Completing a R770 million upgrade of the R72 road between Birah River and Openshaw Village improves road safety for motorists and pedestrians. The project duration was four years and was concluded 2020. The works entailed widening the road to a 13.4m surfaced crossed section, geometric improvements to existing alignment and intersections, strengthening pavement, improvement of drainage facilities and rehabilitation of bridges and major culverts.
SANRAL design roads with all road users in mind because road safety is a priority to us. The project focus was on enhancing road safety through road infrastructure,” said Mbulelo Peterson, SANRAL s Southern Regional Manager. The SANRAL materials testing laboratory team also tested for compliance. There were 551 jobs created during the construction period for local community members. Thirty-seven SMMEs were subcontracted to work on the project, which included eight women owned. Nineteen SMMEs received training. SANRAL plays an important role in the development of emerging contractors. Creating work for SMMEs and local labourers show our commitment to the transformation of the construction and engineering industries,” said Peterson.
He said one hundred and twenty people worked on community development projects. They constructed a 7 787m concrete pedestrian walkway in 18 months. The work included: the construction of 19.5m3 gabion works, 1 557m3 roadbed compacted to 90% MOD AASHTO, 1 168m3 SSG layer compacted to 95% MOD AASHTO and 639m3 concrete. Each project started with clear and grub, and after that, the roadbed was constructed. This was followed by the construction of one layer of 100mm G6 material, and 50mm reinforced concrete layer was the final layer to the walkway,” said Peterson.
He said once the project started, SMMEs were given onsite training by an accredited training provider. They received training for each layer they constructed, such as the roadbed, SSG and concrete. The main contractor issued the necessary paperwork and trained SMMEs on completing daily reports, timesheets and daily safety task instruction (DSTI) sheet,” he said
