North coast N2 upgrade near completion
Construction work has been completed in sections of the N2, between Mtunzini toll plaza and the Empangeni T-junction, to upgrade it into a 14-metre wide, safer dual carriage highway, which will enable the key arterial road to cope with increased traffic volumes.
The upgrading of a 33km stretch of the N2, between Mtunzini toll plaza and the Empangeni T-junction on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast and which has been the scene of several fatal crashes, is nearing completion.
The almost R1bn project will result in a 14-metre wide, safer dual carriage highway, which will enable the key arterial road to cope with increased traffic volumes.
The upgrade of this section of the N2 commenced in March 2016. Technical challenges were encountered with the installation of up to 35m deep piles required for the construction of two major new bridges over the uMhlatuze and uMhlalazi rivers.
When the project is complete, four agricultural overpasses over the N2 would have been lengthened; new bridges would have been built at the R34 Empangeni/Richards Bay interchange and at the P537 Port Dunford underpass; two road-over-rail bridges would have been constructed; and 16 major box culverts and
numerous minor box culverts and other drainage structures would also have been built. In addition, the height of two overpasses would have been increased by jacking up the bridges.
This stretch of the N2 is on a declared toll road and, therefore, the income generated from the toll plazas on the N2 north will be utilised for funding this project.
Corné Roux, SANRAL Eastern Region Project Manager, said due to the growth in traffic, the current lane configuration became inadequate, resulting in delays experienced by the travelling public.
He said current traffic volumes on the N2 south of Empangeni exceeded 12 000 vehicles per day, with the highest traffic volumes occurring on the section between the eSikhawini and Empangeni interchanges.
Big brother watching cable thieves
The wanton destruction of electrical installations along national roads in KwaZulu-Natal by cable thieves has led to SANRAL putting in place intelligent monitoring systems.
Millions of rands worth of transformers, electrical distribution boxes and street light poles have been destroyed by vandals, causing inconvenience for motorists as well as pedestrians at night.
Zakhele Mthethwa, Electrical Project Manager at SANRAL’s Eastern Region, says SANRAL was committed to ensuring the safety of motorists and pedestrians. Hence, a range of security measures will be implemented to curb the sabotage of electrical equipment for copper cabling that is subsequently sold to scrap metal dealers.
Sensors will be placed in transformers and electrical distribution boxes to pick up any unusual vibration such as when somebody is trying to get unauthorised access.
The sensors will send a signal to the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) in Pietermaritzburg where dedicated staff will be monitoring the lighting equipment. Security personnel will be dispatched to the site to apprehend the thieves who will be handed over to the police.
Mthethwa says sensors will be rolled out initially to safeguard the electrical equipment at Umgeni Road/ M19 Intersection which has 242 light poles, and the freeway between Umdloti Interchange and Tongaat Town Plaza which has 582 light poles.
Vandal-proof light poles will replace those that were cut down by cable thieves. Closed-circuit television cameras will also be installed and these will be monitored around the clock at the TMC to apprehend vandals.
It is estimated the security features at Umgeni Road/ M19 Intersection and the freeway between Umdloti Interchange and Tongaat Town Plaza will cost about R15m.
Zakhele Mthethwa, Electrical Project Manager at SANRAL Eastern Region.
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