Construction consortium Infralink on Wednesday officially opened Zimbabwe’s first toll plaza – Ntabazinduna – 20 km outside Bulawayo.
The plaza was the first of eight to be constructed as part of the R1.4-billion Phase 1 of the Zimbabwean government’s strategic initiative to upgrade the logistics networks in the country to support its anticipated growth.
In 2011, Infralink, which is a joint venture between the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) and construction firm Group Five International, was awarded the contract to undertake Phase 1, which entails the rehabilitation of the 822 km national Plumtree–Harare–Mutare highway (east-to-west corridor) and the construction of toll plazas to replace the country’s manual toll collection system.
Funded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the upgraded routes and tolling infrastructure were expected to enable cost-effective movement of goods and persons within the country, as well as enhance regional integration by linking Southern Africa Development Community trade corridors through neighbouring Mozambique and Botswana.
Infralink had contracted Intertoll Africa to construct and operate the toll plazas, as well as manage road maintenance after Infralink completed the rehabilitation process.
Intertoll Africa MD Themba Mosai told Engineering News Online that the plaza was the first in the world to be operated fully on solar power. The facility’s power generation capacity is 34 kW, but it was currently only using between 2.3 kW and 3 kW during the day and between 4 kW and 5 kW at night.
Mosai indicated that between 2 500 and 3 000 vehicles passed through the plaza on a daily basis, but that this was expected to increase as the country’s gross domestic product grew.
He stated that although the plaza, which employed about 30 people, currently operated on a cash-only basis, a ‘top-up’ card system would be implemented as soon as all the plazas were implemented.
Vehicles are charged according to their size. Motorcycles were not charged, while light vehicles (Class 1) paid $1, taxis (Class 2) $2, buses with two double-axles (Class 3) $3, trucks with two double-axles (Class 4) $4 and larger trucks $5. However, Mosi noted that these tariffs would be reviewed once all the tollgates were operational. Yearly price reviews would also be done thereafter.
Further, the facility operated on a Web-based system and also incorporated a load gauge to measure vehicles’ cargo and an automatic vehicle classifier to guarantee the correct tariff collection.
Zinara CEO Frank Chitukutuku said Phase 1 had created about 1 800 jobs for Zimbabweans, of which 30% were women.
“Work [infrastructure development and mechanisation] is also being done on other toll systems, on other routes, but on a smaller scale,” he noted, adding that these projects were expected to be complete by July 1.
Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development Minister Nicholas Goche put forward that most of the country’s 88 133 km road network required rehabilitation, but that government funding thereof had become unsustainable. He pointed out that tolling alleviated pressure on the country’s budget, enabling the flow of funds to other socioeconomic causes.
Group Five investments and concessions executive director Eric Vemer told Engineering News Online that the construction of the remaining seven toll plazas and the rest of the road rehabiliation would be completed over the next 18 months. Although a ninth toll plaza was on the cards, it had not yet been approved.
He further noted that 320 km of the 822 km had been completed to date.
Meanwhile, Vemer pointed out that negotiations around Phase 2 of Zimbabwe’s road rehabilitation programme, which would cover the road between Bulawayo and Harare (west-to-east corridor) were still under way.