Draft Basic Assessment Report IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONAL ROUTE N2 SECTION 3 FROM KM 0 AT CALEDON, ENDING AT KM 48.67 AT RIVIERSONDEREND. DEA Reference: 14/12/16/3/3/1/1630 Prepared for: Prepared by: EOH Coastal & Environmental Services Block D, Gillooly’s View Office Park (EOH Business Park), 1 Osborne Lane, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2007. Also in Grahamstown, East London, Port Elizabeth and Maputo (Mozambique) www.cesnet.co.za | www.eoh.co.za September 2016 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT (For official use only) File Reference Number: Application Number: Date Received: Basic assessment report in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), as amended. Kindly note that: 1. This basic assessment report is a standard report that may be required by a competent authority in terms of the EIA Regulations, 2014 and is meant to streamline applications. Please make sure that it is the report used by the particular competent authority for the activity that is being applied for. 2. This report format is current as of 08 December 2014. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ascertain whether subsequent versions of the form have been published or produced by the competent authority 3. The report must be typed within the spaces provided in the form. The size of the spaces provided is not necessarily indicative of the amount of information to be provided. The report is in the form of a table that can extend itself as each space is filled with typing. 4. Where applicable tick the boxes that are applicable in the report. 5. An incomplete report may be returned to the applicant for revision. 6. The use of “not applicable” in the report must be done with circumspection because if it is used in respect of material information that is required by the competent authority for assessing the application, it may result in the rejection of the application as provided for in the regulations. 7. This report must be handed in at offices of the relevant competent authority as determined by each authority. 8. No faxed or e-mailed reports will be accepted. 9. The signature of the EAP on the report must be an original signature. 10. The report must be compiled by an independent environmental assessment practitioner. 11. Unless protected by law, all information in the report will become public information on receipt by the competent authority. Any interested and affected party should be provided with the information contained in this report on request, during any stage of the application process. 12. A competent authority may require that for specified types of activities in defined situations only parts of this report need to be completed. 13. Should a specialist report or report on a specialised process be submitted at any stage for any part of this application, the terms of reference for such report must also be submitted. 2 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT 14. Two (2) colour hard copies and one (1) electronic copy of the report must be submitted to the competent authority. 15. Shape files (.shp) for maps must be included in the electronic copy of the report submitted to the competent authority. 3 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT SECTION A: ACTIVITY INFORMATION Has a specialist been consulted to assist with the completion of this section? YES NO If YES, please complete the form entitled “Details of specialist and declaration of interest” for the specialist appointed and attach in Appendix I. 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION a) Describe the project associated with the listed activities applied for The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) proposes the upgrading of National Road 2 (N2), Section 3, which is 48.79km long and located between Caledon and Riviersonderend, within the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality of the Western Cape. The proposed development will entail the lengthening and/or widening of 21 existing climbing lanes, the addition of 10 new climbing lanes, the upgrading of 34 intersections/access ways, replacement of 46 earth and concrete drains, the lengthening of 88 culverts, the widening of two bridges and the upgrading of associated signage. Widening of the existing surfacing to provide wider shoulders is proposed for the entire length of the road and it is generally planned that this work will occur on the side of the road that has the most available existing road reserve. Roadwork activities will include the widening of cuttings and fills, construction of granular pavement layers with aggregates obtained from commercial sources, the construction of a gravel wearing course, resealing of the existing surface, the painting of road markings, the erection of road signs, and the installation of rumble strips and road studs. The project is mainly located in a rural area consisting of farms with predominantly agricultural land use. However, certain sections of the project are located within residential areas and public structures: Caledon (km 0): Town consisting of commercial and industrial developments, residential area , and High school (Overberg