Rehabilitation of
Main Road
P34-4

R698 million

Client: KZN Department of Transport

Project Description

The Rehabilitation of Main Road P34-4 (From Km 0.00 To Km 25.60). In the Empangeni Region

Contract No. ZNQ01941/ZNB01930/23/HOD/INF/24/T

Duration: 24 Months

This project forms part of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport’s Road Rehabilitation Programme. Main Road P34-4 is situated inland connecting Vryheid and Paulpietersburg and is an alternate route to Provincial Main Road P33. This 25,6km long section of Main Road 34-4 starts at Vryheid (km 0,00) and ends part way to Paulpietersburg (km 25,6), where sections of the community have been historically impoverished by a lack of infrastructure access. The section of P34-4 is situated within the Abaqulusi Local Municipal area, in the Zululand District Municipality.
This Contract is for the heavy pavement rehabilitation of Provincial Main Road 34 Section 4 (P34-4) from km 0.00 to km 25.6, which is a single carriageway surface road, with one lane in each direction. The road is approximately 8,5m wide in cross-section comprising two 3,5m lanes with 0,75m surfaced shoulders.
The road was constructed more than fifty years ago and has been subject to various maintenance interventions over the years as a temporary holding measure. The focus of the works is heavy pavement rehabilitation and includes the cleaning out of stormwater drains and culverts, installation of new subsoil drains before undertaking the pavement rehabilitation, which includes the partial removal of the top layers, the importation of material from commercial sources and in-situ recycling to construct a new stabilised subbase, followed by the construction of a bitumen stabilised base and asphalt surfacing. The pavement rehabilitation will be followed by road marking, removal and replacement of guardrails and road traffic signs. The works requires traffic accommodation in half or part widths throughout construction and ensuring that access from and to side roads along the road are kept open without undue inconvenience to the road users.

Extent of the Works

The Works to be carried out include the following main activities:

  • Establishment on site,
  • Clearing and grubbing,
  • Loading and hauling of material,
  • Cleaning of roadway, edge build up and vegetation prior to any pavement rehabilitation operations taking place,
  • Provision of traffic accommodation facilities for construction in half/part widths and for side roads,
  • Asphalt patches and other required temporary road maintenance were instructed to maintain the existing pavement during construction,
  • Searching for, proving and relocation of services within the road verges,
  • Installation and testing of new sub-soil drains,
  • Cleaning out existing stormwater culverts and open drains,
  • Modification of stormwater drainage to accommodate raised pavement levels; this includes extensions of stormwater pipes, raising or modifying stormwater catchpits or head walls,
  • Construction of kerb and channel mainly to replace those that are existing as the pavement levels will be raised; additional kerb and channel may also be instructed,
  • The logging and recording of existing road markings,
  • Removal or breaking out of existing road studs,
  • Drilling and extraction of asphalt cores to confirm depth of asphalt surfacing on bridge decks,
  • Identifying and obtaining approval for spoil sites,
  • Milling to remove existing asphalt surfacing on the road or on bridge decks to spoil or stockpile,
  • Milling to remove to spoil part of the existing base (cemented material/crushed stone) parallel to a new design levels,
  • Construct tie-ins of new pavement layers to existing tie-in points on the main road including:
    1. excavation to sample and test existing pavement layers to determine quality of subgrade,
    2. removal of existing road layers for new layer works box,
    3. removal of unsuitable materials,
    4. construction of coarse free draining layer where required at tie-ins to create support for new pavement layer works,
    5. construction of lower and upper selected layers where instructed.
    6. construction of the new BSM or Bitumen treated base as instructed.
  • Asphalt mix designs for asphalt surfacing,
  • Construction of trial sections for:
    1. in-situ recycling of cemented subbase layer,
    2. bitumen stabilised base layer,
    3. asphalt wearing course,
  • Importation of G5A or better-quality material to construct a new 250mm thick C4 subbase,
  • Construction of a 125mm thick bitumen stabilised base layer in two lifts,
  • Construction of a 50mm asphalt wearing course,
  • Construct tie-ins to side road including milling out asphalt to key it in; construction of asphalt base and asphalt surfacing,
  • Milling and replacing asphalt on bridge decks,
  • Installation of temporary road studs if required,
  • Rebuilding of gravel shoulders or verges where required to avoid shoulder drop-off,
  • Reinstatement of open drains, both lined and unlined earth drains,
  • Reinstatement or new construction of kerb and channels where required to reinstate, repair or improve what was in place before,
  • Reinstatement of electrical circuitry, induction loops and other facilities for existing traffic lights,
  • The construction of new down chutes where required to reinstate, repair or improve what was in place before,
  • Construction of erosion protection measures (gabions, stone pitching, etc.) where instructed,
  • Removal and re-erection of guardrails using existing or new materials,
  • Painting new road markings,
  • Removal and replacement of road signs,
  • Remedial work to bridge balustrades, handrails and bridge joints if instructed,
  • Finishing and cleaning up of the road and road reserve,
  • Continuous quality control over materials and workmanship; and maintaining full records of as-built materials test results and layer thickness and level measurements,
  • Compliance with the Particular Specifications regarding environmental management and occupational health and safety, during all the above construction activities,
  • Removal of all site establishment facilities, clearing of stockpile sites, removal of all waste such as cut off paper, bitumen spills, and constructional plant on completion of the Works,
  • Finishing off and rehabilitation of areas used for site establishment, stockpile sites and spoil sites.
  • Making good of any defects during the 12 months Defects Liability Period,
  • Construction of formal bell mouths at informal access roads.

The Contract Participation Goal comprises two targets, namely subcontracting of the Works to Targeted Enterprises, and employment of Targeted Labour. The participation of Targeted Enterprises and Labour, measured in monetary terms, is specified as a contract participation goal by the Employer, for the Contractor to achieve.

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