the opposite direction. There are 26 road junctions and 106 farm accesses located along the route, and eight of the road intersection being improved. This includes right-turn lanes that are being built at two intersections, as well as acceleration lanes that are being added to the eastbound lanes at a further two junctions. At two other intersections, a left-turn lane is being constructed on both approaches and the existing geometry upgraded. A passing lane has been included on the westbound lane and an additional

T he road serves as a vital link between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and about 3 500 motor vehicles and 500 trucks use this economic and tourist route every day to travel between Cape Town and the many cities along the south and eastern coastlines. Moreover, the project is being used as a fertile training ground for many local small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in line with the South African National Road Agency Limited’s (SANRAL) “Fourteen Point Plan.” It emphasises the critical role that road con- struction projects can play in assisting government grow a vibrant emerging contracting industry in the country. Socio-economic role This is just one of a number of projects in the region and along the N2 that SANRAL has prioritised to serve a larger socio-economic role by developing many black-empowered emerging contractors and creating construction-related employment opportunities for members of poor communities. As many as 11 SMMEs are being trained by the main contractor, Group Five, which mobilised to site to commence working on the 36 month construction project in September 2017. As part of their training, they have been tasked with the less onerous aspects of the work scope. This includes removing and erecting fencing and guardrails; providing security and traffic-control services; undertaking clearing and grubbing operations; as well as constructing the side-drains. At the same time, the project has also created jobs for more than 100 people, the vast majority of whom are from communities in the area. JG Afrika, a leading engineering and environmental consultancy, is overseeing the upgrade of a 48 km section of the N2 highway between Caledon and Riviersonderend in the Western Cape.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2018