Maintenance of Paved Areas and Roads within the Port of Durban

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1 Maintenance of Paved Areas and Roads within the Port of Durban Oscar Kunene and Professor Dhiren Allopi. Abstract There are approximately km² of paved areas and roads within the Port of Durban. The Port of Durban is an important vehicle for facilitating economic growth of local, regional and national industries in South Africa. For the Port to maintain global competitiveness with the current trend of globalization, it has to ensure that the paved areas and roads are well maintained. This paper provides the current situation on the condition of paved areas and roads within the Port of Durban. Asset verification and assessment of the condition of existing paved areas and roads were conducted. The results from these assessments were analyzed and conclusions were drawn. Guidelines for maintenance of paved areas and roads were also recommended. Keywords Asset verification, Infrastructure maintenance, Pavement Management System, Port of Durban. I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the study N the past, all paved areas and roads within the Port of IDurban were owned and maintained by Transnet National Ports Authority (formerly known as Portnet). Currently, not all paved areas and roads within the Port are owned and maintained by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA). Some of the paved areas and roads are owned by ethekwini Municipality, Transnet Port Terminals, Transnet Freight Rail and Private companies. Transnet National Port Authority is the landlord for the Port of Durban. Private companies and other Transnet companies such as Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet Freight Rail leases land from Transnet National Ports Authority. EThekwini Municipality is the local government for the City of Durban, in which the Port of Durban is located. Normally the period of change in ownership and delay in reaching agreements between the landlord and lessee has resulted in most of the paved areas and roads not being maintained. This paper makes reference to the Pavement Management System which was implemented during 1990 in the Port of Durban [3]. Oscar Kunene is with EThekwini Municipality, Procurement & Infrastructure Cluster, South Africa (Telephone: ; fax: ; kunenem@durban.gov.za ). Professor Dhiren Allopi is with the Durban University of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering & Surveying, South Africa (Telephone: ; allopid@dut.ac.za). B. Objectives of the study The main purpose of the study was as follows: 1) To identify the existing paved areas and roads within the Port of Durban. 2) To assess the condition of existing paved areas and roads within the Port. 3) To determine the rate of deterioration or improvement. 4) To recommend guidelines on maintenance of paved areas and roads based on the findings. C. Policies and guidelines used The following policies and guidelines have been used during this study: 1) Infrastructure Maintenance Policy and Procedures of 2003 for National Ports Authority of South Africa [1]. 2) Maintenance Manual of 2004 for National Ports Authority of South Africa [2]. 3) Technical Recommendations for Highways Manuals (TRH 12 & 22) [5]. 4) EThekwini Council s Specification guidelines These paved areas are classified as category A, that is type D mix for industrial routes: three layers of 80mm asphalt, 150mm crusher run (G2) and suitable fill material compacted to California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of not less than 7. 5) Southern African Development Community - Road Traffic Signs Manual (SADC-RTSM) referred to when compiling quantities for road marking such as RTM1 (Stop line) and traffic signs such as R1 (Stop signs) with a pole [4]. D. Study limitations The study is limited to the asphalt paved areas and roads within the Port of Durban and cover areas such as Point, Maydon Wharf, Bayhead, Pier 1 and Island View. The Point area consists of Multi Purpose Terminal and Car Terminal. Maydon Wharf handles bulk and break bulk cargo. Bayhead consists of a Dry-dock where ship are being repaired. Pier 1 specializes on container cargo. Island View area handles gas, chemical and petroleum cargo. The following was excluded from the report: 1) All ethekwini Municipality roads, Transnet Port Terminals, Transnet Freight Rail and Private lessees areas. 2) Concrete paved roads and gravel roads. 235

