The Johannesburg Roads Agency’s (JRA’s) asphalt plant, in Booysens, is fully functional and operations have resumed after a successful trial-run during the past week.
The plant, which produces asphalt used for road construction and repairs, was closed in August last year, owing to technical and operational challenges.
The extended downtime has affected the speed of service delivery and the JRA had to source asphalt from private suppliers for roads maintenance work.
The JRA is currently in the second phase of its city-wide Accelerated Service Delivery Plan for pothole repairs, road reinstatements, cleaning of kerbs, pavement cleaning and road markings.
The JRA reports that, for the first time, the plant has started producing cold-mix, which will be used for emergency repairs and during inclement weather.
Further, JRA has a plan to activate the recycling facility of the plant. Recycled material will supplement the use of virgin input materials and reduce production costs significantly.
The plant produces hot and cold mixes at a designed maximum capacity of 220 t/h. However, the daily production levels are demand-based.