Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and Transport MMC Nonhlanhla Makhuba on Thursday officially opened the newly
built Klipspruit bridge, as well as the 300-m stretch of road adjacent to it.
Situated in Soweto Wards 11 and 17, the bridge
replaced a culvert bridge which flooded yearly during the rainy season.
Construction activities began in January 2018 and the reconstruction included
the installation of side drains, gabions, stone pitching, pedestrian walkways
and concrete kerbs, besides others.
The project cost R49-million, employed 54 local
workers and created opportunities for 14 local small, medium-sized and
microenterprises, Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) infrastructure development
head Siya Genu said.
Genu added that the Klipspruit bridge was a
world-class bridge that was designed to withstand a “one-in-100-year flood”.
He conceded that there had been minimal
construction delays owing to theft and “a rough start” with the communities, but
thanked the communities for their eventual support.
Genu said the JRA appreciated that there was a
significant infrastructure backlog and assured the community that the agency
was making headway as and when the budget allowed.
Makhuba added that the bridge demonstrated the
city’s commitment to residents’ safety and reiterated that the JRA was doing
the “best it can with limited resources”.
She added that, while sympathetic to the
frustrations caused by unemployment, communities should find alternative means
of expressing themselves instead of “destroying or delaying the very projects
that are intended to uplift the community.
Ward 11 Councillor Meisie Maluleke and
Ward 17 Councillor Peter Rafferty also attended.
M2 UPDATE
Meanwhile, Genu said the M2 bridge rehabilitation
project was about 60% complete and on track for handover on October 31.
He noted that the contractor – Stefanutti Stocks –
was currently working on the reconstruction of four columns across Sauer street
and that the construction of the 4-m-wide by 18-m-tall columns would take about
a month to complete.
The joints and decks of the entire bridge also
needed to be waterproofed, with Genu explaining that a significant portion of
the damage caused to the M2 was water-related.
“There are eight bridge structures along the M2
bridge, which is about 2 km long and they all have the same problem…what we
want to do before the end of October is to waterproof the bridge structures.”
He noted that, with the decks, all that was
required was the removal of 30 mm from the 100 mm surface and the resurfacing
thereof with a waterproof asphalt.
He noted that parts of the bridge repair programme would continue for at least three financial years, but stressed that these aspects would not require further road closures, except for perhaps one or two lanes at a time. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/mashaba-opens-klipspruit-bridge-jra-provides-update-on-m2-repairs-2019-07-25/rep_id:4136
