RAL says work did not stop on busy R522 road

Date: 26 July 2024 By: Andries van Zyl

The Road Agency Limpopo (RAL), the responsible authority for the busy R522 road between Louis Trichardt and Vivo, has come under severe criticism over the past few months for the snail's pace at which preventative maintenance is taking place. In mid-April this year, large parts of the road’s surface were completely removed, turning sections into a deadly dirt-road deathtrap.

Several frequent road users the newspaper spoke to in the past two weeks indicated that the poor condition of the road, despite the preventative maintenance projects, has forced them to use alternative routes to and from Louis Trichardt. “It looks like all work just stopped,” said one irate farmer.

RAL spokesperson Mr Danny Legodi, however, said in response to media questions that work had not stopped and that several projects, broken down into phases, were either completed, already running, or in their implementation phases.

“The R522 (P98/2) is under a preventative maintenance contract T1256C. This includes resurfacing, pothole repairs, and drainage system improvements,” said Legodi.

Legodi explained that the R522 project comprises four phases. Phase 1 is completed, and the contractor was Lilitha Lethu Construction. Phase 2 is nearing completion, and the contractor (also Lilitha Lethu Construction) is on site. For Phase 3, the contractor (Tycho Filed Construction) is on site, and for Phase 4, the scope of work is being finalised with the contractor, Ditlou Suppliers, scheduled to be on site in August this year.

As for the scope of the work already done and being done regarding Phases 1 and 2, this includes pothole patching (with base correction); shoulder edge-break correction; re-shaping gravel shoulders; cutting and stockpiling the existing base for reuse in repairing shoulders; stabilising the existing subbase to C4; importing G4 to form a new base; and a 30mm asphalt or double seal resurfacing of sections of the road.

The scope for Phase 3 includes cleaning and grubbing of the road reserve from km 11 to km 35 for about 20 hectares; base repairs for various sections, for a total length of 1.5km, including overlay at the bridge (Sand River) for a length of 100m; single seal (68,400m²) for a total of 9km with shoulders and turning lanes; road markings for a total of 8km, including bi-directional centreline studs; patching of potholes for a total of 5,000m²; repairing road edge breaks for a total of 5,000m²; concrete edge beam construction (total of 250m); fog spray for a total length of 4.720km (subject to savings and budget availability); cleaning out hydraulic structures, including grading eroded open drains; and sealing cracks at the Sand River bridge (subject to savings and budget availability).

The aforementioned work will be done on sections of the entire road, stretching from the N1-junction in Louis Trichardt to Vivo, covering a distance of just over 72km. “Phase 4 is the only phase which does not have the contractor on site yet; however, the contractor has been appointed,” said Legodi. “Ditlou Suppliers are currently finalising all the administrative requirements with RAL. The completion of this project is planned for March 2025,” added Legodi.

As for future scheduled work to be done on the R522, Legodi said that this would be just routine maintenance.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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