JG Afrika’s extensive road engineering skills and experience are being harnessed to rehabilitate the 1,7km Drommedaris Street in Paarl. The many industrial companies located on this street are looking forward to the completion of the project in the beginning of 2026 when they will have access to tip-top road transport infrastructure that facilitates business.
This more than R50-million project also entails overhauling the existing stormwater system which has since also fallen into a serious state of disrepair, resulting in flooding when it rains.
JG Afrika has been involved with this project since the engineering design phase which was finalised in 2022. Thereafter, the services of Cornfield Construction 2004 were procured in an open tender system and JG Afrika appointed by Drakenstein Municipality to also oversee the successful execution of the works programme.
Restoration of the first 60m of pavement and selected layers starts by excavating to depths of 640mm and spoiling the material. The existing roadbed is then ripped and recompacted to a depth of 150mm. A G9 lower selected subgrade layer of a similar thickness is then constructed followed by a 150mm-thick G7 upper selected subgrade layer. Thereafter, a 200mm-thick stabilised C3 subbase is built and allowed to cure for seven days, before the asphalt base is placed and compacted and the road opened to traffic as required. A 50mm asphalt surfacing is then applied and compacted to complete this aspect of the scope of works.
The rehabilitation of the existing pavement and layers of the remaining section of the road start by excavating to a depth of 340mm and spoiling the material. Afterwards, the existing roadbed is ripped and recompacted to a depth of 150mm. A 200mm-thick C3 stabilised subbase is then built and left to cure for seven days. This is followed by the placement and compaction of the 90mm asphalt base and opened to traffic as needed. A 50mm asphalt surfacing is then placed and compacted to complete the rehabilitation of this section of the road.
At the intersections, Cornfield Construction 2004 excavates the existing pavement to depths of 200mm and spoils the material and the base of the excavation roller compacted wherever necessary. A 150mm-thick asphalt base is then placed and compacted in two layers and the road then opened to traffic as required. This is followed by the placement and compaction of a 50mm asphalt surfacing. There are 12 intersections along the road, with the Van Der Stel Street intersection being raised as required by JG Afrika’s design.
The existing surfaced sidewalk is also being rebuilt and the gravel sidewalks replaced. General sidewalks consist of a 150mm-thick G7 selected layer; a 125mm-thick G4 base; and 30mm fine continuously graded 30mm-thick asphalt surface. At accesses, the sidewalks comprise a G7 selected layer; a G5 and G4 subbase layer, each 150mm thick and over which a 30mm-thick fine, continuously graded asphalt surface is placed.
In addition, two taxi bays are being provided on either side of Drommedaris Street and a raised block pedestrian crossing built between Goudenbuis and Salmiender Streets to improve road safety.
Wimpie Krügel, an Engineer in JG Afrika’s Roads & Highway Division who has been overseeing the works programme since October 2024, says that the project presents many unforeseen challenges, which have stretched the professional team.
“The first obstacle was encountered when we started rehabilitating the pavements. We discovered three high voltage feeder and electric cables buried in the road bends. It was too costly to relocate them, so we capped these services with an in-situ concrete slab upon which we constructed the new layers, with the services, thus, located just below our new subbase layers,” Krugel says.
While a cost-effective and practical solution was devised, the problem has delayed the drainage component of the work scope which includes capping the existing stormwater channel between Drommedaris Street and the railway. Furthermore, all culvert and kerb inlet structures along the street are being replaced. A new stormwater mainline must also be installed. It was initially thought that the blocked sections of the stormwater pipeline between the catchments and channels would only have to be cleaned to unblock them. However, during construction, the professional team discovered that all these sections were severely corroded at the bottom and would, thus, have to be replaced.
Meanwhile, damaged kerbs and kerb inlet structures on the bell mouths of intersecting streets are also being replaced. Existing manholes, concrete channels and catchpits are also being cleaned and those that are damaged replaced. The broken headwall structures of Vosmaar canal are also being repaired and the inlet headwall raised. In addition, stone pitching is being provided at the inlet and outlet structures at Vosmaar Street. The outlet of the 900mm-diameter pipe culvert located about 40m north of the Vosmaar canal will also be protected with stone pitching.
Damaged road signs will also be replaced. It was also subsequently decided that it would be feasible to replace the existing aged streetlights. This is considering that they need to be moved further away from the new kerbs in any case.
However, until Cornfield Construction 2004 commences with these final aspects of the work scope, the professional team will have to navigate many more challenges, such as other known and unknown services. These include low-voltage household and medium-voltage distribution cables between transformer boxes and three very old sewer lines located alongside the road. Nonfunctional asbestos water lines will also be removed according to the Asbestos Abatement Regulations which were promulgated in 2020 and came into effect in 2022. This work will commence in earnest early in 2025 by an accredited asbestos contractor.
Crime is also a problem. Incidences of cable theft have been reported and the professional team had to contend with the “construction mafia” which was dealt with swiftly and decisively by the Paarl community and the Drakenstein Municipality.
Certainly, working on a highly trafficked road, which also carries many minibuses that transport the many employees to their place of work and back, also presents challenges. Yet, to date, there has not been a single accident which is an immense source of pride for Krugel who is also and a Road Safety Auditor.
Despite these challenges, Cornfield Construction 2004 and JG Afrika are taking these challenges in our stride and are committed to meeting the contractual completion date. The project benefits from seasoned road engineering team which sees challenges as an opportunity to innovate, one of our strategic competitive edges,” Krugel concludes.
