Ekurhuleni ready to repair Swartkoppies bridge
EMM plan to get the Swartkoppies bridge fixed later this year.
BRACKENHURST – Swartkoppies bridge has been left in a condition where it can not be used by anyone due to an incident that occurred in 2011 when a truck knocked off some of the bridge.
EMM have provided information regarding the bridge:
The bridge deck will be replaced with a newly manufactured pre-cast deck while the existing structure is to be repaired.
The bid for the construction process was advertised and a compulsory site meeting was held on March 25. The closing date of the bid was April 2.
The evaluation process started and the report was prepared. The compiled report is to be submitted to the Bid Evaluation Committee once approved by the HOD: Roads and Stormwater.
A contractor was not recommended for appointment as none of the contractors complied with the bid conditions when submitting their bids.
Should there be a cancellation of the existing bid, the bid for the repair of the bridge has to be re-advertised.
As there were no accepted bidders, the repair/replacement cost cannot be accurately determined. The bridge serves as a pedestrian bridge (school children, domestic workers etc.)
There were various unsuccessful attempts to appoint Consulting Engineers for the Swartkoppies Road Pedestrian Bridge project. The bidding process also takes time.
In terms of the MFMA (Municipal Finances Management Act) and CIDB (Construction Industry Data Base) requirements, there were “cooling down” periods that had to be adhered to.
Compliance of Consultants and Contractors to bidding requirements as well as the time consuming bidding process led to the delay.
