THE PROPOSED INTERCHANGE AND FREEWAY … - N3 Key Ridge... · SANRAL Terratest (Pty) Ltd N3 Section...

SANRAL Terratest (Pty) Ltd

N3 Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0) Background Information Document February

2012

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THE PROPOSED INTERCHANGE AND FREEWAY CAPACITY

UPGRADES ON NATIONAL ROUTE 3 SECTION 2 FROM NORTH OF

THE M13 INTERCHANGE (KM3.0) TO SOUTH OF THE HAMMERSDALE

INTERCHANGE (KM9.0)

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION DOCUMENT

EIA REF: Pending

April 2012

Compiled by: Leanne Miskey of Terratest (Pty) Ltd Contact details: PO Box 794

Hilton 3245 Tel: 033 343 6789 Fax: 033 343 6788 Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


N3 Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0) Background Information Document April 2012

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WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?

This Background Information Document (BID)

serves to inform all relevant authorities,

stakeholders and Interested and Affected

Parties (IAP) of the proposed project, which

requires Environmental Authorisation (EA). In

this case, the applicant is the South African

National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL)

and the proposed project is the interchange

and freeway capacity upgrades on the N3

Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0). The relevant

role players for the proposed project are as

follows:

APPLICANT SANRAL

CONSULTING ENGINEERS

ILIFA AFRICA ENGINEERS

(PTY) LTD AND LABORA

EST ORA CONSULTING

CC (JOINT VENTURE)

ENVIRONMENTAL

ASSESSMENT

PRACTITIONER (EAP)

TERRATEST (PTY) LTD

COMPETENT AUTHORITY

NATIONAL DEPARTMENT

OF ENVIRONMENTAL

AFFAIRS (DEA)

The proposed project is identified as a listed

activity in terms of the National

Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of

1998), as amended, under Regulation No. R.

544 (Activities 11, 18, 22 and 47) and

Regulation No. R. 545 (Activity 18). The

proposed project therefore requires a full

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

This assessment, conducted by Terratest

(Pty) Ltd, will be submitted to the DEA for

authorisation.

The purpose of this BID is to provide an

overview of the proposal, indicating any

possible impacts already identified, and invite

you to register as an IAP. All IAPs are

afforded the opportunity to indicate their

interest in the project as well as any concerns

or queries.

1. WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED?

It is proposed to construct a direct viaduct over

Sterkspruit Valley and widen the Key Ridge

portion of the N3 Section 2 between km 3.0

and km 9.0.



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In 2000, a compulsory truck stop was installed

on the northbound carriageway in order to

reduce possible incidences of runaway trucks

and improve road safety for all motorists.

Due to the significant increase in the number of

trucks using the N3, the truck stop is now

causing stacking beyond the M13 on-ramp and

is potentially unsafe for motorists. Furthermore,

the crawler lane after the truck stop drops off at

an undesirable location just short of the

Sterkspruit off-ramp and is on a sharp bend on

a narrow bridge. The design speed for this

portion of the N3 is 90km/h and the current

grade is almost 7%. According to current

minimum design standards (SANRAL), this

section of the N3 has 5 portions that are at

substandard conditions

The proposed route determination and re-

alignment of portions of the N3 Section 2 are

indicated in Appendix A. The proposed

realignment would require the construction of

two viaducts across the Sterkspruit valley,

improving the grade of the N3 in this section to

approximately 3%.

This re-alignment would render a portion of the

existing N3 at the Sterkspruit interchange

obsolete and would therefore be

decommissioned or adapted to service the

immediate vicinity.

2. LOCATION

The site is situated along Section 2 of the N3

between Pietermaritzburg and Durban and is

within the eThekwini Municipality. The

nearest urban areas are Cato Ridge (north of

the project area) and Westville, Durban

(south of the project area).

