South Africa boasts some of the best roads in the world and keeping our roads in pristine conditions, requires the best service providers to be brought in.

GIBB (in a Joint Venture with Development & Engineering Consultants was appointed in March 2011 to manage the design and construction of the National Route 1, Section 5, between Laingsburg and Dwyka.

Situated along the N1on the banks of the Buffels River in the Central Karoo, the Laingsburg Road connects citizens from Cape Town to Johannesburg (N1).The N1 through Laingsburg is responsible for generating a significant portion of the town’s income in conjunction with farming.

The main focus of this project was the preservation of the existing road infrastructure that was largely achieved by the repairing and resealing of the road.

GIBB has been instrumental in bringing to the fore an innovative design with a new sealing process that will ensure the longevity of roads.

Alan Moffet, technical executive at GIBB says, “Thesealing process (surfacing) used in this project has not been widely used. However, as a result of its use in this project, it now opens up the possibility of more projects using this approach.”

He adds that one of the major challenges faced during the project was an acute shortage of bitumen. Bitumen is a crude oil derivative which is most commonly used in the majority of road surfacing in South Africa.

GIBB’s rolein the project included the construction of new climbing lanes, landscaping, repairs to existing and damaged storm water structures and bridges, the shaping of existing open drains and the patching, repairing and resurfacing of approximately 67km of road.

The project in its entirety is valued at approximately R142 million.