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ROADS AND BRIDGES
Perrie says concrete strip roads, laid as
wheel tracks, are economic and durable
and particularly suitable as farm roads or
roads in rural areas. “They can, therefore, be of
invaluable use to the agricultural sector as well
as communities living in outlying rural areas,”
Perrie states.
He says although concrete strip roads have
proved themselves in many countries, the South
African governmental road building sector as
well as private land-owners have not yet fully
realised the advantages, or fully utilised, concrete
strip roads. Such roads are a particularly useful
means of making steep rural farm roads passable
in all weathers.
“In the wet summer months, many potential
visitors to inland private game reserves avoid
visiting the reserves and lodges with sedan vehi-
cles for fear of getting stuck in themud. Concrete
strip roads, particularly in very muddy areas,
could therefore boost tourism numbers. Strip
roads are widely used in, for example, SANParks
resorts like the Mountain Zebra National Park
near Cradock, KZN Wildlife Ezemvelo resorts
such as in the Drakensberg and at the iSimanga-
lisoWetland Park at St Lucia, and at the upmarket
Pezula Private Estate near Knysna on the Garden
Route,” Perrie, who acted as consultant for the
construction of the Pezula strip roads, adds.
“Strip roads can be built without expensive or
sophisticated equipment and by comparatively
unskilled labour that has received just basic
instruction. No reinforcement of the concrete
is necessary. Furthermore, laying the strip roads
can be done in short lengths, so their construc-
tion can be slotted in when labour and time
are available.
“The strip roads can be made relatively
skid-resistant simply by wood floating the
concrete as a final operation. For a strong
PROS OF CONCRETE STRIP ROADS
>
South Africa has yet to fully
discover and utilise the
benefits of concrete strip
roads, says Bryan Perrie, MD
of The Concrete Institute.
RIGHT:
Concrete strip roads can
make steep rural farm roads pass-
able in all weathers, as illustrated
here at the Mountain Zebra National
Park near Cradock.
FAR RIGHT:
Bryan Perrie, MD of
The Concrete Institute, acted as
consultant for the laying of the wide-
spread concrete strip road network
in Knysna’s upmarket Pezula Estate.
BELOW:
Concrete strip roads have
been widely used in the upgrading of
the iSimangaliso Wetland Park near
St Lucia.
skid-resistant finish,
the concrete can be
broomed transversely
to the direction of traffic
to produce a multi-
tude of fine grooves
across it. Light cars
and LDVs can, under
normal circumstances,
use new concrete strip
roads after three days
of curing, and trucks of
1,5 ton capacity after 7
days of curing.”