Company Announcement - Murray & Roberts Infrastructure has been awarded a contract by the North West Provincial Government’s Department of Public Works and Roads to upgrade various gravel roads in the Ganyesa area, North West of Vryburg. The contract, which is being overseen by Aurecon as consulting engineer, forms part of the province’s concerted efforts to upgrade its road infrastructure.

“The scope of work comprises the upgrading of gravel roads D327 and Z389 to a surface standard, plus appurtenant works,” Junior Nortje, Murray & Roberts Infrastructure site agent, says. The contract covers 58.4 km and was awarded in May 2014, with completion anticipated by May 2016. bThe pavement specification for the project is a 13.2 mm / 6.7 mm double seal, with layerworks consisting of a G5 natural gravel base, a C4 stabilised sub-base, a G7 selected layer and a G9 fill. “There is a mobile crushing plant, consisting of a jaw crusher and a gyratory cone crusher, on site,” Nortje says. “We are still determining the need to crush material for the base and sub base.” The fleet on site at present encompasses a full range of road construction equipment, from graders to rollers, tipper trucks, water carts, excavators and TLBs. “The challenges posed by the project at this initial stage are mainly the remote location in the former Bophuthatswana, about 70 km north of the town of Vryburg in the North West Province, in terms of logistics and supply chain management,” Nortje says.

This is a flagship contract for Murray & Roberts Infrastructure in the area as the North West Province local government has embarked on a major infrastructure development drive. In his ‘State of the Province’ address in June, North West Province Premier Supra Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo said: “Brand North West has suffered major reputational damage due to the bad condition of most of our roads. We are going to do everything with the limited resources available to local government to improve the general condition of our roads.”