Sustainable Road Construction Practice in a Developing Country: A South African perspective

The South African government plans to create a low carbon industry whilst simultaneously creating new jobs through industrial development. These plans coincide with the released UN publication: "Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication". National policies are underway to ensure execution of these environmental and social objectives within the industry. The industry consists of many disciplines of which the road pavement sector is a major role player. The aim of this paper is to establish whether the road construction industry is equipped to implement such proposed policies. The institutional obstacles are reviewed in order to identify key issues that are prevalent in developing countries. The sustainability of some current road construction practices are assessed with regard to climate change mitigation. In addition the importance of the implementation of strategic objectives and the formulation of clear goals are investigated. This paper will show the necessity of a paradigm shift by role players and stakeholders in order for the country to reach long term sustainable goals.