Design work for Pietermaritzburg N3 interchange in South Africa has begun after consulting engineering firm WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff won the tender for the works recently.
Construction of the interchange will allow free flow of traffic on the N3 across Epworth and Market roads in the south of Pietermaritzburg. There will also be the providence of collector and distributor roads from Epworth and Market roads onto the N3 highway.
Pietermaritzburg N3 interchange in South Africa will cost US $0.082bn and will see to it that it resembles a roundabout with one section elevated above the other for traffic flow. Work on the road is expected to take two and a half years.
According to the WSP road geometrics design head, Bruce White, the location of the road which makes it close to a significant industrial area and the Pietermaritzburg Airport will help stimulate growth by adding value to the area.
This project is complicated as it is free flow interchange into a restricted land area in an urban region thus there is need for investigation to be done before the design is approved.
The preliminary design for the interchange was drafted by engineering firm Royal HaskoningDHV though it needs time to make it workable.
White further noted that the design which is a joint venture between HaskoningDHV and Hatch Goba ties in with the government’s Strategic Integrated Project 2 to accommodate the extension of Durban harbour and the consequential road traffic between Johannesburg and Durban, which the expansion is bound to promote.
