De Roodepoort Coal Mine Transport Impact Study
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DE ROODEPOORT COAL MINE TRANSPORT IMPACT STUDY Final Report September 2016 PREPARED BY: PREPARED FOR: STURGEON CONSULTING CABANGA ENVIRONMENTAL CONTACT PERSON: CONTACT PERSON: Barend du Preez / Sarah Larratt Ms Jane Kennard Tel no: 083 701 2299 / 083 418 4241 Tel no: 011 794 7534 STURGEON CONSULTING (PTY) LTD (Reg No. 2015/059313/07) Directors: B du Preez (Pr Eng) & RS du Preez (Attn) Associate: SJ Larratt (Pr Tech Eng) Specialist Consultant: G Hitge (Pr Eng) Sturgeon Consulting De Roodepoort Coal Mine TIS DOCUMENT CONTROL DATE REPORT AUTHORED BY: APPROVED BY: STATUS NAME NAME Sarah Larratt, Pr Tech Eng Barend du Preez, Pr. Eng 1st Draft for 1 September 2016 SIGNATURE SIGNATURE comment NAME NAME Sarah Larratt, Pr Tech Eng Barend du Preez, Pr. Eng 23 September Final SIGNATURE SIGNATURE 2016 TITLE: DE ROODEPOORT COAL MINE: TRANSPORT IMPACT STUDY CARRIED OUT BY: COMMISSIONED BY: Sturgeon Consulting Cabanga Environmental Postnet Suite #347 Unit 5 & 6 Beyers Office Park Private Bag x1 Bosbok Road Melkbosstrand Randpark Ridge 7437 Tel: +27 21 553 4167 Cell: +27 (0) 83 236 0169 Fax: +27 86 559 5327 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] / [email protected] SYNOPSIS: This report assesses the key transportation issues pertaining to the proposed future De Roodepoort Coal Mine development near Ermelo in the Mpumalanga Province. Final Report September 2016 Sturgeon Consulting De Roodepoort Coal Mine TIS DECLARATION OF INDEPENDANCE This report was compiled by Mr Barend Du Preez and Mrs Sarah Larratt of Sturgeon Consulting, both who hereby declare that they acted as independent consultants and have no business, financial, personal or other interest in the proposed development project, application or appeal in respect of which we were appointed other than fair remuneration for work performed in connection with the activity, application or appeal. There are no circumstances that compromise the objectivity of our performing such work. CVs of the applicable specialists that performed the core duties are contained in Annexure A. Barend Du Preez, Pr Eng Sarah Larratt, Pr TechEng September 2016 Final Report September 2016 Sturgeon Consulting De Roodepoort Coal Mine TIS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology ....................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Legislations with regards to Transport Impact Assessments ............................... 1 1.4 Study Purpose ...................................................................................................... 2 2. LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED COAL MINE ................................................................... 3 3. EXISTING ROAD NETWORK AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS ................................................ 5 3.1 Future Road Network .......................................................................................... 6 3.2 Existing Traffic Conditions ................................................................................... 7 4. PROPOSED COAL MINE ............................................................................................... 11 4.1 Description of the Project .................................................................................. 11 4.2 Access to the Proposed Mine ............................................................................ 13 5. TRAFFIC IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED MINE ................................................................. 17 5.1 Trip Generation ................................................................................................. 17 5.1.1 Construction Workforce Traffic ........................................................................... 18 5.1.2 Construction Vehicles .......................................................................................... 18 5.1.3 Permanent Workforce (Operational Stage) .......................................................... 19 5.1.4 Heavy Delivery Vehicles ....................................................................................... 19 5.2 Analysis Requirements for the Additional Mine Generated Traffic Volumes .... 19 5.3 Trip Distribution ................................................................................................ 20 5.4 Peak Hour Traffic Generation ............................................................................ 20 6. ROAD IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED ............................................................................. 21 6.1 Traffic Implications of the Proposed Development ........................................... 21 6.2 Impact of Road Safety Conditions...................................................................... 21 6.3 Road and Intersection Upgrades for Access Roads ............................................ 21 6.4 Impact on the Condition of the Road Network .................................................. 22 6.5 Abnormal Loads ................................................................................................. 23 6.6 Condition of Road Surfaces ................................................................................ 23 6.7 Rail Infrastructure .............................................................................................. 23 6.8 Liaison with Road Authorities ............................................................................ 24 Final Report September 2016 Sturgeon Consulting De Roodepoort Coal Mine TIS 7. PUBLIC TRANSPORT ASSESSMENT .............................................................................. 25 7.1 Background ........................................................................................................ 25 7.2 Road-Based Public Transport ............................................................................. 25 7.3 Non-Motorised Transport Assessment .............................................................. 25 7.4 Commuter Rail ................................................................................................... 26 8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS..................................................................... 27 9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 29 ANNEXURE A: CVS ................................................................................................................ 30 ANNEXURE B: GENERAL SITE LAYOUT .................................................................................. 31 ANNEXURE C: SITE ACCESS LAYOUT ..................................................................................... 32 FIGURES Figure 1: Locality Plan ............................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 2: Traffic Highlights from SANRAL’s Permanent Counting Station 2190 (2015) – N17 ................. 8 Figure 3: Traffic Highlights from SANRAL’s Permanent Counting Station P713 (2015) – N17 ................. 9 Figure 4: General Site Layout ................................................................................................................12 Figure 5: Proposed Site Access ..............................................................................................................15 Figure 6: Proposed Site Access Upgrades off the N17 (Source: SANRAL Typical Drawings) ...................16 Figure 7: Coal Haul Routes (Source: Mpumalanga RAMS) .....................................................................20 ACRONYMS: TIS – Transport Impact Study EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment SANRAL – South African National Road Agency NEMA – National Environmental Management Act NMT – Non-Motorised Transport vph – Vehicles per Hour RAMS – Road Asset Management AADT – Annual Average Daily Traffic ADTT – Average Daily Truck Traffic COTO – Committee of Transport Officials Final Report September 2016 Sturgeon Consulting De Roodepoort Coal Mine TIS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND It is proposed that a new coal mine and associated infrastructure be established on the farm De Roodepoort 435 IS (Portions: RE, RE1, RE2, 3, RE4, 5, RE6, RE7, 8, RE9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14), located approximately 5km west of the town of Ermelo along the N17 national road in the Mpumalanga Limpopo Province. The proposed coal mine site is situated in the Msukaligwa Local Municipality of the Gert Sibande District Municipality. Sturgeon Consulting (Pty) Ltd has been appointed by Cabanga Environmental to provide specialist input to the EIA application in terms of a Transport Impact Study (TIS) for the proposed De Roodepoort Coal Project. This study is undertaken as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process facilitated by Cabanga Environmental in terms of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA). As part of the authorisation, several specialist studies have been identified to form part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This is a Greenfields site. The report aims to help inform the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) undertaken for the proposed development with the objective to facilitate informed decision-making as it relates to the desirability of the proposed mine in context of the statutory obligation to ensure long-term environmental sustainability with specific reference to the traffic