The current upgrades to the second section of the additional carriageway on the N4 between the R512 West and Marikana interchange are commencing smoothly.
The contract, valued at over R380m, entails building a second carriageway with bridges as well as the lengthening of existing bridges to cater for the new carriageway. The tendered contract period was 33 months and was estimated for completion in August 2014 with a time extension that was granted due to the unusual rainfall experienced during the construction period.
This section is particularly expensive due to the large number of bridges that are on the route. The main contractor made use of 28 SMME/BEE sub-contractors on the contract, all of whom underwent formal training programmes with Bakwena, which was concluded with great success. The targeted SMME expenditure is 15% of the total contract value and the contractor has achieved 30% on the project thus far.
The contract for the rehabilitation of concrete slabs road surfaces at all toll plazas along the Bakwena N1 and N4 that commenced in June 2010 is well under way. To date the Stormvoël, Zambezi, Swartruggens, Marikana and Brits plazas have been completed and the contractor will be relocating to Pumulani. The overall contract is set to be completed by June 2016 at an estimated cost of R63m.
The rehabilitation of the N4 between Swartruggens and Rustenburg commenced in March 2012 and phase one of the contract between Swartruggens and Moedwil, was completed in August 2013 at a total cost of R140m. Phase two, which will see the completion of the works between Moedwil and Rustenburg, commenced in July 2013 and will be completed by December 2014 at a total estimated construction cost of R155m. During this construction period Bakwena has maintained two way traffic so as to minimise the inconvenience to road users for the bulk of the works.
The design for the next phase of the rehabilitation of the N4 for the section between Zeerust and Swartruggens is also being finalised. The construction of this phase is scheduled to start early 2015 and is set to be complete in early 2018.
Bakwena has identified the challenge of motorists who disobey the rules of the road and perform illegal U-turns on the freeway. Additional road markings have been installed in July at the Helen Joseph and Brits interchanges on the N4 which enables the traffic authorities to strictly enforce no U-turns.