The approximate start and end co-ordinates

of the assessment area are:

Approximate start of evaluation area

29°45'24.42"S

30°39'55.31"E

Approximate end of evaluation area

29°47'16.19"S

30°43'29.54"E



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Google Earth Image indicating the start and end points of the project area

Google Earth Image indicating the area earmarked for the viaducts



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3. GENERAL SITE DESCRIPTION

The project site extends over three Bioresource

Units1, namely Vb15 – Cato Ridge, Wb16 –

Drummond and Yb15 Gillits, which have been

consulted in order to obtain information of the

natural environment.

3.1. Climate

The site is located in the Sub-Tropical Coastal

Belt of KwaZulu-Natal. The average annual

rainfall for the three classifications is as follows:

Vb15 – Cato Ridge 767mm pa

Wb16 – Drummond 823mm pa

Yb15 – Gillits 920mm pa

3.2. Geology and Topography

According to the Concept Design Report

submitted by the project Engineers, the portion

of the N3 to be upgraded traverses three

distinct geological zones, namely:

The Natal Group. These zones are located at

the start and end of the site. The group

typically includes sedimentary rocks comprised

of red-brown coarse grained arkosic to sub-

arkosic sandstone, quartz arenite, micaceous

sandstone, small pebble conglomerate,

subordinate siltstone and mudstone.

1 Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural

Development. Bioresource Programme Version 9.

The Mapumulo Metamorphic Suite. This

zone is located over the middle portion of the

road section and predominantly south of the

road. The group typically includes metamorphic

rocks comprising of biotite gneiss, biotite-

hornblende gneiss, subordinate politic schist

and gneiss, calc-silicate rocks and granulite.

Megacrystic Biotite Granite. This zone is

located also over the middle portion of the road

section but slightly north of the N3. The zone

typically includes intrusive rocks comprising

megacrystic biotite granite, megacrystic garnet-

biotite granite, megacrystic hornblende-biotite

granite and megacrystic charnokite.

Further to this, the concept design report states

that the valley section lies in the Natal Group

sandstone and mudstone zone, which results

in a likelihood that underlying bedrock will not

be adequate for conventional founding of

heavy bridge structures. Since it is at this

vulnerable area that the realignment is

proposed and the viaduct is to be positioned, a

detailed geotechnical investigation is

necessary in order to inform the detailed

design of the viaduct structures.

3.3. Land use and Vegetation

According to the Environmental Potential Atlas

(ENPAT) provincial dataset, the land use is



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defined as “vacant/ unspecified”. However, the

area just north east of the subject area

comprises numerous small holdings with some

pockets of small scale agriculture. The south

western bordering properties consist of light

industrial activities and some residential areas.

The project area traverses the following

vegetation types, according to ENPAT:

Grassland

Thicket and Bushland

Cultivated land: Subsistence

Exotic Plantations; and

Built-up Land: Residential

Although several vegetation classifications are

intersected, the portion of the project area that

will result in clearing and construction, beyond

the existing SANRAL road reserve, traverses

grassland and thicket and bushland. However,

as the area affected comprises many small

holdings, it is likely that some areas will no

longer reflect the original classification as

stated.

According to the Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal

Wildlife Conservation Plan (C-Plan), the

proposed project area is classified with an

irreplaceability index of 0.6 – 0.8 (where 1 is

completely irreplaceable). Furthermore, the

Durban Metropolitan Open Space System

(DMOSS) that grassland and freshwater

wetland are intersected. These databases will

be interrogated during the environmental

assessment and will be verified by thorough

ground-truthing. The C-Plan and DMOSS

classifications are indicated in the figure

overleaf.


N3 Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0) Background Information Document February

2012

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Land Use Classifications (ENPAT, 2000)

2

2 Jordaan, F., Breedlove, G., and Langenhoven, S. Environmental Potential Atlas (2000). Department of Environmental Affairs, University of Pretoria and

GISBS.



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The vegetation classifications for the project area (ENPAT, 2000)



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Irreplaceability Index (EKZNW C-Plan) and DM



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.

