A R20-million upgrade project of the Ngqura Container Terminal's automated gate system will reduce truck turnaround times and improve traffic flow, State-owned Transnet Port Terminals Cape Terminals managing executive Wandisa Vazi says.
The automated gate system was introduced in 2009 when operations began at the terminal, and enables truck drivers to interact with the system without human interaction.
Given their age, the gates have started malfunctioning, resulting in intermittent outages, which delays productivity and results in long queues of trucks coming into the terminal. This heavily affects truck turnaround, which is a key operational measure for the terminal, Vazi says.
The upgrade includes improvements to the in-gate and out-gate facilities and accompanying infrastructure and hardware.
The automated gate system upgrade is a phased project with remaining works expected to be concluded at the end of March.