The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has begun a pilot in Mpumalanga as part of a national project to overcome the country’s pothole problems.
Chief executive officer of Sanral, Reginald Demana, said the implementation of the Vala Zonke campaign is starting with a stretch of road in Standerton, Mpumalanga.
Then it will be rolled out nationally.
Vala Zonke is spearheaded by Sanral and the Provincial Departments of Transport.
National Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, said that the planned R1,1bn upgrade to the R23 in Standerton will lead to growth in the area.
She said this as she launched the project earlier this week.
“We are spending billions of rands to improve our infrastructure and build new roads to move people and goods.
“No investor will want to invest in a country which does not have this infrastructure so we have the Vala Zonke campaign to ensure that our roads are repaired and maintained,” she said.
Sanral says it and its other stakeholders have a national “war room” to tackle the country’s pothole problems.
It says that it’s using nanotechnology to set international standards to improve road maintenance as part of Vala Zonke.
Demana said Sanral was assisting with checking the quality of materials used for road restoration to ensure fixed potholed roads last.
It will also oversee the level of compaction at the repaired sections and other important elements in road construction or maintenance.
“We do not want to do repairs and then, after the first rains, we have to come back as the repairs were undertaken incorrectly.” he said.
