Beitbridge road upgrade nears completion
THE upgrading of the road linking the Beitbridge Border Post and the highways leading to Bulawayo and Harare is nearing completion, with the contractor saying they will be able to open it to traffic at the end of this month.
Civil works on the 5km stretch of dual carriageway and the roundabout where the Harare and Bulawayo highways split started more than a decade ago under the Beitbridge
Redevelopment Programme.
But progress was at a snail’s pace until Bitumen World was contracted to fully implement the project.
The company’s site manager for Beitbridge,
Mr Bigboy Sibindi, said they moved on-site in November last year and that they had done more than 70 percent of the earthworks on the dual carriageway.
“We are one of the contractors already working on the Harare to Beitbridge highway and we were fortunate to be given the tail end of the project,” said Mr Sibindi.
“This portion includes part of the Beitbridge urban, where we are constructing a dual carriageway from the Border Post to the point where roads leading to Bulawayo and Harare meet.
“So, we are almost completing civil works on this stretch of the road which should be fully opened to traffic at the end of May.”
Mr Sibindi said they had constructed a state-of-the-art roundabout at the point where the road branches to Bulawayo and Harare.
The official said although the dual carriageway appeared to be shorter, it took much time to complete because there were a lot of critical services cutting through the road reserve.
“You will note that we had to work with other stakeholders to ensure that we don’t disturb the water and sewer reticulation network, telecoms, and electricity facilities,” said Mr Sibindi.
He said civil works were being carried out at a faster pace in the rural component of Beitbridge, where there were fewer technical challenges.
Final touches are now being put on the dual carriageway and all the accessories are expected to have been fitted on the road by the end of August, including the underground storm water drains and kerbings on the dual road.
“We have phased the road construction works and in the urban area we are now on Phase 3B and have moved to Phase 4 on the rural side,” said Mr Sibindi.
He said to date, his company had covered a total of 71.3km in terms of roads constructed under the Beitbridge district.
Mr Sibindi said they had been able to work faster since most of the raw materials, especially the granite stone were readily available within the Beitbridge district.