Transport and Public Works to Spend More Than R35 Million on R399 Rehabilitation

The Western Cape West Coast economy and infrastructure will get a boost during the next 30 months.

The Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, in conjunction with the Bergrivier Municipality, started with the rehabilitation of R399, between Piketberg and Velddrif.

The project is valued at R 352 058 791. The rehabilitation started in January 2015. It is planned to complete the project in May 2017.

A road length of 55.71 km will be rehabilitated, from the Main Road in Piketberg to Velddrif.

Traffic will be accommodated through a half-width construction using a STOP/GO system.

The original road was constructed in the 1950s and has received various maintenance interventions (i.e. reseals) since then.  The most recent intervention was done in 1998 when approximately 15 km of the road was resealed.

The road carries between 800 (from km 9 at the Goedverwacht turn-off to km 55.71 in Velddrif) and 1 900 (from km 0 at Piketberg to km 9 at the Goedverwacht turn-off) vehicles per day.

The rehabilitation includes the following:

• Widening and surfacing of the existing gravel shoulder to accommodate one-way traffic.
• Impact rolling of the existing road surface to address damage to the road foundation caused by mole activity.
• In-situ reconstruction (200 mm deep) of the existing road layer works using cement.
• Stabilisation to provide a new road sub-base layer (200 mm thick).
• Placing of a new 150 mm thick crushed stone base layer.
• Construction of a 19 mm bituminous Cape Seal surfacing layer.

An amount of R36 016 671 or 15% of the total contract value needs to be allocated to small, medium and micro businesses and communities in the area, in terms of the Contract Participation Goal Targets.