Eastern Cape residents are no strangers to potholes – but an innovative programme by the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW) is set on making potholes in the province a thing of the past.
The Road Enterprise Development Programme (REDP), launched in March 2010, has been rolling out various roads maintenance projects throughout the Eastern Cape, including everything from large scale reseals and bridge-building to potholes and road failure reliefs.
“Soon it will be smooth sailing in the Eastern Cape for motorists and commuters. The Eastern Cape’s roads have long needed attention and the REDP strategically aims to facilitate meeting these ends, in the process developing emergent and small construction firms to build roads under mentorship of established construction companies and engineers,” said Ayanda Vilakazi, Coega Development Corporation (CDC) head of marketing and communications.
The CDC is the implementing agent for the programme.
The broader community is also benefiting through better road links to health, education, amenities, food supplies and transport routes.
In the past year over 25 685.7 cubic meters of potholes have been fixed throughout the province – either through the process of plugging or base and surface repair.
The process of plugging is when a pothole is immediately patched with cold premix. Base and surface repair is when the road layer is removed and a new layer is laid with a new blacktop surface.
The areas of concentration have been the Kouga District and the following Eastern Cape roads: R392, R410, R408, R409, R390, R39, R349, R396; with many more earmarked for repair in the near future.
The REDP sees the dual benefit of roads construction in the Eastern Cape and simultaneous training and development of small micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs). The enterprise development programme targets contractors, material suppliers, quarry operators, plant hires, consultants and mechanics on road infrastructure construction and maintenance in the region.
“A simple approach to maintenance and infrastructure upgrade is seeing the creation of jobs and facilitation of skills development,” added Vilakazi.
According to the CDC, 80% of the total roads construction projects have been awarded to small businesses over the past year.
A Queenstown engineer working on the REDP, Lacier Wynne, said potholes were a perennial problem throughout the country and that only a complete overhaul of the roads system would address the problem, but added that the REDP initiative was a step in the right direction as an immediate solution.
Participants on the project include engineers, contractors, grasscutters, flag bearers and safety officers.
Wynne, who is contracted by Mark Muckle PR Tech Engineering, says roads are made up of various layers which can be damaged by water and general wear-and-tear causing potholes.
“Cracks on the roads appear first and water seeps into the cracks and into the base characteristics of the materials used. These materials then have insufficient strength, and become weak under the wheels of heavy trucks – and that’s where you get your potholes, which are quite easily formed.”
The alternative to black tar roads are concrete roads which are more expensive to lay, but last much longer before they require repair.
“However, due to high costs, the black tarred roads are used in local communities and on all national roads,” said Wynne.
The REDP engineers and construction workers repair potholes throughout the Eastern Cape and in the process document the sites of repair to ensure they are monitored.
“When potholes are repaired, the date and time is recorded next to the pothole in visible road markings,” said Vilakazi.
“We are essentially data-basing the state of the roads – but this process is not without its challenges. The reality is that while the repair jobs are well done, it is not long before a new pothole appears directly next to the very area that had been repaired. In time the capacitated SMMEs will be used for a complete overhaul of the Eastern Cape roads network, but for now this approach is the immediate solution.”
The CDC believes in the power of the programme. “The REDP is an incredibly powerful, high-impact project which needs to be recognised as a pioneering initiative on behalf of government to deliver significant and life-changing infrastructure to the people of the Eastern Cape and South Africa,” said Vilakazi.
“The reality is that the Eastern Cape has many arterial routes which are used by heavy vehicles like trucks and the REDP is moving to mitigate immediate problems while creating a long-term solution in the form of enterprises which are empowered to provide the critical infrastructure needed in the province. This approach ensures delivery and high impact skills development.”
The REDP in numbers 2012/13:
- Base and Surface Repair: 25 458m3
- Plugging: 227.7m3
- Lane Marking: 850kms
Alan Straton
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