HELLO FREE STATE 2018

UPGRADE OF N1 FROM TROMPSBURG TO FONTEINTJIE

The upgrading of the road between Trompsburg interchange and Fonteintjie was completed at the end of November 2017, but not without challenges.

The project was undertaken because there was a need to enlarge a number of culverts or bridges that had initially been designed to handle relatively small floods.

SANRAL Eastern Region Project Manager Hugh Brooks said: “The upgrading of these structures ensured that this section was now built to handle a 1-in-100-year flood, in line with national road standards.
“It proved cheaper to build an entirely new carriageway, with larger structures, west of the existing carriageway and demolish the original carriageway.”

He said that the project was delayed by about 14 months due to some unforeseen challenges.

“The exceptional drought in the region hampered construction activities, as water is an important

aspect of road building. Then the material, to be sourced from the local borrow pits, ended up being harder than expected, which resulted in additional cost and time being granted to the contractor to complete the project.”

N6 UPGRADE ON TRACK

The upgrading of the N6 route between Smithfield and Rouxville is well under way. It entails improving road alignment for safety, as well as some capacity improvements.

The three-year project, valued at R450m, started in May 2017 and includes the rehabilitation of the Caledon bridge. This involves widening the piers, bases and deck.

Nthabiseng Sekabate, a site agent whose company is tasked with overseeing the extension of the Caledon bridge, said: “We first installed pilings on the eight piers

and extended the base of the piers. Our main challenge has been natural elements. When it rains heavily, we get flooding and production slows down onsite. This has a financial impact, as the site team needs to be paid even we’re not generating income.”

She said her team has learnt a lot while working on the project and her goal is to work on more and bigger projects.

SANRAL Project Manager Jason Louw said everything’s on schedule. “The contractor is progressing well and is on track with the programme,” he said.