This research is an evaluation of labour-based methods and techniques that are used in rural road construction and maintenance. The study places emphasis on the Zibambele rural road maintenance programme in Umbumbulu, which is based on a lengthmen (male or female) system. The research is an attempt to determine how strategies such as Zibambele can be used for the social and economic upliftment of impoverished rural areas as well as contribute to adequate road access for rural communities to address the legacy of apartheid, with special reference to the empowerment of women-headed households. Rural road networks in South Africa are underdeveloped and characterised by its poor state, lack of maintenance and lack of provision, thereby having little impact on the lives of the rural poor Black population. It is evident in the study that development and maintenance of physical infrastructure are keys to rapid economic growth and poverty reduction. The study examined the impacts of labour-based rural road maintenance on accessibility and poverty alleviation in the Umbumbulu community through the use of quantitative methods (specifically a questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods (specifically focus group discussions, ranking exercises, mental mapping and venn/ chapatti diagrams). The_findings of the study indicated that the Zibambele poverty alleviation and rural road maintenance programme impacted positively on the livelihoods of many women-headed households by providing an income, facilitating skills development, and improving their social environment. It was also determined that through the introduction of new programmes such as Zibambele, the transport infrastructure within a community and the quality of life immediately improves, thus alleviating many affects of poverty / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The problems associated with increased heavy grain truck traffic in rural regions were investigated. Both the short-run incremental costs of accelerated pavement replacement and the long-run incremental costs of upgrading low-volume highways were considered. A set of demand and traffic models was formulated which projects the annual flow of grain from each production zone in an impact region to each elevator, allocates the flows among truck-types, computes the annual trips, gross vehicle weights and axle weights, and assigns the truck trips to the highway network. A set of highway models was also formulated which computes the equivalent single axle loads for each highway section in an impact region and estimates the incremental costs associated with subterminal traffic. The impacts of a newly-formed subterminal-satellite elevator system in rural North Dakota were investigated. The results of the case study indicate that rural collector highways are likely to experience substantial localized impacts from subterminal development but the effects on principal arterials may be minimal. Altogether, $1.14 million in short-run costs and $8.41 million in long-run costs were projected for the impact region. However, the case study roads represent less than 2 percent of the rural arterial and collector highway mileage in the state. If the case-study network represents a microcosm of rural North Dakota, then the statewide short-run and long-run incremental costs may be in the vicinity of $57 million and $420 million respectively. However, regional variations within the state may result in either higher or lower costs for a given elevator system than those projected in the case study. / Ph. D.