SARF together with SANRAL ran the Second Engineering for Road Safety Seminar in Port Elizabeth on 30 September 2015. 111 delegates registered for the Seminar , ECSA and SACPCMP both awarded one CPD point for this interesting seminar.
The second of a series of countrywide workshops on Engineering for Road Safety was hosted by the SARF Eastern Cape Region Chaired by Marlize Nel-Verwey of SANRAL SR on the 30th September at the Newton Park Library.
The workshop is a joint initiative between the SARF and SANRAL, aimed at highlighting how engineering can play a much more important role in road safety in South Africa. The theme of using SANS standards for Safer Roads led to some very interesting and thought-provoking presentations given to the audience by experts who are intimately involved in the roads industry.
Simon Peterson the SANRAL Southern Region, Regional Manager welcomed the delegates to the workshop. SARF fully sponsored the event, with the aim of giving back to members.
Ismail Essa Regional Manager of SANRAL’s Northern Region commenced the proceedings by talking about SANS standards and how they can assist with road safety.
Rajan Padavattan of Nyeleti Consulting introduced everyone to the history of EU and US standards and their relevance in South Africa. He showed how from the 1930’s to today, crash tests are on-going in order to improve the safety standards of vehicle restraint systems and that although we have SANS 51317 as a national standard, we should not forget about the NCHRP systems.
This topic was followed by a presentation by Hennie Kotze of SANRAL. He gave a very impassioned talk on Temporary Vehicle Restraint systems and showed why only crash tested system should be used.
Edwin Kruger of SANRAL gave a very interesting and thought provoking presentation on Permanent Vehicle Restraint Systems.
Rajan Padavatten ended of this part of the workshop with a discussion titled: Designing for Standards going forward.
Garry Savill of the SARTSMA began the session on SANS 1519 parts 1 and 2 roads signs and road markings with a very interesting and eye-opening presentation on the Science of Reflectivity.
This was followed by Andre Fabricius of Anfab Consulting who took a novel approach complete with videos to illustrate the importance of correct signage. He introduced the delegates to the correct use of signs for Temporary Road Works (SARTSM Vol 2 Chapter 13 Road Works Signing) as well as Permanent Signage from the SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual.
Marshall Muten of SANRAL Eastern Region took the graveyard session and was able to make Road Markings from SANS 731 an interesting topic to keep those present seated to appreciate his talk on Performance-Based Road Markings, Road Studs and Delineation.