CEN DEC
2
CONSTRUCTION:
ROAD BUILDING
The eMalahleni road
rehabilitation project is rapidly
approaching completion in line
with forecast deadlines, thanks
to the high-quality standard of
tools supplied to the project by
Diamond Products.
APPOINTED AS THE CONTRACTOR
for the eMalahleni-bound portion of the N12 concrete
highway project, in mid-2012, by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL),
KP Projects assumed responsibility for the rehabilitation of a total of 42km of road, which
involved more than 220km of concrete cutting and jointing.
Work on this demanding project officially started in December 2012, and KP Projects Site
Supervisor, Darin Phillips, says that Diamond Products’ range of specialised tools has proven
to be a highly effective replacement to standard specification tools that were initially used.
“The tools originally selected for the project were providing a performance considerably lower
than expected, which ran the risk of the project falling behind schedule and over budge t.
Despite a short notice period, Diamond Products successfully provided us with the relevant
tools, which have exceeded expectations. As a result, the expected completion date is
December 2013,” he says.
According to Darin, rehabilitation on the road surface was required as the old silicon joints in
the road had lost their watertight properties. “This leads to water ingress under the ground
surface, resulting in deterioration of the sub-base and cracked and uneven roads.”
He says that the rehabilitation project involved texturing the road surface, by cutting special
grooves 4mm deep and 2cm apart, in order to increase the tyre traction of the road surface
during wet weather conditions.
Removal of the old
silicon joints which are
no longer watertight.
DIAMOND
in the rough…
