BLACKTOP ROADS TO DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES USING APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES

The utilisation of natural gravel from local borrow pits stabilised with bitumen emulsion and surfaced with a graded crushed stone seal has enabled the Ethekwini Municipality to provide surfaced roads to developing communities in KwaMashu, Ntuzuma and Inanda. Since June 1999 some 100 km of local access and residential roads have been constructed employing this technique. The paper will report on the construction and performance of these roads in a township environment exposed to high rainfall and an undulating terrain. Cost comparisons will be made against conventional road materials and construction methods used previously, to demonstrate the cost effective development of the surfaced road network in these previously disadvantaged communities. 1