Transport News
Transport Minister welcomes PRASA War Room progress; Aarto ruling Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga outlines the spate of vandalism of trucks and how the department is mitigating this.
The Department of Transport is pleased with the progress the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is making through a War Room that is suggested to collaborate the recovery effort of numerous corridors and accelerate the infrastructure rollout, enhance security and provide momentum to the modernisation programme. This was noted by Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga on July 20, throughout an update on the department’s first-quarter performance. The update followed a check out by the department to the War Room.
Firm rolls out sustainability project
Second-hand vehicle buying and selling company WeBuyCars has successfully executed various sustainability solutions across its showrooms nationally, including the adoption of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting. The project aims to promote eco-friendly practices and ensure a more sustainable and responsible approach to its business practice.
DTIC aims to improve awareness on AfCFTA through outreach programme
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) has actually embarked on provincial outreach and awareness workshops in partnership with provincial governments, wherein it hopes to have actually engaged all provinces on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by the end of July. The DTIC is also establishing an AfCFTA execution strategy, consisting of the establishment of a nationwide application committee and a targeted technique for the carry out of the AfCFTA.
Johannesburg Roads Agency CEO sacked after fake qualification probe
The contract of the CEO of the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), Tshepo Mahanuke, was ended. On Wednesday, the firm said the board had resolved to dismiss Mahanuke after he failed to produce counter-evidence in response to the claims of fraud.
Structural demolitions pick up pace
Requests for proposals for structural demolition have increased recently, following a backlog in maintenance and repairs of critical infrastructure, owing to the temporary suspension of non-critical works during Covid-19. The proposals form part of remedial works or of larger replacement projects. Many of the projects being awarded currently were originally tendered for in 2018, with works that were deemed necessary then, but are now being escalated to urgent, says demolition contractor Jet Demolition contracts manager Kate Bester.
Ramping up new builds, maintenance
Roads firm the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) will continue to increase roadway construction and maintenance across South Africa. These efforts comprise many tasks consisting of enhancements made to the Huguenot Tunnel located on the N1 in the Western Cape. “We are following [President Cyril Ramaphosa’s] require facilities advancement to drive South Africa’s economic development and recovery. [Transportation Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga] has in current weeks went to a variety of our multibillion-rand tasks, linking the different provinces and ensuring that individuals and items move more efficiently. This is everything about the economy and providing on the need for economic development,” Sanral CEO Reginald Demana says.
Taking oil out of bitumen
Instant Bio-Bitumen, a carbon-negative option to conventional bitumen derived from the refining of petroleum for usage as the binder in asphalt products, is currently being evaluated by asphalt producer AECI Much Asphalt. The testing forms part of the regional asphalt industry’s work towards minimizing its carbon footprint and improving sustainability by using waste products to produce roadway surfaces that last longer.
Extreme weather erodes road networks
Extreme weather associated with climate change has resulted in many roads becoming impassable, sustaining serious damage or being completely destroyed. The South African roads industry has sought to minimise the impact of climate change on our roads through emergency repair initiatives and continuous improvement of asphalt products, explains Society for Asphalt Technology (SAT) VP Joanne Muller.
Only 8% of Joburg’s bridges in good condition
Of the 1 592 bridges in the City of Johannesburg, just 8% are considered to be in great condition, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Transport Kenny Kunene said. “In truth, some of our engineers do not drive over specific bridges,” he added throughout a media briefing on June 29.
Discovery Pothole Patrol introduces advanced AI to assist in pothole detection
Insurance business Discovery Insure has introduced innovative expert system (AI) abilities to its Pothole Patrol fleet, which will allow it to spot road defects more accurately and effectively. The Pothole Patrol public-private collaboration is a wise mobility initiative aimed at enabling the speedy reporting of pits to impact repair work throughout Johannesburg.
