Skip to main content

Re-gravelling roads in South Africa

Consultant Mott MacDonald is providing assistance for an important project for the re-gravelling of roads in South Africa’s Western Cape. The firm is helping the Western Cape Government with planning, design and control aspects of the maintenance of gravel roads within the Overberg region, one of four regions in the province. The consultancy is also working with local provincial maintenance teams and supporting the development, improvement and management of materials supply. There are around 10,000km of
August 20, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Repairing rural roads in South Africa will improve access to the Western Cape
Consultant 2579 Mott MacDonald is providing assistance for an important project for the re-gravelling of roads in South Africa’s Western Cape. The firm is helping the Western Cape Government with planning, design and control aspects of the maintenance of gravel roads within the Overberg region, one of four regions in the province. The consultancy is also working with local provincial maintenance teams and supporting the development, improvement and management of materials supply.

There are about 10,000km of gravel roads within the Western Cape (excluding minor roads), of which approximately 1,300km are located within the Overberg region. These rural roads are susceptible to changes in traffic volumes, material properties, precipitation, temperature and even flooding, which can lead to increased deterioration. Regular maintenance activities include re-gravelling or spot re-gravelling, reworking, hard or regular blading, patching, and pothole and shoulder repairs. Suitable material sources available, such as shale, mudstone, sandstone, limestone, granite or ferricrete, need to be sourced sustainably and where possible aggregate will be obtained locally through borrow pits.

Mott MacDonald has previously supported re-gravelling and maintenance strategies in the Western Cape Province. The consultancy is using this experience to develop strategic planning and optimisation models for the sourcing and use of suitable materials from borrow pits. The condition of gravel roads will undergo detailed visual assessments and combined with annual panel inspections will contribute to an overall view of the management of the road network. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Times they are a changing
    July 23, 2012
    Construction in China still appears to be on course for growth even with the gloomy economic outlook, as it enjoys "a strong budgets position." Patrick Smith reports One thing is certain in the current global economic climate: nothing is certain. And while China has not been unaffected by the economic events of recent months it has, according to Robert Zoellinck, president of the World Bank, a very strong current account and budgetary position. For some years, the nation has enjoyed double digit growth (the
  • Granite pilots Volvo’s Compact Assist to new heights in Sacramento
    November 9, 2017
    While not required for its Sacramento Airport contract, Granite Construction* is getting to grips with IC specifications thanks to Volvo CE’s Compact Assist. In the US, 23 states have written intelligent compaction (IC) specifications for asphalt paving jobs and more states are expected to follow. Among those states with IC specs is California.
  • Linking Kenya and Uganda with a new road project
    May 10, 2018
    An upgraded road link will improve transport between Uganda and Kenya - Shem Oirere reports Rainfall patterns and type of soil in an agricultural rich area shared by the neighbouring East African countries of Kenya and Uganda was a key consideration in arriving at the decision to upgrade to bitumen standards 73km of the 118km Kapchorwa-Kitale road that links the two countries. Initially, Uganda had proposed to have the road between Kapchorwa and Suam on its border with Kenya re-gravelled and widened to a
  • Rural roads important to global development
    February 10, 2012
    Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard highlights that the key importance of rural roads in the context of global development is only now being fully recognised, is not receiving enough attention and is facing vital new challenges