R21 Highway falling apart ...

[Optimus-Prime]

This morning on my way to work I collected another chip on the windscreen of my car ! The windscreen already looks like something out of a war movie, but I decided I will not change it until I cannot drive safely with it it.
The road between Olifantsfontein and the airport is in such a bad state that you cannot drive in certain lanes, and stones are thrown up every where.
Apart from the 80% of idiot road users using this road, the road itself is now becoming a safety hazard... and SANRAL still expect you to pay for the privilege of driving on this POS !!! But what ticked me off this morning, was a news item that SANRAL did not spend 50% of their allocated budget for road maintenance. The idiocy of this government and its agents is unbelievable... !

[Estee]

Is it not gravel dropped from trucks? Lots of construction along that route

[Alan Ellis]

I drive the R21 and R24 on a daily basis. Windscreen chips aplenty.

I drive with a roll of wide sellotape in the cubby. As soon as humanly possible, I wipe clean around the chip and stick a piece of clear tape over the chip.

When I have 3 or 4 chips (also dependent on where the chip / chips are), I phone my chip repairer and he comes to my house and repairs the chips. 99,9% of the time, you cannot even see where the chip was.

Key is to cover the chip with sellotape ASAP so that no dust / air / water goes in and a crack starts running.

(I also see you get round clear stickers from windscreen replacement places to stick over a chip.)

Will gladly share the number of the chip repairer should you wish to give him a call.

[pieter_fourie]

Between pomona and airport I replaced my 7th windscreen this year on friday

[Tom13]

I also travelled it last night and got a ping from a stone on the side of my car. No Estee, the top layer is coming away bit by bit. I really feel sorry for my platkar travelling that road.

What did South Africa have before gravel roads - tarred roads, sad but true.

[mudgrubber]

I also travelled it last night and got a ping from a stone on the side of my car. No Estee, the top layer is coming away bit by bit. I really feel sorry for my platkar travelling that road.

What did South Africa have before gravel roads - tarred roads, sad but true.

Hmm, I am sure there are more knowledgeable people than I on the forum but sounds like it could be a poorly constructed, old or badly designed seal (bitumen emulsion and bitumen coated smallish stone) applied as part of the maintenance or rehabilitation of the surfacing. These things are somewhat specialized and need experienced design and application. I will say no more.

[280iNyati]

Hmm, I am sure there are more knowledgeable people than I on the forum but sounds like it could be a poorly constructed, old or badly designed seal (bitumen emulsion and bitumen coated smallish stone) applied as part of the maintenance or rehabilitation of the surfacing. These things are somewhat specialized and need experienced design and application. I will say no more.

The R21 was paved with a 20mm UTFC - Ultra Thin Friction Course - on top of the medium asphalt as part of the GFIP Projects

Picture from the web

[Optimus-Prime]

There is no doubt that the build quality was below par, in some places where the strips of tar has lifted, you can see the old painted markings. Normally if a road is resurfaced, the top layer is skimmed off to get the newly applied tar something to attach to. Obviously this was not done so as to maximize profits for the cadres....! A few truckloads of asphalt, slap it on an old road with as little effort as possible and viola, a new modern toll road that the cadres can milk billions from !!!

[4ePajero]

There is no doubt that the build quality was below par, in some places where the strips of tar has lifted, you can see the old painted markings. Normally if a road is resurfaced, the top layer is skimmed off to get the newly applied tar something to attach to. Obviously this was not done so as to maximize profits for the cadres....! A few truckloads of asphalt, slap it on an old road with as little effort as possible and viola, a new modern toll road that the cadres can milk billions from !!!

Maybe the problem was that they used tar?

[Morne - Skip]

Use to replace 3 windscreens min a year when I travelled Pretoria - Boksburg

[280iNyati]

There is no doubt that the build quality was below par, in some places where the strips of tar has lifted, you can see the old painted markings. Normally if a road is resurfaced, the top layer is skimmed off to get the newly applied tar something to attach to. Obviously this was not done so as to maximize profits for the cadres....! A few truckloads of asphalt, slap it on an old road with as little effort as possible and viola, a new modern toll road that the cadres can milk billions from !!!

