FHWA STUDY OF SOUTH AFRICAN PAVEMENT AND OTHER HIGHWAY TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES

This summary highlights the findings of a U.S. scanning tour study the Republic of South Africa's pavement and related technologies. This scanning tour was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and conducted May 13-17, 1996. The scanning team was composed of representatives from Federal, State, and local governments; contractors; contractor associations; and a consulting engineer. As expressed in the team's mission statement, the purpose of this trip was to observe what the South Africans are doing well with regard their highways, learn from them, and inform the U.S. highway community. Effort was also made facilitate some linkage between the U.S. and South African private sectors as a means of facilitating future cooperation and exchange. The scanning tour focused on concrete and asphalt materials, concrete and asphalt pavement design, construction, and pavement maintenance practices, as well as low-volume road design, construction, and preventive maintenance practices. Information on South Africa's various contracting practices was also obtained. Contacts were established with technical leaders who could offer immediate detailed design, construction, and maintenance information and participate in a long-term network for future cooperation. The scanning tour was limited visits organizations in the Pretoria and Johannesburg areas. The organizations visited gave both formal and informal presentations, which were sometimes combined with field trips. This report only highlights the technical material presented over the 5-day period. It is organized into the following six subject areas: Organizations Visited; Road Funding; Research; Pavement Technology; Project Management; and Human Resource Development. In addition, a section titled Other Technologies is included cover unique areas of interest that did not fall into any of the main subject categories. The final section in this report, Findings and Transferability the United States, emphasizes specific technical areas that could be transferred the United States improve the states of the art or practice of road design and building.