GIBB, South Africa’s leading black-owned engineering consulting firm, in association with the National Department of Transport (NDoT),
has implemented the nationwide installation of Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSIs) in South Africa, specifically in Tshwane and Cape Town.
“This new prerequisite for all future building and town plans ensures the safety of visually impaired patrons using South African roads and internally in public buildings,” says Frano Combrinck, consultant to GIBB Engineering and a specialist independent consultant of TGSIs in South Africa.
TGSIs, commonly known as nodes, have played a pivotal part of visually impaired health and safety regulations across the world, and now can be seen on our roads in South Africa.
GIBB collaborated with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Universal Access Consultants and a number of disability alliance groups, including the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB).
The implementation of the nodes was first introduced to South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. Since then GIBB has been working to transform the streets of South Africa in line with worldwide standards.
“The nodes help not only visually impaired pedestrians, but also people in wheelchairs, with trolleys and prams and the elderly members,”” said Combrinck.
This health and safety milestone has been in planning for more than a decade. GIBB, in conjunction with Combrinck, has developed a standard book of drawings for the City of Tshwane entitled “Standard Construction Detail and Design Standards for Intersection Pedestrian Crossings affected by the Bus Rapid Transit Infrastructure”. The document complies to, and incorporates, international best practice in consultation with the National Department of Transport (NDoT) and other major stakeholders.
More information from Rowan Sewchurran, Tel:+27(0)115194600/www.gibb.co.za
