MICHAEL CRAIG writes:
Regarding your recent front page report on repairs currently taking place on the R21 south between the Olifantsfontein and Bapsfontein/Bronkhorstspruit off ramps.
This highway (from ORT International to Pretoria) was upgraded from two lanes in each direction to four lanes and completed in time for the 2010 World Cup.
At the time various estimates for these upgrades varied from twenty to thirty years life span for the roads. Now, four years later, major repairs are being undertaken.
The road surface is being milled away in large blocks and refilled with asphalt and levelled. Why?
Is it because of poor workmanship? Inferior materials? Rushed completion to meet deadlines? All of these? None of these?
This is a SANRAL toll road.
Who is paying for the repairs? Are they being carried out under terms of the guarantee (I hope that there is a guarantee)? Retention fees? Or just another “Oh well, these things happen” scenario MMC?
