Efforts by the Provincial Government of the Western Cape in South Africa to improve all aspects of gravel-road construction and maintenance since 2001 have resulted in such good performance that existing gravel-road performance models are of limited value in predicting future needs and properly evaluating the need for upgrading to surfaced standards. The performance of several well-constructed road sections, representing different age groups, climates, material properties, and traffic spectra, has been monitored since 2003 and compared with the prediction of various internationally accepted roughness and gravel-loss deterioration models. A background summary of the improved processes, a brief summary of the experimental design, and a discussion of existing models are presented, with emphasis on the immediate and potential future impact of results that were obtained over a period of almost 3 years. Improvements to performance models are suggested, and the impact at the project level and on strategic-level analysis and decision making is highlighted. Recommendations are made on periodic maintenance strategies based on potential economic, social, and environmental benefits.

Annual visual assessments form the backbone of the Gravel Road Management System operated by the Provincial Government of the Western Cape in South Africa. Information is used to identify, quantify, and prioritize periodic maintenance activities; to describe the condition of individual roads and road networks; and to monitor their performance. The current assessment methodology is well described and has been applied for over 10 years. Although assessors are well trained and calibrated through regular formalized training sessions, inconsistencies still occur, which result in some variability of the final results. Efforts have been made to identify shortcomings in the assessment methodology, training, and quality control process. Duplicate assessments carried out each year on 10% of the road network were analyzed for this purpose, as were assessments of selected road sections carried out by all assessors during the annual training sessions. The assessment methodology and quality control process are discussed briefly, and the results of the study to improve the quality of visual assessments for network-level road management are highlighted.

The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) has embarked on a nationwide programme to develop water-reconciliation strategies for all towns across the country. Reconciliation strategies for the major metropolitan areas and systems (e.g. Johannesburg/Pretoria, East London, Cape Town and Durban) were developed next. The implementation of these strategies is monitored by strategy steering committees. The approach has now been extended to all other metropolitan areas as well as all towns and villages or clusters of villages. In order to prepare the actual strategies, regardless of the size of the town, thorough documentation, research and analysis of the available information was required, as well as evaluation of projected growth scenarios to assess water requirements over the next 25 years and identification of potential additional sources to meet this growing requirement. It has emerged that the poor operation and maintenance of water supply, treatment and reticulation infrastructure are resulting in significant losses, which, if corrected, can reverse the current water shortages being experienced. Similarly, the generally poor management of effluent remains a threat to surface water and groundwater quality downstream. It appears that many municipalities perceive groundwater as an unreliable resource; however, in general, the issue of staff and skills shortages to manage the resource effectively is the actual problem. This is an operational issue rather than a groundwater-resource-specific issue. This aspect requires special attention for existing groundwater schemes and proposed groundwater development. In most instances water conservation and water-demand management and the development of local surface and groundwater resources are the most feasible options to meet any current or projected future water-supply shortfalls. Any intervention must be combined with a skills-development programme at the operational level to ensure the sustainability of the proposed supply options. This paper is based on the experience gained in the development of reconciliation strategies for the towns and villages in the DWA Southern Planning Region (i.e. surface water drainage areas in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape Provinces), which was carried out by Umvoto Africa in association with engineering consulting practice Aurecon.Keywords: water supply, water reconciliation, groundwater options, operation and maintenance, water conservation and water demand management All towns reconciliation strategies studyIn 2008 the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) commenced with a nationwide programme to develop water reconciliation strategies for all towns, villages and clusters of villages across the country, following on the good progress with the reconciliation strategies for the metropolitan areas. The overall objective of the studies was to provide first-order water availability and water requirement reconciliation strategies for all towns and villages in South Africa (DWA, 2009b). The large numbers of rural villages that occur in the ea...

Maintaining gravel roads to an acceptable level with increasing traffic volumes and social and environmental needs on the one hand and decreasing budgets and availability of suitable material on the other hand requires innovation and long-term strategic planning to keep agency and road user costs as low as possible. These conditions were identified in the Overberg District of Western Cape Province in South Africa, where a huge backlog for regravelling of roads has developed because of limited funding and difficulties in obtaining suitable materials. District municipalities act as agents to the provincial government and are therefore responsible for the maintenance of provincial roads within their regions. The average gravel thickness of the gravel wearing course on divisional and main roads in Western Cape Province has dropped from more than 80 mm to less than 40 mm in the past 10 years. Intense involvement in the Overberg District Municipality (DM) with gravel road maintenance, upgrading, performance monitoring, the finding of suitable road-building materials, and approval for mining has led to the realization that existing strategies for gravel road maintenance are inadequate to deliver acceptable service to the road user and to ensure that available material sources are optimally used. From an evaluation of needs and constraints within the DM, several factors have been identified as important contributors in the long-term planning of road maintenance and material utilization. This resulted in (a) a subdivision of the area as based on material availability, land use, topography, climate, and so forth; (b) identification of life-cycle maintenance strategy categories; (c) alternative approaches for material source selection and longer-term usage; and (d) the introduction of initiatives that help to reduce material demand. The approach followed to optimize both material sources and service delivery to the road user and preservation of the environment is discussed.

The first attempt to develop and implement an optimization module to minimize agency costs and vehicle operating costs in the Western Cape, South Africa, was considered unsuccessful. Routines incorporated the current roughness of the road; deterioration as a result of traffic, climate, and materials; and improvement in roughness after the road was bladed and calculated the blading sequence of road sections in a road network. Lessons about both appropriate principles and practical issues learned in the development process highlighted that generalization of gravel road deterioration can lead to incorrect decisions. Although computerized routines are of value, the complexities and variability of maintenance requirements suggest that optimization of grader maintenance is a reiterative process into which local knowledge, all constraints and variables, as well as computer technology must be incorporated. This paper describes a revised practical approach and process for the development of a grader maintenance business plan. The process has been implemented with success by road authorities in southern Africa and will be published as a best practice in the TRH 20 national guideline document, Technical Recommendations for Highways: Structural Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Unsealed Roads.