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: Transport In Namibia
Famous quotes containing the word road:
“How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length
How drifts are piled,
Dooryard and road ungraded,
Till even the comforting barn grows far away,
And my heart owns a doubt
Whether ‘tis in us to arise with day
And save ourselves unaided.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Through the hollow globe, a ring
of frayed rusty scrapiron,
is it the sea that shines?
Is it a road at the world’s edge?”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Emancipation should make it possible for woman to be human in the truest sense. Everything within her that craves assertion and activity should reach its fullest expression; all artificial barriers should be broken, and the road towards greater freedom cleared of every trace of centuries of submission and slavery.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)