2 The following Fig. 1 shows the locality map of the Port of Durban and areas covered by the study. Bayhead Island View Maydon Wharf Pier 1 Point Fig. 1: Layout map for the Port of Durban II. METHODOLOGY The Pavement Management System Manual was used as the reference for physical site measurements of these paved areas and roads within the Port of Durban. Physical verification was conducted as part of the asset verification process. Graphs and Cad drawings have been included to assist the Engineer in easily identifying affected areas. For the purpose of evaluation and reporting, the Port has been divided into the five following areas: 1) Point area includes tug jetty area, Q-R Berth, O-P Berth, M and N Berth, T-Jetty and harbour entrance. It covers both paved areas (quayside areas) and roads. 2) Maydon Wharf - Berth 1-6 and 8, Bollards , all roads corridors. Excluding Berth 7, 10, 11 & 12 (Transnet Port Terminals Areas) and the main roads (ethekwini Municipality roads). It covers both paved areas and roads. 3) Bayhead Bayhead Park, Incinerator site and Breder Road. It covers minor roads only and exclude main road such as Bayhead Road which belongs to ethekwini Municipality. 4) Pier 1 Gate 8 Entrance and Fire Station. It covers minor roads only and excludes main roads owned by ethekwini Municipality. 5) Island View include Kuwait Rd (Power supply Depot). It covers minor roads only and excludes main roads owned by ethekwini Municipality. Paved areas are divided into panels and each has a unique number. The numbers on the bollards along the quaysides are used to identify the panels, where possible, with the first row (A) adjacent to the quay face. Subsequent rows are numbered alphabetically as they get further away from the quay face. For example at Point area the panel in row A between bollards 180 and 181 is numbered A and the panel in the 3 th row is numbered C Road panels are prefixed with AR, starting with AR1 onwards and the panels are normally approximately 30 meters in length. The distance between lampposts defines the length of certain panels represented by AP such as roads in the Point area. Each panel was evaluated and the extent of the defects was recorded. Drawings using Cad and Microsoft Project were also used to control the progress of this study. Spreadsheets were used for recoding data and creation of graphs. III. ASSESSMENT OF PAVED AREAS AND ROADS The visual inspection (eyeball method) was identified for assessing the condition of the paved areas and roads. This method is a quick visual inspection of the paved areas and roads on a routine basis to identify problems. The visual inspections were conducted on all paved areas and roads highlighted in Appendix 1 to Appendix 4. Appendix 1 shows the Point area where panels start from A0 to A182, B94 to B182 and C178 to C182 which totals 19614m². Roads start from AR1 to AR120, AP1 to AP6 and AS13 which totals 30391m². Appendix 2 shows the Maydon Wharf area where panels start from A1 to A171 which totals 42534m². Roads start from AR300 to AR334 which totals 17309m². Appendix 3 shows the Bayhead area where Roads start from AR23 to AR125 which totals 8538m² and panels are not available. Appendix 4 shows Pier 1 and Island View areas. Roads for Pier 1 starts from AR263 to AR330 which totals 32585m² and roads for Island View starts from AR218 to AR251 which totals 10846m². Panels are not available for these areas. During the visual inspection of paved areas and roads, an inspection report was compiled which included the following components: road markings, traffic signs, potholes, cracks, rutting, aggregate loss, riding quality, surface drainage and unpaved shoulders. Each component was rated using the rating method shown in Table I: TABLE I RATING METHOD [2] Percentage Description Rating Detailed description It is new and perfect. No % Excellent A maintenance work required at this stage It looks like new and minor 89-70% Very good B maintenance work may be required at a later stage 69-50% Good C It is moderate and maintenance work may be required within 12 months 49-30% Fair D It is reasonable but maintenance work may be required within 6 months 29%-10% Poor E It is not safe and need urgent attention 9%-0% Very poor F It is very poor and reconstruction work required urgently The findings of the assessment on the paved areas were recorded on the inspection report. Rating score was based on the condition of the component and Table I was used during the rating process to complete the inspection report as shown in Table II: 236

