Knight Piésold – Stock Road: Govan Mbeki to R300, Philippi

PROJECT TEAM Client: City of Cape Town Roads and Stormwater Department

Consulting engineer:

Knight Piésold Consulting

Electrical consulting engineer:

GJA Consulting Engineers Structural engineer: Structural Solutions Contractor: Martin & East

Community liaison consultant:

David Leendertz Consultants Occupational H&S: Safe Working Practice

Environmental consultant:

Ecosense Consulting Environmentalists

Knight Piésold Consulting for Stock Road – Govan Mbeki to R300, Philippi

The rehabilitation and provision of non-motorised transport (NMT) and integrated rapid transport (IRT) infrastructure on Stock Road between Govan Mbeki Road and the R300 in Philippi has revitalised one of Cape Town’s most impoverished areas. Completed on behalf of the city’s Roads and Stormwater Department, the project was designed by Knight Piésold Consulting, which also supervised construction.

The new 2.05 km dual carriageway, as well as the NMT and IRT infrastructure, was designed to accommodate the area’s dense vehicular and pedestrian movement, which includes a business hub, and the IRT feeder route linking to the future Lansdowne IRT corridor. Included was the installation of water reticulation and stormwater infrastructure, electrical Infrastructure, new street lighting, and upgraded and signalised intersections. Construction commenced in August 2015, with all phases finalised by July 2019.

Throughout the construction programme, the design needed to ensure safe accommodation of the travelling public, access to key public facilities, and the accommodation of organised trading areas. The project is one of the largest in the area in recent years and contributed to the creation of job opportunities and skills development for the local community, as well as business development for local enterprises.

Difficulties and complexities were experienced in many instances throughout the design and construction phase. During the early stages, for example, an Eskom infrastructure network was discovered in the proposed roadway alignment. This network consisted of medium- and low-voltage cables, which were not indicated on the as-built information obtained. After meeting with Eskom, a design report was submitted for approval before removing the existing cables.

Difficulties and complexities were also experienced when informal settlements began occupying the road reserve once the contractor started establishing on-site. Due to the delicate politics involved, an instruction was given to amend the kerb alignment and design of the proposed roadway timeously before any more informal structures were built. This meant the redesigning and relocating of newly proposed services as well.

Despite all the challenges and complexities, the newly rehabilitated road, services and the ancillary works have considerably improved the vehicular and pedestrian movement of this business hub.