Installed on Maputo
toll road
Anna Cox
ROAD SYSTEMS which are able to detect the weight of trucks while they are travelling have been installed on the newly-constructed N4 between Balmoral in Mpumalanga and Maputo.
The systems have been installed by Tollink which has designed the engineering and architectural plans for the five toll plazas along the route.
The system incorporates closed-circuit television which enables overweight trucks to be traced.
The toll road is almost complete and is due to be opened in August. It involved building 60km of new road infrastructure, extensive rehabilitation work and resealing and resurfacing as well as operating and managing the toll road.
The R3 billion contract was awarded to Trans African Concessions which, in 1996, was appointed to build, operate and maintain the road for 30 years after which it will be handed back to Government.
The construction forms part of the Maputo Development Corridor. Previously the road connected only to Maputo through Boane. It now leads straight into Maputo, reducing the travelling distance by about 32 km.
Tollink was awarded a R40 million contract for supplying hardware and software.
The company uses internationally-accepted systems which enable the system to accept any currency, operate in numerous languages and accept any form of payment from cash to credit card and frequent user cards.
Although many communities living along the route initially protested against the development of the road, last yearÕs floods revealed the poor condition of local roads and the resistance has largely disappeared.
A total of 400 landmines had to be cleared before construction on the Mozambique side started.
