ESWATINI RAILWAYS (ESR) has floated a tender for Automation of Siphofaneni Level Crossing. The project location is Swaziland and the tender is closing on 06 Feb 2020. The tender notice number is 6/2020, while the TOT Ref Number is 39504301. Bidders can have further information about the Tender and can request the complete Tender document by Registering on the site.

Expired Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Swaziland

Summary : Automation of Siphofaneni Level Crossing

Deadline : 06 Feb 2020

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 39504301

Document Ref. No. : 6/2020

Competition : ICB

Financier : Self Financed

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : ESWATINI RAILWAYS (ESR)
Head Office in Mbabane P O Box 475, Mbabane Tel: +268-24117400 Fax: +268-24117499
Swaziland
Email :tenders@swazirail.co.sz

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for Automation of Siphofaneni Level Crossing.

Objectives and Scope of the work

The Siphofaneni level crossing is one of the busiest level crossing in the country and a number of lives have been lost at this crossing. The level crossing is unmanned but has a number of traffic calming structures and road traffic signs that comply with the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR). Drivers of vehicles do not observe the traffic signs and do not react to the traffic calming structures (speed humps). Vehicles either do not stop at the stop sign or they drive across while the train is approaching. The continuance of this state of affairs increases the safety risks associated with level crossings as identified during the Joint Goba Corridor Risk Assessments and subsequent Safety, Health, Environment, Risk and Quality (SHERQ) Steering Committee decisions, which are in line with the SANS 3000 specifications and the SARA006 standard . The negligence of road vehicle users in not observing the precautions while negotiating unmanned level crossings results in high fatalities.

The recommendations of the risks assessment and SHERQ Steering Committee were that a solution using barriers be considered for the Siphofaneni level crossing. It should be noted that there are different design and operational combinations of barrier solutions for level crossings and these are: a) Have a Signal man in a cabin at the Level crossing to activate the Barriers closed and open when the train approaches. This is a manned level crossing. b) Have a Level crossing that only has flashlights. These will be in addition to the existing traffic signs, which road users are currently failing to observe. c) Provide two barriers on opposite sides of the roadway which are automated and used in combination with bullet 2 above.


d) Provide a level crossing with four barriers to close off the roadway completely.
This level crossing with four barriers requires radar and sensors to detect if
there is a vehicle in between the barrier so as not to close the roadway and
trap a car between the barriers and cause an accident.
The last two level crossings are fully automated. In order to avoid the human
errors that could occur during the operation of gates, the proposed project
introduces the concept of unmanned railway Barrier automation. Manually
operated gate controls increases the rate of error that could occur at these level
crosses because they are unsafe to perform without actual knowledge about the
train timetable. Delaying the opening and closing of the gate could lead to railway
accidents. Thus the Unmanned Railway Gate Automation system aims to deal with
four problems. Firstly it reduces the total time taken for the gate operation at the
level crossing and also ensures the safety of the vehicles and pedestrians at the
level crossing when the train passes. The reduction in the direct human
intervention during the gate operation, in turn, helps to reduce the collision and
accidents at the level crossing. Since the gate operations are automated based on
the switch gears, the time during which the gate is closed is less. Secondly, this
automated system reduces accidents due to vehicles or humans trapped during
the closing of level barriers/booms. The project thus intends to develop an
automatic railway gate control system which is reliable.
It is proposed that the Siphofaneni level crossing be fully automated implementing
one of the designs and operational combinations described in bullets c) and d)
above. The proposed solution needs to take into account the fact that the pending
upgrading of the Sidvokodvo – Phuzumoya railway line will address all level
crossings, that is to say, level crossings will be replaced with bridges or
underpasses depending on the location.

Documents

 Tender Notice