South Africa | Department of Transportation (DOT), South Arica
The National Highway N3 heads through south-western tip of Mpumalanga in the direction of Heidelberg. Wherever N3 has been realigned, the old route has been designated R103. The R103, also known as regional roads, connects Alberton with Pietermaritzberg via Heidelberg and Harrismith. The road faces considerable traffic with reckless driving by passenger cars as it is considered as shorter bypass. The rehabilitation of the flexible pavement was carried out near Colenso which is located on the southern bank of the Tugela River.
The road significantly undertakes moderate to heavy moving traffic loads with reckless driving and is considered as one of the worst roads having single carriageways with short passing zones. The weather remains very changeable with moderate to heavy rainfall and the condition of the road deteriorates very fast. The road was not designed to take such varying EASL’s and usually deteriorates very fast with pot holes /patch works are evident in stretches.
To strengthen the flexible pavement it was proposed to use a Geo-composite which could provide infiltration drainage coupled with tensile strength.
Under existing circumstances, TechGlass AIC (Geo-composite) was proposed as an Asphalt Interlayer below the resurfacing of 50 mm of Bituminous Concrete. TechGlass AIC range is a geo-composite is made from high performance glass fiber roving to form a reticular structural material with a unique combination of fiber glass and polyester Non-woven ,Needle-punched Geotextile with glass fiber tensile ability and the polyester fibre flexibility.
