Major Zimbabwe road study entrusted to Royal HaskoningDHV
March 2013
News
The Department of Roads in Zimbabwe has commissioned Royal HaskoningDHV (formerly SSI Engineers & Environmental Consultants) to conduct a feasibility study for the improvement of the Harare to Beit Bridge road.
Royal HaskoningDHV project manager Phil Hasluck explained that the study, which will be carried out in association with five Zimbabwean partner firms, involves traffic studies, development of a toll strategy, engineering analysis and concept design, environmental impact scoping, economic feasibility study, financial modelling and preparation of a draft project information memorandum for investors.
The Harare to Beit Bridge road is part of the trunk road network of Zimbabwe and is one of the major arterial links. “The road carries between 1000 and 5000 vehicles a day, with the heavier flows in the proximity of Harare. Of significance is the fact that a high proportion of this traffic is trucks that are carrying goods, equipment and machinery that are needed to support the Zimbabwean economic recovery,” says Hasluck.
The road project is approximately 580 km long, starting just outside Harare and ending at the Beit Bridge border post. It is a single carriageway, two lane road with numerous bridges, some of substantial size. Although well maintained in the past the road is now over 40 years old, bumpy and dangerous in some places, and is rapidly deteriorating under the increased heavy vehicle traffic.
Alternatives such as improving it as a single carriageway road or adding certain sections as a dual carriageway will also be assessed. The anticipated cost of rehabilitating and improving the road is in excess of $600 million, some of which will be funded as a loan against revenue from the tolls.
The feasibility project is urgently required to provide an indication of viability as interested funders, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the African Development Bank, need to make a decision about committing funding by March 2013.
For more information contact Hillary Erasmus, Royal HaskoningDHV, +27 (0)11 798 6511, hillarye@rhdhv.co.za, www.rhdhv.co.za
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