Highway upgrades ensure materials handling safety, efficiency

31st January 2014

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

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The Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (Bakwena) has started with the second major upgrading stage of the N1 and N4 toll route, which started in 2011 and will end in 2015, leading to further improvements on more than half of the 385 km motorway.

Bank loans amounting to R2.4-billion were raised in 2001 by Bakwena to undertake initial construction works on the N1 and N4. A further investment of R1.8-billion was made in 2012 to start with the second major upgrade.

This year marks the thirteenth year of a 30-year-long concession contract with the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). The private-sector toll concession contract, awarded in 2001, has resulted in numerous upgrades, with the addition of complete sections to the Bakwena concession highway improving safety and easing the logistics of materials handling in the north of South Africa.

Bakwena is responsible for the design, financing and construction, as well as the ongoing operations and maintenance of 385 km of toll road. The road includes 95 km of the N1, from Pretoria northwards to Bela Bela, and a 290 km section of the N4 from Pretoria, westwards to the Botswana border.

Initial construction work, which ended in 2004, was followed by maintenance procedures and smaller rehabilitation operations. Specified repair deadlines had to be met, which included repairing potholes within four hours of notification.

Bakwena commercial manager Liam Clarke notes that, at present, more than 88% of land freight is transported by road. “This is a clear indication of the importance of roads to the economy of the country. The operation and maintenance costs of heavy and light vehicles are significantly impacted on by the condition of roads,” he says, adding that the impact on vehicles could easily increase three- fold, depending on how bad the condition of the road is.

The N1 and N4 toll concession is the central link of a freeway connecting Southern Africa’s east and west coasts. From the east, the N4 toll route, operated by Trans African Concessions, stretches from the Mozambique capital, Maputo, through Mpumalanga and Gauteng to Pretoria, where it becomes the Bakwena N4, which ends at the Botswana border. At the border, it joins the Trans Kalahari Highway through Botswana and links to the Port of Walvis Bay in Namibia.

Bakwena reports that an average of 170 000 vehicles a day pass through the Bakwena N1 and N4 toll plazas. “Most of this is commuter traffic around the northern and eastern parts of Pretoria, which has experienced major growth in recent years,” says Clarke.

Trucks travelling on the N1, to and from Namibia and Botswana, as well as from mining areas around Rustenburg and Brits, account for 10% of the traffic that the Bakwena concession is required to manage.

Importance of Safety

Improving safety on the route is a major priority for Bakwena. “We constantly monitor traffic, analyse trends, proactively take corrective action, assess whether the infrastructure needs to be enhanced to increase safety and provide a 24/7 route-assistance and customer-care service,” says Clarke.

When certain traffic thresholds are reached, additional lanes and intersection improvements are implemented. “These improvements ensure that traffic flow is maintained at satisfactory levels,” he adds.

The International Roughness Index is an internationally accepted method of measurement of the surface quality of roads. According to the index, Bakwena currently maintains the N1 and N4 to a good/very good standard, resulting in considerable savings to freight operators along the route, compared with alternative routes.

Contract Agreement

Bakwena conducts its business in terms of the Concession Agreement with Sanral, which operates on behalf of the National Department of Transport, which, in turn, owns the road.

“Government has an obligation to ensure that roads are safe and that the economy of the country is supported. This, of course, requires funding,” says Clarke.

There are several ways in which government can fund the construction and maintenance of roads, one of which is to toll a section of road.

During the initial construction works in 2001/2, Bakwena upgraded the existing road and built new road sections to the best international standards for horizontal and vertical alignment. The ongoing maintenance is specified in the concession contract with strict adherence to timelines in terms of repairing defects and attending to complaints on the route.

Restoring the Roads

Rehabilitation works on the N1 between Pretoria and Bela Bela were essential to improving the safety of road users. “This road was built in the 1970s and had reached the end of its design life, so it urgently needed rehabilitation,” notes Clarke.

A new section was added to the N4 around Pretoria to ease growing commuter traffic congestion and provide access to Rosslyn, while construction of about 100 km of new road between Pretoria and Rustenburg was also undertaken.

Further, a new road that bypassed Rustenburg, avoiding the old road – which passed through the city – was constructed and was completed by mid-2003. Signifi- cant upgrades were also made to sections of the road from Rustenburg to the Botswana border, through Swartruggens, Zeerust and Lehurutshe, and were also completed by mid-2003.

Future Plans

While maintenance and smaller-scale rehabilitation and upgrading will continue after 2015, the Bakwena concession will undertake another major works programme towards the end of its contract, from 2028 to 2031.

This will enable the concession to comply with a key stipulation in its con- tract, which states that the roads will be returned to Sanral in a predetermined condition and be able to handle a specified traffic capacity. “This will enable the State to operate them without the need for further major works for several years after the concession,” says Clarke.

He adds that Bakwena has paved the way for growth in development by developing the N4 west from Pretoria to the Botswana border into a modern freeway, which has provided easier access to the Rosslyn industrial area.

“Bakwena has also contributed to the large-scale expansion of the mining centre of Rustenburg, which has far outstripped yearly national growth rates,” says Clarke. Both the N1 and N4 provide strategic connections beyond South Africa’s borders to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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