The the rehabilitation project of a section of national road R23, between Stand-erton and Greylingstad, in Mpumalanga, is 8% complete and expected to be completed in June 2016, says Roadcrete Africa, a 100% subsidiary of construction and engineering group Basil Read.

The R637-million contract, which started on March 1, was awarded by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

The 36-month rehabilitation project entails the reconstruction, including additional pavement layers and passing lanes, of the R23, Section 2. Although this section of the national road covers 56 km, it excludes the 4 km section of road in the urban area of Standerton, resulting in the total length being 52 km, says Basil Read CEO Marius Heyns.

He explains that the existing road is a two-lane single carriageway with gravel shoulders on either side. The lane widths of the road are generally 3.6 m to 3.7 m while the gravel shoulders are about 2.5 m in width.

The work scope entails the rehabilitation and strengthening of the existing road by means of removing the thick bituminous surfacing layers and adding a new cement stabilised subbase, crushed stone base and surfacing layers. In some instances the subbase and selected layer material will be pretreated with lime to improve the quality of the materials, says Heyns.

The entire upper selected layer will be reconstructed. The road will also be widened to accommodate climbing lanes.

Structural works include the upgrading and widening of several bridges and major culverts, owing to the widening of the road and the need to improve the hydraulic capacity of the structures. The vertical alignment of the road will also be improved at these structures.

Basil Read MD Dave Bennett adds that the company was awarded the adjacent Standerton to Platrand project, which is valued at R351-million. The project is 2% complete, with completion expected in July 2015.