SANRAL Investing in the environment

Saving every drop

Despite winter’s increased likelihood of rainfall in the Western Cape, SANRAL remains committed to saving as much water as possible – with simple, but smart initiatives that keep consumption levels down to a minimum. Environmental responsibility is

not new to SANRAL. A few years ago, the agency’s Western Cape building was awarded the 4 Star Green Star SA rating for eco-friendly office design. We are always exploring ways to reduce our carbon footprint, so when severe water restrictions became par-forthe- course,

the building was quickly adapted to ensure the team saved every possible drop. All the toilets are connected to rainwater tanks. However, with a shortage of rain, the tanks ran dry. They are now filled with recycled, treated effluent water, which is obtained from a local sewerage

plant.Fresh water supply to hand basins in the bathrooms have largely been shut down. And only one basin per bathroom has water connected to it. That specific tap has been fitted with a water-saving aerator, which reduces the water flow to 1.25ℓ of water per minute. In the interests of maintaining hygiene, waterless hand sanitiser works well.

Kitchens were fitted with watersaving aerators. Water has been reduced to 2ℓ per minute, while portable plastic basins are used to harvest the grey water, which is later used to water the garden.

Outside the building, the irrigation system has been linked to the rainwater-harvesting tank system, which is filled with the treated effluent. The garden is now watered twice a week, without a single drop of municipal water. In keeping with the aesthetic appeal of the building, the water-feature ponds are also connected to the irrigation systems and a liquid pool blanket has been added to the water to reduce evaporation by up to 80%.

SANRAL’s former Western Region Manager Kobus van der Walt was highly pleased to see that the culture of saving water had been embraced by staff both at home and at work. “As a company, we are committed to playing our part to save as much water as possible,” he said.

“While water consumption on construction sites is not always directly within our control, SANRAL actively engages its contracting partners to ensure they find alternative sources of water where possible – and use only the bare minimum of municipal water – while maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality when it comes to developing and maintaining our country’s road network.”

More than 200 benefit from multimillion-rand project on N2 EC

More than 200 people benefited from the national route N2 from Komgha River to Grahamstown and Keiskamma Pass to Keiskamma River roadworks project.

Training was provided to 136 local labourers, of which 73 were women. The R96m project, which lasted for 14 months, entailed resurfacing the road, construction of culvert inlet and outlet structures, installation of drains and replacement of bridge joints. SANRAL also cleared dense vegetation along fence lines, to protect the fence from fire damage, and repaired the entire fence line to ensure livestock does not enter the road reserve.

The resurfacing of 41km of the N2 between

Komgha River and Grahamstown, N2 section 14 from Keiskamma Pass to Keiskamma River, was completed in May 2017. Weliswa Jantjies, of Weli and Cousins General Trading, employed about 20 labourers over a six-month period, building gabions, maintaining culverts and painting rest area tables and benches.

The contractor had set aside traffic accommodation, guard rail repairs, bush clearing, fencing and rest area improvement work for target enterprise subcontractors. Four target enterprise subcontractors were engaged on the project with a total expenditure of approximately R11.7m. Of these, three were women-owned companies, accounting for a combined

expenditure of approximately R10.2m. In addition to the formal training, there was on-the-job training and mentoring by the contractor’s personnel. The formal courses include training in traffic accommodation (flagman stop/ go), traffic accommodation (flagman stop/go/radio), first aid, occupational health and safety, financial life skills and roadside safety for construction workers.Mbulelo Peterson, SANRAL’s Southern Region Manager, said: “The expected road maintenance lifespan is between eight and 10 years before any major maintenance work will be carried out on the road. Other benefits of the upgrade will result in a smoother riding surface with less wear-and-tear on vehicles.”