Building South Africa through better roads
The Western Cape is home to one of the most strategic assets of the national road network, the Huguenot Tunnel. By The Way sat down with Western Region Manager Randall Cable to talk about this tunnel’s contribution to the regional economy and to investigate the options for its long-awaited upgrade. In October last year, SANRAL hosted tunnel experts from around the world for a conference on Road Tunnel Operations in Low and Medium Income Countries. From this engagement, two outcomes were clear. SANRAL has to:
“The one thing that most people focus on is the closure of the tunnel – and the duration thereof – while upgrades are under way. We certainly are cognisant of road users’ concerns about their travel patterns, how it affects the tourism sector and the economic impact of closing the tunnel. However, the closure period can only be determined once the final design proposal for the South Bore has been completed,” said Cable. “That being said, we will consider various innovative measures to reduce the closure period, by introducing more than one work team, night-time work to ensure the tunnel can be operational during the day, permitting only light motor vehicles through the tunnel and diverting all heavy vehicles along alternative routes.
“Having considered the options, and the most feasible approach, once the South Bore is completed, the North Bore can be upgraded. It will be aligned to EU standards, operational and safety inefficiencies will be eliminated in both tunnels and there will be no need to ever divert traffic over the mountain pass if one of the bores is closed due to an incident.
“…we will consider various
innovative measures to reduce
the closure period…”
We’ll have improved safety and minimal loss of revenue,” he said. It is envisaged that the first phase of closure will occur in May/June 2019, to enable works to start, once the design is completed and the civil works contract is awarded.
Refurbishment of the South Bore could be completed by January 2020, while construction on the North Bore is targeted towards January 2021 and finally twin-bore operation could be effective by December 2025. The value of the full upgrade comes to R2.5bn,
which entails the upgrade of the North Bore and the refurbishment of the South Bore, effectively improving the capacity and the safety of the South Bore.
SANRAL remains committed to engaging with all relevant stakeholders to promote the concept of upgrading of the North bore as a medium- to long-term development strategy, which ultimately puts one of our most strategic assets on a par with some of the leading tunnels in the world.
Abusy section of the R67 route between Whittlesea and Queenstown in the Eastern Cape will soon be safer for motorists and communities. Concor Infrastructure, under the supervision of KBK Engineers, is progressing well on its contract for SANRAL to widen the roadway and improve vertical and horizontal alignments. Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2019, work has been ongoing since November 2016 on a 15.4km stretch between Whittlesea and the Swart Kei River, including a 740m section that runs
through the town of Whittlesea. Concor Infrastructure site agent Lwandiso Reve said that the road will remain a single-lane carriageway, but a 3m shoulder is being added on each side, making for safer driving conditions.
The widening also means extensions to culverts and cattle crossings under
the roadway.
“SANRAL wanted us to ensure that traffic flow was disrupted as little as possible, so we have created six diversions around the areas where culverts and other extensions were
necessary,” said Reve.
Building South Africa through better roads