3.4. Heritage

According to the National Heritage Resources

Act No 25 of 1999, provisions are made to

protect national heritage and this forms an

integral part of the environmental assessment

process. It is unknown at this stage what

archaeological findings may be found at the

proposed site. Amafa is KwaZulu-Natal‟s

heritage authority. An application has been

made to this authority and a Heritage Impact

Assessment (HIA) will be conducted, if

required, in order to assess the cultural and

heritage significance of any findings. This

specialist study will be included in the

Environmental Impact Report.

3.5. Social Environment

The project area falls within the SANRAL road

reserve, however the proposed re-alignment of

the N3 at this section will affect several

landowners and their properties. The adjacent

properties bordering the north eastern side of

the N3 are predominantly small holdings, which

are well-established. On the south western

border of this portion of the national route, a

semi-formal nodal development is found.

It is believed that the re-alignment of the N3 at

Key Ridge will result in social impacts to the

surrounding properties, especially in cases

where properties may be acquired.

4. NEED AND DESIRABILITY

The N3 was constructed in the 1980s and

provided exceptional service to motorists.

Since then the road has become increasingly

congested and unsafe in this area. Midway

between the Key Ridge and Sterkspruit valley,

a compulsory truck stop was installed in 2000

on the westbound carriageway to reduce the

occurrence of runaway trucks and improve

safety at this substandard section. The number

of heavy vehicles travelling along the N3 has

increased exponentially over the past decade

and as such a large number of the heavy

vehicles stopping at the compulsory truck stop.

The crawler lane after the compulsory truck

stop also drops away at an undesirable

location just short of the Sterkspruit off-ramp

which is on a sharp bend on a high and narrow

bridge.

Therefore a primary need identified by

SANRAL is to improve road safety along the

N3 Corridor, and specifically at the Key Ridge

area. Several options have been considered

and have been narrowed down to the proposed

viaducts (preferred option) and the road



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widening and speed reduction at this section

(alternative option).

5. TECHNICAL DETAILS OF THE PROJECT

The determined lane requirements for the

subject section are proposed in accordance

with a detailed study conducted by the

Engineers. The requirements make provision

for 5 lanes on each carriageway. The

requirements determined by the project

engineers are as follows:

Preferred Option:

A direct viaduct over Sterkspruit Valley and

widening only of the Key Ridge portion. In the

context of the route, a speed reduction zone

through the Key Ridge mountain pass is

deemed appropriate. It will not adversely

compromise road safety and in combination

with the direct crossing of the valley, is

therefore viewed as a balanced solution.

Alternative Option:

The alternative assessed by the Engineers is

an ultimate road scheme by widening only. The

prerequisite for retaining the substandard

geometry at Cliffdale is that the Cliffdale

access ramps must be sacrificed. Northbound

capacity can only be achieved by removing the

truck stop control. This will require the

provision of two slow lanes, separated from the

fast lanes by a barrier that runs through the

Sterspruit valley with the outer truck lane

running into the Hammersdale off-ramp. This is

the least costly of the road schemes and has a

smaller environmental footprint. However, it

inherits the geometric limitations of the existing

route, with the result that the speed will have to

be limited to 80km/h over the valley portion.

6. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Terratest is currently conducting the

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for

the proposed re-alignment of the N3 at Key

Ridge, as well as the assessed alternative



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option. The EIA is a process will be undertaken

in accordance with the National Environmental

Management Act (NEMA) (Act 107 of 1998),

EIA Regulations, as amended.

6.1. Public Participation Process

The EAP is required to conduct the

environmental application process and

manage the public participation process.

According to the EIA process, this project is

currently at the Scoping phase and the public

participation process is being conducted.

Terratest will perform the following:

1. Identify key stakeholders, authorities

and municipalities, environmental

groups and interested or affected

members of the public, hereafter

referred to as IAPs.

2. Compile a detailed Background

Information Document (BID) for the

proposed development, providing details

to IAPs of:

a. The listed activities that trigger

the EIA process;

b. The scope of work;

c. The locality and current land use

at the site;

d. A detailed site description;

e. The EIA process to be followed;

and

f. The opportunity for IAPs to

comment on the project.

