South Africa has launched a new Maintenance Management System (MMS), which is expected to greatly improve roadwork efforts across the country.
The new system was recently implemented by the Department of Public Works, Roads, and Transport (DPWR&T) in Mpumalanga, and is intended to streamline road maintenance with greater efficiency and better public involvement.
Progress for better roads
Developed in collaboration with engineering and infrastructure consulting practice Zutari, the MMS is a digital service that allows provincial departments to manage their roadwork activities by facilitating task planning, allocating task teams, tracking a project’s progress, and generating reports in real-time.
Chris von Holdt, Director at Zutari, described the system as a “comprehensive tool” that will allow Mpumalanga to manage its road repair network with greater accuracy and efficiency.
The MMS uses a web-based interface for staff and includes a pothole-logging application that can be accessed by anyone, including the public.
Citizens are encouraged to use the interactive portal to report on any issues they encounter on the road such as potholes, which provides valuable information to the department that can be used to schedule and prioritize maintenance plans.
The system is expected to create a far more streamlined process because it captures all of the information for road repairs, from identifying areas of concern to tracking a project’s completion, into a single resource.
“We are talking about capturing maintenance issues, whether they are publicly reported or identified through inspections, and then moving through the process of planning and executing the work,” said Bheki Walter Shabangu, a senior manager on the project.
Going digital also means that foremen no longer have to manage physical paperwork and can instead quickly record aspects of the repairs by taking photos and updating a log while on-site.
The service will be of particular use in Mpumalanga, as the province’s infrastructure is in constant need of mending as a result of heavy coal trucks from the region’s mining activities.
“Without a systematic approach like the MMS, the department would find it overwhelming to keep up with the damage caused by heavy transport vehicles,” said von Holdt.
Another benefit of the MMS is that it can be used to track the costs involved with a roadworks project, from the materials used to the fuel spent by vehicles and machinery.
The centralized database means that the department can assess its maintenance efforts across the entire province, down to individual cost centres and work teams.
M.C. Morolo, Head of the DPWR&T, expressed that the MMS is a transformative step for Mpumalanga’s road development.
“This system empowers us with the necessary tools to effectively manage and maintain our extensive road network, particularly in the face of the heavy demands placed upon it by mining activities and traffic,” he said.
The new system is expected to become a benchmark for similar road management programmes in other provinces, which should ultimately help to improve the state of South Africa’s infrastructure.
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