Road
Namibia's road network is regarded as one of the best on the continent; road construction and maintenance adheres to international standards. The country's more than 44,500 kilometres (27,700 mi) roads are administered by the Roads Authority, a state-owned enterprise established by Act #17 of 1999. Due to low traffic volumes the majority of roads are not tarred. The distribution of road surfaces is:
- 6,664 kilometres (4,141 mi) standard bitumen road
- 412 kilometres (256 mi) low-volume bitumen road. These roads have the same base layer as gravel roads but are covered with a thin layer of bitumen to reduce maintenance cost and dust formation.
- 25,710 kilometres (15,980 mi) standard gravel road, covered with imported gravel.
- 11,460 kilometres (7,120 mi) earth-graded road. These roads are built by clearing the vegetation and blading the surface. Compaction is achieved by the traffic using the road. Some of these roads are not graded at all but just consist of earth or sand tracks separated by vegetation. These tracks are in use where a daily usage of less than five vehicles is expected.
- 288 kilometres (179 mi) salt road. These roads consist of concentrated salt water and gypsum-rich material. They are only built near the Atlantic coast inside the mist belt.
The major highways in Namibia are:
- B1 from Noordoewer (South African border) to Oshikango (Angolan border), 1694 km
- B2 from Walvis Bay to Okahandja, 285 km
- B3 from Nakop (South African border) to Grünau, 324 km
- B4 from Lüderitz to Keetmanshoop, 351 km
- B6 from Windhoek to Buitepos (Botswana border), 335 km
- B8 from Otavi to Katima Mulilo (Zambian border), 837 km
As of December 2011 there are about 270,000 cars registered in Namibia, almost half of them in the capital Windhoek.
Read more about this topic: Roads In Namibia
Famous quotes containing the word road:
“The right road lies under your tongue—just ask.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Dear common flower, that grow’st beside the way,
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,
First pledge of blithesome May,
Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold,
Hight-hearted buccaneers, o’erjoyed that they
An Eldorado in the grass have found,
Which not the rich earth’s ample round
May match in wealth—thou art more dear to me
Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.”
—James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
“And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)