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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JUNE
2015
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ROADS AND BRIDGES
The network of underground tunnels formed by this rodent leads to
severe difficulties in road settlement and collapse and increases road
maintenance costs in the Western Cape.
Upon inspection of various sites, engineers from the City of Cape
Town Metropolitan Municipality (CoCT) have noticed the tell-tale
signs of mole rat damage. These include uneven road surfaces, massive
decompression spots resulting in pot-holes, cracks in the asphalt as
well as the obvious mole-heaps.
To ensure the durability of the approved upgrades for these roads,
consultants had no hesitation in specifying Kaytech’s Mole Barrier as
the most effective solution to the problem.
Mole Barrier, which consists of 2 mm thick, abrasion-resistant,
flexible HDPE sheeting, is specifically manufactured for Kaytech to
prevent the lateral burrowing of the Cape Dune Mole Rat and similar
rodents. Supplied in 1 m x 20 m rolls, Mole Barrier sheets are installed
vertically with a 100 mm overlap. It is a robust product and is puncture
and tear-resistant; its smooth surface offers no purchase for the crea-
ture’s powerful curved claws and long incisor teeth.
Over the last five years a number of road projects in the CoCT
metropolitan area have been successfully armoured against the Mole
rat using Mole Barrier. The layer works of the access road to Muizen-
berg’s Coastal Park Landfill Site were severely damaged.
Consulting Engineers, Jeffares & Green, specified Mole Barrier
and by the project’s completion Requad Construction had installed
2 000 m of the sheeting into the new layerworks. Later that year
600 m of Mole Barrier (1 m x 1 m) were installed by Empower Roads
when Imperial Road in Mitchell’s Plain was upgraded.
As part of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, portions of Orumba
Road and Racecourse Road in Milnerton were widened to accom-
modate the new bus lanes. Since the Cape Dune Mole Rat can easily
damage newly constructed layerworks, the presence of numerous
mole-heaps in the area suggested to HHO’s design engineers that
these new lanes were also at risk. As protection, 2 000 m of Mole
Barrier were installed by contractor, Exeo Kholeka.
In a very large project undertaken by Kaulani Civils, 5 900 linear
metres of Mole Barrier were installed along the 7 km long Botfon-
tein Road in Kraaifontein during its rehabilitation. The proximity of
farms to the road suggests there are colonies of moles present
along the road. The contractor was impressed with the ease of instal-
lation of Mole Barrier and was able to complete between 700 m and
800 m per week.
Also in the Kraaifontein area is the new Scottsdene Housing Devel-
opment. After design engineers from Bigen in Johannesburg, had
initially specified concrete barriers to prevent mole infestation of the
new roads, Kaytech suggested using Mole Barrier, demonstrating its
ease of installation and cost effectiveness.
This resulted in West Coast Civils and Brink & Heath, in a joint
venture, installing over 5 000 linear metres of Mole Barrier. A Kaytech
representative will visit Scottsdene in the foreseeable future to check
that no mole damage has occurred since installation.
More recently, Road Smart Asphalting has installed 600 linear
metres of Mole Barrier along Bonteheuwel’s Netreg Road, as well as
Empower Asphalting which did 600 linear metres along the widened
road network of the Soetwater Camp Site near Kommetjie. No installa-
tion problems were experienced in either of these projects.
Undoubtedly the definitive solution for this specific problem
Kaytech’s unique Mole Barrier has been approved by the City of Cape
Town’s Roads Department, to the extent that it is now found in their
annual tender documents. Mole Barrier has saved the City of Cape Town
from otherwise expensive and extensive road rehabilitation work.
Rescuing roads from
MOLE DAMAGE
The Cape Dune Mole Rat, endemic to South Africa and
found only in the southern and south western regions of
the country, is not actually a mole but a species of solitary
burrowing rodent whose natural habitat is sandy shore-
lines and riverbanks that are dominated by grasslands and sedges.
The simple installation of mole barrier and the mole barrier in position.
Since its initial development, Kaytech’s innovative
Mole Barrier product has helped to extend the life
of many rehabilitated roads in the south western
Cape which had been mole-damaged. Mole Barrier
has also been specified for use on numerous newly
constructed roads in the region and these have been
successfully protected from mole infestation.