Civil Engineering May 2022 | Vol 30 No 4

48 May 2022 Civil Engineering National Roads (DNR) within the NDoT, which carried out the responsibilities on behalf of the NTC. THE DEVELOPMENTAL ERA In anticipation of the transfer of the national roads function from provincial authorities, the NDoT commenced with the building up of the DNR organisational structure in 1970 to facilitate the change from being mainly an inspecting authority monitoring national roads provided by provincial road authorities, to a fully- fledged and capacitated road authority for national roads. In 1972 the DNR inherited a 13 200 km national road network of widely varying standard. Much of the network did not meet the requirements for ‘modern’ inter-city primary roads, and much of the poorer sections could not be upgraded to meet such requirements. So, a new network and programme was adopted which provided for the eventual construction of a system of dual- carriageway national freeways. The new scheme, with a distance of 2 776 km of eventual national freeways, was anticipated to cost some R1 250 million (in Rand values at the time), to be spent during the ensuing 10 years. Former national roads not forming part of this new pro- gramme reverted to the road network of the provinces. The scheme, strongly influenced by the earlier planning philosophy of P.A. de Villiers, a previous head of national roads up to 1969, was based on the USA Interstate System and was exceedingly ambitious. Conceptual and financial problems soon arose. Some sections of the national freeways built in the metropolitan areas were also not included in the scheme, and burgeoning road traffic volumes in these areas created the need for expansion. It became obvious that the national freeway scheme of 1972 was little more than a pipedream. In a wide-ranging treatise in 1977, two chief engineers in the DNR, R.G. Meyer and M.F. Mitchell, together with Prof. D.W. de Vos, then a member of the NTC, and E.R. Massey who was then Head of the DNR, provided detailed reasons as to why the traffic carrying capacity of high standard single carriageway roads was higher than previ- ously believed and proposed that the scheme should be amended. A fundamental reassessment of which inter-city routes should be national routes was undertaken and a new scheme of greatly increased length, where roads in the system might be of different standards according to the needs of the route, was put in place. While the new national road network represented only 5.4% of all roads in the country, it carried 40% of all traffic. Other management changes also took place during the time, such as replacing the role of the NTC in national road matters with a newly constituted South African Roads Board which was more representative of ‘roads interests and expertise’. Other changes included revising the name of the DNR to the Chief Directorate of National Roads (CDNR), with a revamped organisational struc- ture and wider responsibilities. Notwithstanding severe financial restrictions at times, the ensuing period up to 1998 represented an exciting and productive period for the development of largely greenfield national road building in the country, sometimes termed the “golden years for road construction” in South Africa. Judicial planning and careful management allowed the most essential roads’ needs to be met. Projects such as the Johannesburg and Durban ring roads, the Huguenot Tunnel and the Garden Route arch bridges compared with any in the world. This period also saw many new and innovative developments in national road management, such as: Q Q The construction of ring roads and bypasses around cities and larger towns. Q Q Strategic financial planning for roads, with all that this entails, such as road needs studies, road project economic prioritisa- tion, road fund allocation procedures, and analysis of sources The N1 crossing the Vaal River