The Department of Transport says it will pilot a nanotechnology programme to take on the country's deteriorating roads.
The Department of Transport says that it will launch a pilot programme in the North West province to use “nanotechnology” to reinforce rural roads in the province.
While the use of the term “nanotechnology” typically conjures up images of micro-robots and other tropes in science fiction, the term has a real-world application in the innovative use of chemical reactions and processes to reinforce road surfaces., the products traditionally used to build or treat roads in the country can substantially be improved – in terms of strength properties and resistance to environmental factors – through the addition of applicable “nanotechnology modifiers”.
The researchers said that many materials and processes – such as nano-silanes, hydrophobicity, nano-polymers and new-age modified emulsions – have been used for decades to protect buildings from adverse weather conditions, but these are relatively new in the road industry. South Africa’s provincial and municipal roads are in an abysmal state, riddled with potholes, and crumbling due to a severe lack of maintenance over the last decade.
While it graded the country’s National roads quite highly – a B+, or suitable for the country’s needs – this is largely due to these roads being under the purview of national roads agency, Sanral, which has a comprehensive road maintenance regimen.
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