To better manage, maintain and improve Limpopo’s ailing road infrastructure, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed a partnership agreement with the Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL).

RAL had calculated that it would need R122-billion to perform the required maintenance of road infrastructure under its jurisdiction and the CSIR would support the RAL’s efforts.

“Those kinds of funds are not available to us in the fiscus. Therefore, we need to work smarter with the resources we have and we are confident that the engineers and scientists at the CSIR will be able to assist us in this regard. We expect big things from this partnership and we feel it will truly make a difference,” commented RAL CEO Petrus Matji.

CSIR built environment executive director Dr Cornelius Ruiters added that the partnership was important, as it would have an impact beyond the borders of Limpopo.

“Roads drive the economy; they are the veins that carry the country’s lifeblood. In Limpopo, roads play a particularly important role as it shares its borders with three neighbouring countries. It is South Africa’s gateway for freight transport deeper into Africa and the province is well-known as an eco-tourism destination,” he added.

Further, the road network and corridors formed part of the strategic integrated projects under the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission.

“For these reasons, we are humbled that the RAL chose to partner with us and we look forward to working with them to better Limpopo’s road infrastructure.”

Matji said the partnership would initially focus on Limpopo’s road asset management. This would entail creating a detailed inventory of the province’s road assets, assessing the condition of these assets and calculating the likely rate of its deterioration to ascertain which assets were most in need of urgent maintenance or upgrades.

In this way, an informed road asset management strategy could be developed to accurately determine how the road infrastructure budget should best be applied and to tackle Limpopo’s road infrastructure challenges in a cost-effective, holistic fashion.

CSIR strategic alliances and communication group executive Dr Rachel Chikwamba said improving road infrastructure had an impact far beyond just creating better and safer roads.

“When you create better, safer and more functional road infrastructure, you make communities more efficient and you bring about social change in terms of better access and peace of mind,” she noted.