3x well-known and established Construction Companies constructed the R21 GFIP sections as per an approved design done by a Consulting Engineering Firm and the QA process was run as per ISO

[4ePajero]

3x well-known and established Construction Companies constructed the R21 GFIP sections as per an approved design done by a Consulting Engineering Firm and the QA process was run as per ISO

When was this? Year?

[Optimus-Prime]

3x well-known and established Construction Companies constructed the R21 GFIP sections as per an approved design done by a Consulting Engineering Firm and the QA process was run as per ISO

In South Africa that means very little. On the contrary, it seems the bigger and more renowned the companies are, the better the chances are for corruption ! There was plenty of rumours about companies like M... & R....

Do you honestly believe that there is nothing wrong with the initial construction of that stretch of road..?

[nicor]

3x well-known and established Construction Companies constructed the R21 GFIP sections as per an approved design done by a Consulting Engineering Firm and the QA process was run as per ISO

And they all received huge fines for their efforts if memory serves me right. A pity that the directors and people in charge of this dishonesty didn't go to jail.
I have lost several windscreens and driving light lenses on the R21. Every time I have windscreen replaced it is the first question I get asked - Happened o the R21?

[280iNyati]

There is no doubt that the build quality was below par, in some places where the strips of tar has lifted, you can see the old painted markings. Normally if a road is resurfaced, the top layer is skimmed off to get the newly applied tar something to attach to. Obviously this was not done so as to maximize profits for the cadres....! A few truckloads of asphalt, slap it on an old road with as little effort as possible and viola, a new modern toll road that the cadres can milk billions from !!!

Direct "shots" at the Contractor and Consultants ethics or lack thereof

[JacquesJeep]

[QUOTE=Tom13;5140080]I also travelled it last night and got a ping from a stone on the side of my car. No Estee, the top layer is coming away bit by bit. I really feel sorry for my platkar travelling that road.

What did South Africa have before gravel roads - tarred roads, sad but true.

Travel that road regularly by bike it is not a nice road, if you are in a vehicle and pick up a stone it is very different from being on a bike......

[280iNyati]

Jacques,

I can only assume that the worst section is between Olifantsfontein and Pomona

[Andre N]

Jacques,

I can only assume that the worst section is between Olifantsfontein and Pomona

No, The Worst bit is between Pomona and the Airport.
There I just drive way over as far left as possible and hope for the best.

[JacquesJeep]

No, The Worst bit is between Pomona and the Airport.
There I just drive way over as far left as possible and hope for the best.
Worst stretch is from Serengeti to Airport if you are behind a vehicle it gets very interesting......

[JK1]

Wow. A few harsh words spoken here. I trust that all the harsh comments are from people who knows this particular Industry in great detail and have all the inside information.

I have no sides here but please also consider the following which has to play a roll in my humble opinion. I also only know so much about road construction so please take it as a disclaimer.

Any work on a N (this includes the R21) route has SANRAL as the client. Therefore SANRAL has to sign off on the design. Does not matter who's design it is.

Comparing the R21 to other routes.

Volume of daily traffic.
Type of traffic.
What is underneath the top layer in terms of support and adhesion?

Back to the R21.

Count the vehicles per lane and classify them in terms of type and weight.

Slow lane has traffic. Fast lane has much more traffic than the slow lane and the other 2 in between.

Fast lane mostly less than 3 ton per vehicle. The other 3 lanes up to 56 tons overall weight.

R21 has more heavy vehicles IMO than the N1 west. Most heavy traffic comes via the N3 then onto R21 and then north.

N1 PTA to JHB is concrete underneath with an asphalt overlay.

The first 3 lanes are taking a hammering but the fast lane has now also joined the "club".

A road's top surface only last that long.

I do believe there is an adhesion problem between the top layer and those below on the R21.

I could be wrong but I don't remember the top layer being removed before the new layer's were placed. (SANRAL spec and sign off?)

I believe a big part of the problem are also caused by heavy trucks. They no longer stay left but occupy 3 lanes. (Diesel and oil dripping are known tar destroyers).

So I think the spec was perhaps not good enough. The heavy trucks must also take a lot of the blame.

Where is our Railways?

My 2c.

Johan