The Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWR&T) has launched a mature, comprehensive system for road maintenance management, consulting engineering and infrastructure advisory practice Zutari infrastructure asset management director Dr Chris von Holdt has said.

The road Maintenance Management System (MMS) implemented by the DPWR&T was developed in collaboration with Zutari.

An official function to introduce the system and associated features, such as a unique pothole reporting system, was hosted at Zutari’s head office, in Pretoria, on October 29.

“It is very forward-thinking for us to adopt this approach at a provincial level. It could really be a game changer if implemented successfully as we envision,” said Mpumalanga public infrastructure acting deputy director-general Mikateko Rikhotso.

“We are very proud to support the DPWR&T, which had the vision and courage to actually look at maintenance as a strategic priority for the province and to tackle the challenges they face in a very systematic way,” said Von Holdt.

Mpumalanga’s road network faces substantial challenges, including accelerated wear from coal trucks, limited resources and the deterioration typical of ageing infrastructure. The road MMS tracks everything from materials and work schedules to team performance and vehicle availability across 26 cost centres in the province.

“The road MMS centralises maintenance data into one accessible dashboard, allowing for real-time insights into how much material is used, work executed, backlogs and overall team performance," said Zutari asset management senior consultant SBongiseni Zulu.

The system has assisted the DPWR&T to move from reactive to planned maintenance, so as to best use its limited budget and resources.

“To improve the quality of maintenance taking place, accredited training providers were brought in to train the road workers. The system is only as good as the people driving it. We have about 100 people in the province at those cost centres across four regions,” said Zutari asset management associate Anton Barnard.

“We have a tremendous drive to empower these people. We want them to understand the system, what is behind it and why we are doing this. That has been a really large part of the project. I would say the systems component has been much smaller than the people component,” he added.

Zutari has developed sector education and training authority-approved courses for all road-related activities, including patching, grading, road reserve structures and maintenance. The courses typically comprise a week’s classroom-based theory and a month’s on-site experiential training.

“I do believe our interventions have at least slowed the rate of deterioration of the road network in Mpumalanga. A big problem is a dysfunctional national freight rail system, meaning mining trucks on the roads and coal trucks to the power stations. It is a cascade effect of external factors that the DPWR&T is mitigating within the constraints of its budget,” said Barnard.

While the system is proprietary to the DPWR&T in Mpumalanga, Von Holdt revealed that other provinces have also expressed interest in such a system. “We have had discussions with other provinces. All provinces are interested in doing maintenance well. However, it is also quite a large undertaking to tackle a project of this nature. It involves many people and needs a lot of alignment from management down to the ground.”

Barnard concluded that the system was fully operational and that the Mpumalanga public was urged to use the pothole reporting system. “It is a long-term project. They have had the system for a long while and keep on adding so it improves constantly. It is getting to a very high level of maturity.”