3 TABLE II INSPECTION REPORT CONDUCTED AT POINT AREA ASSESSED : POINT AREA Panel No. Area m 2 Rating Remarks A180-A B P A181-A C P,O,D B94-B A P B95-B A P B143-B D P,O,D B148-B D P B149-B D P,O,D B178-B D P B179-B C P B180-B C P B181-B E P,O,D C178-C E P,O,D C179-C D P,D C180-C F P,O,Cr C181-C D P,D Total 6598m 2 A=Excellent, B=Very Good, C= Good, D= Fair, E= Poor & F = Very poor P=Potholes, O=Overlay, D=Depression, Cr=Cracks & R=Re-construct maintenance such as crack sealing, road overlay and pothole repair will be required. F. Summary of results: The results from the inspection reports conducted on the paved areas and roads within the Port are shown in Fig. 2. Approximately 54% of paved areas and roads within the Port are between fair and very poor condition. IV. FINDINGS A. Point area: Most paved areas and roads at Point are in a fair condition. Approximately 10.1% are in excellent condition, 18.9% in very good condition, 20% in good condition, 32.6% in fair condition, 16.8% in poor condition and 1.5% in a very poor condition. B. Maydon Wharf area: Paved areas and roads at Maydon Wharf are in a fair condition. There are 0.8% of paved areas and roads in excellent condition, 13.5% in very good condition, 18.4% in good condition, 43.9% in fair condition, 21.7% in poor condition and 1.6% in a very poor condition. Routine maintenance such as crack sealing, road overlay and pothole repair is required. C. Bayhead area: Most roads at Bayhead are in a fair condition. Two percent of roads are in excellent condition, 15.1% in very good condition, 24.8% in good condition, 39.1% in fair condition, 17.7% in poor condition and 1.2% in a very poor condition. D. Pier 1 area: Most roads at Pier 1 are in a good condition. There are 2% of roads in excellent condition, 37.8% in very good condition, 47.9% in good condition, 9.9% in fair condition and 2.4% in poor condition. This is a well maintained area but continuance inspections are required to keep the area in serviceable standard. E. Island View area: These roads are within the fuel, gas and chemical storage area and roads are generally in a fair condition. There are 2.3% of roads in excellent condition, 7.5% in very good condition, 18.1% in good condition, 62.4% in fair condition, 8.5% in poor and 1.3% in a very poor condition. Routine Fig. 2: Condition of paved areas and roads within the Port The following are results obtained during the assessment of paved areas and roads within the Port: 1) Four percent (4%) of paved areas and roads fall under A (excellent) category. It looks like new and perfect. No maintenance work required at this stage. 2) Eighteen percent (18%) of paved areas and roads fall under B (very good) category. It looks like new and minor maintenance work may be required at a later stage. 3) Twenty four percent (24%) of paved areas and roads fall under C (good) category. It is moderate and maintenance work may be required within 12 months. 4) Thirty eight percent (38%) of paved areas and roads fall under D (fair) category. It is reasonable but maintenance work may be required within 6 months. 5) Fifteen percent (15%) of paved areas and roads fall under E (poor) category. It is not safe and needs urgent attention. 6) One percent (1%) of paved areas and roads fall under F (very poor) category. It is very poor and reconstruction work required urgently. V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Most paved areas and roads within the port falls under D (fair) category which is reasonable but monthly inspections need to be done. Roads at Pier 1 area are in better condition compare to other areas. Maydon Wharf and Island View areas are worse areas and need more attention. It is recommended that Transnet National Ports Authority as the landlord of the Port take full responsibility of maintenance work especially where there are grey areas. 237

4 The major problems are experienced when there is a change of ownership. Transnet National Ports Authority must ensure that all lessees are maintaining their roads at acceptable standards. Usually road users don t know where to report defect/s on roads within the Port. The road users must easily be able to report any defect on any roads or paved areas within the Port. It is also recommended that the paved areas and roads have their own budget and assessed separately because of their importance. It is important that qualified personnel with the relevant experience conduct all inspections, assessments and maintenance of roads within the Port. Both ethekwini Municipality and Transnet National Port Authority need to use a common standard/benchmark when undertaking road inspections and maintenance work. Assessment of the road condition must meet Pavement Management System (PMS) specification as part of the Technical Recommendations for Highways (TRH 22) requirements. It is recommended that visual inspection (eyeball method) of the roads/paving be conducted on a routine basis to identify problems and workload. It must be done in a cycle: at least annually. It is further recommended that problem areas be inspected as often as required. Instrument methods such as taper gauges for width of cracks, measuring wheel, survey equipment, Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) must be used where the need arise. It is also recommended that site or laboratory material testing be conducted as and when there are failures to the base, sub-base and road surface layers (asphalts). The possible solutions for addressing the defects (failures) are as follows: 1) Minor repairs/patches include road marking and erection of traffic signs 2) Milling and overlay 3) Re-construct 4) Binding or crack sealing ACKNOWLEDGMENT Author thanks the supervisor Professor Dhiren Allopi for the guidance and support throughout the study. Also, thanks to the Durban University of Technology for the financial support. REFERENCES [1] National Ports Authority of South Africa, Infrastructure Maintenance Policy and Procedures (version 1.01), July 2003 [2] National Ports Authority of South Africa, Maintenance Manual (version 1.0), September 2004 [3] Portnet, Pavement Management System (3 th Edition), 1999 [4] Southern African Development Community, Road Traffic Signs Manual (3 th Edition), 1999 [5] Technical Recommendations for Highways Manuals (TRH 12 & 22) APPENDIX Appendix 1 238

5 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 239

6 Appendix 4 240