Heritage Cases

The proposed R510 National Route Upgrade Project is located between Northam and Thabazimbi in the Limpopo Province. The project starts at km 6.3 just before the Bierspruit Bridge and ends at km 33.4 at the informal Mine intersection. The total length of the project is 27.1 km of single carriageway road with an existing surfaced width of 7m. The carriageway is to be widened to accommodate passing lanes, where required, thus resulting in a carriageway that varies from 13.4 m to 16.8 m surfaced width, with two to four 3.7 m lanes and 3.0 m or 1.0 m surfaced shoulders respectively. Included in the project are four river bridges and two roads over rail bridges that must be widened to accommodate the road cross section improvement. The major aspects of this project include the following: - General widening of the existing road cross section to a minimum width of 13.4 m, comprising 2 x 3.7 m wide traffic lanes and 2 x 3.0 m wide surfaced shoulders; - Provision of 11.6km (6.4 km northbound and 5.2 km southbound) passing lanes with 3.0 m paved shoulders be provided; - Exclusive turning lanes are provided at the future brickyard access via R510 at chainage km12.4; - Strengthening of the existing pavement structure; - The existing horizontal alignment will be maintained; - Vertical realignment of the R510 to improve the vertical clearance of the overpass bridge located at km7.182; - Upgrade of the R510/ Zwartkop intersection to include a dedicated right turning lane and refuge islands; - Upgrade of the R510/R511 intersection to include a dedicated right turning lane and refuge islands; - Structures and major culverts: - All rivers structures will be widened between 0.325 m – 1.825 m on each side respectively; - C013 Bierspruit 6 where the inlet and outlet structures, (that have failed structurally) need to be replaced and the culvert will be lengthened at the same time; - The bridges will receive new New Jersey barriers and will be rehabilitated; - All of the major culverts will receive new guardrails on top and will be rehabilitated; - The B3663 Rail over Road Bridge at km7.180 will receive pier protection in the form of New Jersey Barriers; - All minor culverts that are not able to pass the required flow for a Class 3 road be upgraded; - All the culverts affected by provision of the 13.4 m – 16.8 m wide cross section be lengthened accordingly; and - Replacement of side drains due to the new vertical alignment. This preferred stockpile (Borrow pit Q3) comprises a surface area of 1ha and is situated in an abandoned Andalusite mine area on farm Grootfontein 352/1. Q3 is situated at km23.0 approximately 150m north of the R510. It comprises the overburden at the nearby mine pit, which consists of sandy gravel. The gravel clasts comprise mostly of banded ironstone. No borrowing is foreseen, but large quantities of gravelly soils are present in the area. Access to this source can easily be obtained through the existing dirt road immediately off the R510. The security fencing may have to be upgraded in order to allow for access control, and moderate grading of the dirt roads will be required to accommodate heavier vehicles, but an existing access point is in place and can be used to reach this source.