JSE-listed construction and engineering group Basil Read was awarded a R279-million contract to rehabilitate section four of the N5 between Vaalpensspruit and Winburg, in the Free State, the company announced on Monday.
The contract, which was awarded by the South African National Roads Agency Limited, would start in mid-February and was expected to take 24 months to complete.
The total length of the section to be rehabilitated was 33.4 km, starting east of Vaalpensspruit and terminating west at the N1 on- and off-ramps.
The scope of the roadworks included the horizontal realignment of three sections, the construction of six new 19-km-long climbing lanes and the upgrade of five intersections with exclusive right-turning lanes.
In addition, the contract would include the surfacing of 1 m of the shoulders on 80% of the road and fully surfaced shoulders of 2.5 m wide on the remainder, as well as the crushing of some 800 000 t of G1 and G5 aggregate.
The project also included the construction of two new major bridges – the Tom Schutte bridge at 8.4 km and the Du Plooyspruit bridge at 41 km from Vaalpensspruit, as well as the widening of concrete culverts.
"We are pleased that this contract has been awarded to our Roadcrete division and we are looking forward to strong business activity in our roads division this year," said Basil Read CEO Marius Heyns.