Pylon-spire construction advancing steadily at Msikaba bridge project
The pylon spires of South Africa’s Msikaba Bridge megaproject are soon to tower almost 130 m high at each side of the 197-m-deep Msikaba river gorge. The bridge forms part of the South African National Roads Agency’s N2 Wild Coast project, and is being constructed by the CME joint venture – a partnership between black-owned South African construction companies Concor and Mecsa.
AfriSam participating in Cape Interchange upgrade
Cape specialist Haw & & Inglis Construction has, because July 2021, been carrying out an upgrade of Cape Town’s Refinery interchange, supported by building materials from AfriSam. The project is due for conclusion in early 2024, delivering two new greater and wider bridges over the N7 highway– a new road-over-rail bridge alongside the existing bridge, which is undergoing rehab works, and updated access ramps.
WSP working on several major road upgrades in Gauteng
Consulting engineering company WSP is actively associated with numerous significant tactical highway jobs throughout Gauteng, working with designers, as well as the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport, to perform massive provincial roadway projects that strategically targeted at unlocking the potential for socioeconomic growth and development in the area. "" We’ve managed to develop a durable relationship with the department, leveraging our … record and … consulting services to add to Gauteng’s infrastructure advancement,” WSP transportation and infrastructure principal partner Sameshan Naidoo states.
SA’s logistics chain in ‘desperate’ need of PPPs – SAAFF
Port and rail parastatal Transnet and government cannot “go it alone” to repair South Africa’s strained logistics network, says South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) CEO Dr Juanita Maree. “Our current ports and rail model is, at best, archaic, compared to international standards, while it also fails the country’s socioeconomic growth and development goals.”
Transport sector has role to play in sustainable economies – Chikunga
The transportation sector is not unblemished by environment modification and also has considerably high unfavorable externalities, and this necessitates ingenious thinking around the opportunities to renavigate transportation systems towards greater durability and becoming a true enabler of sustainable economies. This was emphasised by Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Lydia Chikunga, delivering the keynote address on the first day of the forty-first South African Transport Conference, being kept in Pretoria this week.
Waterproofing roads using nano-modified emulsion could reduce potholes, expert says
University of Pretoria (UP) Department of Civil Engineering Professor Gerrit Jordaan has said the essential to resolving South Africa’s pothole issue is utilizing modified emulsion and nano-materials, which he noted was low-cost and already being produced in South Africa. Throughout a session of the Southern African Transport Conference, which is being held from July 10 to 13, in Pretoria, he explained that the main problem with pavement structure was water seepage and resultant cracking, worrying the need for avoiding pits by resurfacing roads with the right materials rather of needing to keep fixing potholes that come back.
Dept moves towards implementation of Green Transport Strategy
Department of Transport (DoT) research and development chief director Themba Tenza has confirmed that the department is moving towards implementation of its Green Transport Strategy (GTS), which commits the country to significantly reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in the economy. “Our emphasis now is on implementation, because the strategy has been present since 2018. We’ve made some moves towards implementation as a department, as well as a country," he told delegates attending the annual South African Transport Conference, which is being held from July 10 to 14 in Pretoria.
RTIA confirms work has started to roll out Aarto nationally
The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is lastly all set to roll out the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act of 1998, as well as the Aarto Amendment Act 4 of 2019, after various hold-ups and a litigation process. A ruling by the Constitutional Court delivered on July 12 ultimately confirmed the legality and credibility of the 2 Acts, which now makes it possible for RTIA to continue with the implementation thereof on a nationwide scale.
Five more trucks set alight in Limpopo and KZN, raising the truck arson total to 16
The number of trucks that have been destroyed in arson attacks in the past three days has risen to 16 after five more were set alight in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo on Monday. Eleven were torched over the weekend – six in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday and five in Mpumalanga on Sunday night.
Bleak picture painted of the state of South Africa’s traffic signals
The country’s traffic signals are currently in a dire state and various factors need to be considered to resolve this, Innovative Transport Solutions MD Jan Coetzee said during the South African Transport Conference, in Pretoria. He pointed out that the operation or lack thereof of traffic signals was an indicator of the broader state of transport infrastructure, which is "woeful" and deteriorating.