Inessential ‘upgrade’ on R40 costs R20m

R20m and counting!

This is the astronomical amount spent on a project in the inessential effort to reseal the R40 between the city and Rocky Drift.

All the project has shown thus far is shoddy workmanship and endless frustration for users as a result of loose aggregate, hours of traffic congestion, an uneven surface and downright dangerous driving conditions.

To add insult to injury, a group of residents from the Msholozi community near Rocky Drift has been intimidating the contractor for financial kickbacks.

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When this failed, they attacked some workers and destroyed five drums of butane. A case has since been opened by the contractor.

Last week, Linda Grimbeek, COO of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism, called for an immediate stop to construction, and for the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWRT) to intervene.

“Besides the extremely shoddy work, there are no safety protocols in place. Cars are damaged, and numerous accidents occur. This is a death trap,” she said in an urgent WhatsApp message to MEC Mandla Ndlovu.

“Instead of using safety barriers, rocks were merely packed on the road to direct traffic flow. Especially in the dark, one cannot even see these rocks.”

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She told Ndlovu it is unacceptable for any motorist to sit over an hour every afternoon stuck in traffic between Riverside and Kiaat Private Hospital due to the uncontrolled traffic situation. Though the aggregate was removed, the core of the issue still remains, she said.

Lowvelder managed to ascertain that the tender for the resurfacing of the R40 was won by Sizampilo Projects. It then appointed Mrhuli Trading Enterprise, a company based in Thulamahashe, as subcontractor. Questions sent to the company remain unanswered.

Bongani Dhlamini, spokesperson for the DPWRT, said they had appointed a consultant to monitor the work on a full-time basis. “The consultant and the departmental project team have rejected some of the work, and since recommended various interventions,” he said.

About damages caused by scattering aggregate, Dhlamini said the department had received many complaints about safety issues on the road.

“Loose stones being kicked up by vehicles did damage some car windscreens. Contractors were instructed to improve their signs and employ flag persons to slow down motorists during the project.”

He said the contractor has been ordered to sweep the road to remove excess loose stones and ensure safety on a more regular basis.

Regarding the group from Msholozi, Dhlamini said this has been brought to the attention of the department, and that the contractor has since opened a criminal case against the perpetrators.

“The department has no capacity to deal with the alleged ‘construction mafia’,” Dhlamini said.

“It makes no sense to spend millions of rands to reseal a road with which nothing was wrong in the first place,” agrees Mandla Gumede, a frustrated taxi driver. “The road is now very dangerous, and if a driver loses the slightest bit of concentration, he will lose control of his vehicle.”

“Since the project started, I have lost two windscreens,” an irate motorist, Adriaan Vosloo, said.

Since the resealing, the road surface is not smooth, either. “It feels like I’m riding sea waves,” Sipho Bafo said on his Facebook page. “At first I thought something was wrong with the suspension of my car, only to realise that it is in fact the road surface.”

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According to Dhlamini, the project will be completed by the end of September.

Lowvelder approached a qualified civil engineer with in-depth knowledge as a consulting engineer of road construction to give his opinion. He requested to remain anonymous.

The first and most important aspect of the R40 project is that there was no need to reseal it. The only stretch that he believed needed repairs, was the few hundred metres past Penryn College’s turn-off. He says the process of resealing is actually quite a simple process.

Resealing should be done when the existing seal shows signs of distress, such as cracking, ravelling or bleeding.

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The road surface must be cleaned and all groundwork on the sides of the road, as well as any road surface repairs (such as potholes) must be completed. A fresh layer of sealcoat or tar primer is laid to give the road a clean topcoat.

Once the road is fully level and all areas requiring pre-treatment have fully cured, the next step involves laying a new thin layer of asphalt to assure a complete, uniform surface is created.

Here, the expert says, is where the uneven road surface was born. He says the chipping machine, which lays the bed of aggregate and butane, was not working as it should have done. The surface then should be levelled with the use of a double drum roller.

The many loose stones flying around is purely shoddy workmanship. The quality of the work, he says, is purely due to the contractor’s lack of knowledge of road construction. He also blames the lack of quality control and oversight of the civil engineer.

Besides the lack of safety measures, he also says the contractor has broken one of the golden rules of any project – the erection of project board indicating all the information of the contractor and civil engineer.