The concept of sustainable human settlements encompasses not only housing but also the infrastructure that enables settlements to function and the amenities that contribute to creating a sense of community and connection among residents. Hence it encompasses roads and storm-water drainage, electricity supply, and water and sanitation systems, as well as amenities such as schools, clinics, shopping centres, recreation facilities and places of worship, among other things.
Roadways form an essential network connecting settlements across the country and Technicrete reports that government projects to upgrade hundreds of kilometres of rural roads are pushing ahead. A Murray & Roberts Building Products’ company and a leading manufacturer of concrete paving blocks, Technicrete is playing a key supporting role in these projects to replace badly worn gravel roads with roads of a higher standard, designed to last long into the future.
Following the extensive upgrading projects completed in rural and urban areas of Limpopo, the focus has now moved to the North West, Northern Cape and Free State.
As in the Limpopo projects, Technicrete’s Double Zig-Zag interlocking concrete pavers have been specified to surface the roadways. The heavy-duty blocks for the latest road-building projects are being manufactured at the company’s Stilfontein plant in the Free State.
Tens of thousands of square metres of the blocks, in 60mm and 80mm thicknesses, are being laid in seven separate road upgrading operations now under way in the three provinces. These are roadways mainly serving rural communities. They include settlements at Carnivore in the Northern Cape; Khuma, Gopane, Sannieshof and Delareyville in the North West; and Viljoenskroon and Alabama outside Klerksdorp in the Free State.Copyright © 2013 Infixion Media (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
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