Africa-Press – Botswana. Okavango Africa Consortium, responsible for the overall reconstruction of the A3 (Francistown-Nata) road will have to implement night construction strategies to expedite project completion.
Briefing the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mr Noah Salakae on the progress status of the road on Friday, Development Manager (DM) team leader Mr Moemedi Gabana said the company would need to adopt new strategies, including night-time construction, in order to recover lost time due to heavy rains experienced last year.
Mr Gabana outlined the progress of the project, adding that current estimates indicate that the road is only 16 per cent complete since construction began last year, with a targeted completion date in 2027.
He explained that three significant rain events had caused delays totalling 29 days due to necessary rebuilding of layers, resulting in interrupted scheduling.
Night construction he said, is a method successfully employed in other countries to mitigate daytime traffic disruptions, and is now being considered a critical element of the Consortium’s time recovery plan.
He noted that the current construction status was at Stage 5 which wraps up the preliminary works that precede the actual road construction, adding that the project would thereafter proceed to Stage 6, which was the final construction phase.
Mr Gabana explained that the Consortium was also addressing challenges that had affected progress.
These he said, included encroaching properties, high water tables in certain areas, the relocation of existing services, traffic management, the presence of spongy black cotton soil along the route, and the unavailability of construction materials.
“To tackle these issues, the Consortium is implementing high-quality solutions, such as installing membranes to protect the road where the spongy black cotton soil is prevalent,” he added.
In addressing traffic flow, Mr Gabana revealed plans for a flyover at the Orapa junction to facilitate easy passage from the mining and logistics Special Economic Zone near the Phillip Matante International Airport as well as prevent congestion with trucks traversing the A3 road towards northern Africa.
At the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium, he detailed a decision to construct a traffic circle at the entrance leading to Monarch location to alleviate potential congestion from motorists at the airport area, opting for this solution over a flyover due to budgetary constraints.
He said originally, the road was intended to be a dual carriageway from Francistown, specifically from Francistown Toyota to the Sebina junction.
However, due to financial challenges, Mr Gabana said the dual carriageway would now terminate at Mathangwane, providing access roads to nearby villages situated 10 kilometres from the main route all the way to Nata.
Despite these numerous challenges, Mr Gabana assured Minister Salakae that Okavango Delta Consortium is back on track and remains committed to delivering the project on time.
The reconstruction of the A3 road, which extends 200 kilometres to Nata and is widely utilised by trucks, is being implemented under the DM model.
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