A major functional upgrade towards a comprehensive provincial road network inventory : the Gauteng case study

Abstract

An efficient road network consists of a vast series of carriageways interlinked by slipways and ramps that allow for both economic and societal movement. The Gauteng Province encompasses approximately twenty percent of the entire South African road network. Each element of the provincial road network is regarded as a vital record within a Road Asset Management System (RAMS), maintained accordingly and routinely updated. This paper builds on the GIS methodology involved in the functional classification and assembly of all digital road links in order to form an operational Road Network Inventory (RNI). It elaborates on the revised spatial geometry and status of each road link within the Gauteng provincial RNI after it has been functionally classified as guided by the South African Road Classification and Access Management (TRH26) and the TMH22 Road Asset Management Manuals. By reconstructing and updating the historical RAMS carriageway dataset, the first provincial RNI geodatabase to include dual roads, on- and off-ramps, slipways and sections of municipal roads located within the provincial road reserve was produced. Simultaneously, the link node allocation policy has also been revised to contain a more comprehensive set of descriptive attributes, since just more than 76% of these nodes represent physical road intersections. The impact on the RAMS was that the upgraded provincial RNI contained 44% more road links, 35% more nodes, 62% more dual carriageways than before and increased the total carriageway length by about three percent.