Sanral contractor on-site on damaged R40
The actual work starts as soon the site is fully identified. At the moment, the contractor is dealing with the contract participation goals, such as local labour and subcontractor opportunities in the project over the next four months.
A contractor, VEA Roads Maintenance, is finally on-site to start with repairs to the damaged section on the busy R40.
Sanral’s spokesperson, Vusi Mona, said they will not only focus on the sinkhole near the Klipkopjes Dam, but will also start with the most problematic issues along the 19.6km stretch of road.
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“The contractor is already on-site and will be starting with the actual work as soon the site is fully identified; this was done over a period of three months, ending April. During this time, the contractor dealt with their contract participation goals for the different work packages. This included local labour and subcontractor opportunities to participate in the project over four months,” he said.
Mona said the sinkhole requires expertise as it’s a natural phenomenon. The engineers are on-site to find the best solutions to resolve the issue. “Once all solutions are found, the rebuilding of the road will commence. Sanral has had challenges with its preferential procurement policy, which has seen several tenders being cancelled or put on hold. The R40 was also affected, which caused the delay,” he said.
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Sanral had set aside between R18m and R40m for the rehabilitation of the road in question.
This busy route was damaged by heavy storms across the Lowveld in February last year. Some of the roads that had been closed due to these damages have been temporarily reopened, but this specific stretch of the R40 is still operating on a stop-and-go basis. This will now soon be a thing of the past, with the long-awaited refurbishment in process.
