12 Sep 2013

Botswana needs roads and bridges that match the times. 

To achieve this, the country needs a standard road design and maintenance manual that can be used by government and the private sector in the construction and maintenance of roads.  It was in recognition of this, that the Department of Roads engaged a consultant to design Botswana’s Standard Survey Methods for Roads and Bridges, deputy director of Roads Mr Jacob Sello said at one day stakeholder’s conference. 

Mr Sello said the document would be a nationally recognised guideline that covered all survey applications and methods, to be uses by practicing surveyors. He said the manual was his department’s continuous efforts to increase efficiency and effectiveness in construction and maintenance of the road network.

“This is motivated by the recognition that the country’s public highway network of over 18300 km constitutes one of the largest assets owned by government [with] estimated value of P25 billion,” he said. He added a less optimal system for the maintenance and management of the network could only result in losses to the economy. Mr Sello said the new the document has been designed to assist road surveyors working in Botswana and “does not replace relevant text books, nor is it a substitute for sound surveying knowledge, experience and judgment”. 

He noted that failure to have and adhere to a standard survey document, resulted in poorly constructed roads that deteriorated too quickly, and were the cause of increased vehicle operation costs.

Since these costs were normally borne by road users this reduces the competitiveness of the country in an increasingly global economy.  The Standard Survey Methods for Roads and Bridges are derived from published literature and experience obtained from professionals in the of Survey, as well as End-user expectations and requirements.

For his part, Department of Roads Technical Advisor Mr Charles Overby lamented lack of participation by some of the stakeholders as all were expected to comment on the document. He expressed concern that some stakeholders, especially road construction companies, consultants, contractors, surveyors from local companies including engineers did not show interest in the preparation of the document, and were not involved.

“It is very important that all stakeholders be involved in the review of the country’s road design manual in order for all to have a common understanding of the specifications as well as harmonised expectations”, he said.

He said the workshop was a platform designed to allow stakeholders to make input into the document before it went for printing. Mr Overby said the manual would assist in accuracy of road construction projects which would in turn reduce the costs and number of claims. ENDS