3. Advertise the environmental application

in two newspapers, namely: „The

Mercury‟ and „The Daily News;

4. Place on-site notices at conspicuous

places at/ near the proposed

development;

5. Give written notice in the form of A5

flyers to landowners and occupiers

within 100m of the proposed project

area;

6. Obtain landowner‟s consent, where

required;

7. Attend Public Liaison Committee (PLC)

meetings and workshops;

8. Host a Public Open Day which will

encourage stakeholder participation and

engagement, and provide details of

issues identified by the EAP,

stakeholders and IAPs;

9. Record all comments of IAPs and

present such comments, as well as

responses provided by Terratest, in a

full Comments and Responses Report,

which will be included in the Scoping

Report that is submitted to the DEA;

10. Circulate all IAP comments to the

project team;

The commenting period for all IAPs will be a

minimum of 40 days from notification.

The Draft Scoping Report (DSR) will be made

available to all relevant stakeholders and IAPs



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for further comment, before the final Scoping is

submitted to the DEA.

Once the Scoping Phase is complete, the

response from the DEA will trigger the full EIA

Phase, which will include the continuation of

the public participation process.

6.2. Environmental Impact Assessment

The project team will thoroughly investigate the

proposed project activities and the potential

environmental impacts associated with the

proposal. Alternatives will also be assessed

and included in all reports, which may include

alternatives to:

The property on which the activity will be

undertaken;

The type of activity;

The design or layout;

The technology used;

The operational aspects of the activity;

or

The option of not implementing the

activity.

Specific issues and environmental impacts

identified may require additional specialist

input. The scoping phase will identify such

specialist studies, which will be included in the

Environmental Impact Report.

6.3. Specialist Studies

Specialist studies will be commissioned, as

necessary during the Scoping and Full

Environmental Impact Phase. The following

possible Specialist Studies are anticipated for

the proposed project:

Heritage Impact Assessment

Wetland Delineation and Functional Assessment

Vegetation Assessment

Social Impact Assessment

Although these specialist studies are

envisaged, further investigations may be

required as the EIA progresses.

6.4. Environmental Management

Programme

The comprehensive Environmental

Management Programme EMPr specifies the

mitigation measures to be implemented to

manage the significant impacts identified. The

EMPr also describes what type of monitoring

will be required, who will do it, and what other

inputs, such as training, maybe required. A

draft EMPr is submitted to the Competent

Authority with the Final EIR.

6.5. Notification of Environmental

Authorization

After consideration of the final EIR, the DEA

will either grant or withhold Environmental



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Authorization (EA). The decision on the

Application for Environmental Authorization,

with the associated conditions, will be

advertised in two local newspapers and

circulated to all registered IAPs. In these

communications, IAPs will be informed of their

right to appeal against the decision.

The following process flowchart illustrates the

environmental process to be followed during

the EIA for the proposed project.


N3 Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0) Background Information Document

February 2012

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Flow Diagram illustrating the Environmental Impact Assessment Process and Anticipated Timeframes.


N3 Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0) Background Information Document

April 2012

Page 16 of 17

7. HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

Every proposed development has the potential to significantly affect the natural and social

environments, both at, as well as surrounding the proposed site. For this reason it is

imperative that you as a stakeholder or an interested and/or affected party (IAP) comment on

the proposed project and highlight issues or concerns that you feel need to be considered

during the proposed planning and implementation process. Should you wish to register as an

IAP or should you have any comments regarding the proposed N3 capacity improvements

please state your interest in the proposed upgrade along with any comments or queries

you may have before the 31 May 2012.

A registration form is attached.

Please note that all property related concerns will be dealt with directly by SANRAL,

through their representative Mr Casper Landman. Mr Landman can be contacted by

using the following contact details:

Tel: 033 392 8120

Email: [email protected]


N3 Section 2 (km 3.0 to km 9.0) Background Information Document February 2012

Page 17 of 17

APPENDIX A

Preliminary Design Drawing of the Proposed Viaducts across Sterkspruit.

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