High school); Caledon Hospital (km 0.73); Caledon Casino (km 0.73); Residential area (km 0 to km 0.73); Residential area with Primary school (The Glebe primary school) (km 2.73 to km 3.09); Small cluster of residential houses (km 47.3); Riviersonderend (km 48.67): Town consisting of commercial developments and residential housing. An anticipated construction period of 30 months is anticipated. The footprint of the site is currently unknown, but a maximum of 280 workers estimated to be working during the daytime at any given time. The main items of the work to be undertaken in terms of construction include the following: General The establishment Contractor’s campsite, including facilities for the Engineer’s personnel on site; Setting out and provision of survey. Roadworks The accommodation of two way traffic (through possible use of stop and go’s, etc.); The crushing, screening and stockpiling of material from cuttings at road widenings; The clearing of vegetation (182 200 m2 area); The construction of fills and cuts; The construction of granular pavement layers from material obtained from commercial sources; The construction of gravel wearing course; Resealing the existing surface; The painting of road markings; 4 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Installation of route marker boards and road signs to indicate climbing lanes; Implementation of rumble strips to enhance the safety at intersections; Erection of guardrails at bridge approaches and high fills and possibly at new passing lanes; Installation of road studs on new surfacing; Finishing off of the road reserve. Drainage and culverts The removal and replacement of earth side drains at climbing lane locations (27 earth drains); Cleaning sub-surface drains and culverts; The lengthening of 14 major and 74 minor culverts due to road widenings; Removal and replacement of concrete drains affected by widenings for the proposed climbing lanes (17 drains); The widening of two bridges. The project objectives are thus understood as being to improve the safety of the road by providing wider surfaced shoulders, improve capacity and safety by upgrading existing climbing lanes and providing additional, address existing road safety hazards, improve intersection safety and capacity, and rationalize access arrangements where potential exists. LOCATION: The project is located on the National Route (N2), specifically Section 3, which is the stretch of road between the towns of Caledon and Riviersonderend, in the Western Cape. The ‘start’ of the road section is the intersection of the R316 and the N2 in Caledon, and terminates at the intersection of the municipal boundary and the N2 in Riviersonderend. Various parts of the road will be upgraded, with proposed climbing lanes intended in both directions (heading eastward and heading westward). Additionally, certain intersections are proposed to be upgraded along the entire length of the road. Regardless of the specific works conducted, the entire Section 3 (i.e. the entire road between Caledon and Riviersonderend) will be resurfaced (receive a new seal). As such, the whole section is regarded as the construction region. Figure 1.1 below shows the intersections to be upgraded, the westward and eastward direction climbing lanes, as well as the two rivers crossing the Road. Figure 1.2 indicates road network in the general area. 5 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Figure 1.1: Location of the project within the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality. 6 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Figure 1.2: Locality Map with road network shown. In addition to the EIA process, water use licence applications (WULAs) will be submitted in accordance with the National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1998), regulated by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for new major drainage structures. CLIMATE The climate within the region increases in aridity towards the east (towards Riviersonderend), with the mean annual rainfall ranging from 508.0mm/pa in Caledon, to 365.0mm/pa in Riviersonderend (CapeFarmMapper 2015). The lowest mean monthly rainfall is 8mm during December/January, while the highest mean monthly rainfall is 76mm/month over August. Rainfall is thus highest during the late winter months in this region. The mean annual temperature for the project region is 16.8°C, with the hottest month being February with a maximum mean temperature of 28.4°C. The coldest month of the year is July with a mean minimum temperature of 6.6°C (CapeFarmMapper 2015). GEOLOGY AND SOILS The project region primarily consists of Shale of the Bokkeveld Group, as well as Tertiary silcrete. Soils are generally of the Glenrosa and/or Mispah forms (other soils may occur), lime rare or absent in upland soils but generally present in low-lying soils, with land form code of Fb109 (CapeFarmMapper 2015). In the immediate vicinity of Riviersonderend, Alluvium on shale and sandstone of the Bokkeveld Group dominates, while the soil is predominantly Prismacutanic and/or pedocutanic diagnostic horizons dominant, B horizons - mainly not red, with land form code of Db10 (CapeFarmMapper 2015).