Eastleigh Ridge stormwater project may be completed in February- CoE

The City of Ekurhuleni predicts that the stormwater project located near the corner of Aitken Road and Da Gama Avenue will be completed by February.

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This comes after the Eastleigh Ridge community raised concerns about the project’s progression.

Eastleigh Ridge Residents Associations chairperson Sheryl Damerell said concerns were specifically highlighted when a member of the community informed her that the contractor packed up machinery several weeks ago.

After informing Ward 19 Ald Bill Rundle, it was discovered there was a payment discrepancy between the municipality and the contractor.

CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini confirmed this and said it is in the public domain that the city seems to be experiencing cashflow challenges.

“The project was impacted negatively because of the lack of payments from the city. Information from the latest report is that the contractor is still not paid.”

Explaining how the infrastructure collapsed in 2020, Dlamini said the brick chamber was suspected to have collapsed after excessive rainfall occurred.

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“This resulted in the chamber flowing full and displacing the concrete cover slab.”

The structural integrity of the chamber was compromised and it deteriorated over time.

Dlamini said it was officially handed over to the contractors on September 8.

In terms of how the project will be different than it was previously, the plan is to rebuild the collapsed chamber.

Dlamini said once this is done, the stormwater flow will be diverted away from the private properties and reconfigure the existing 90-degree angle connection at Ferdinand Avenue stormwater manholes to 45 degrees connection to minimise the flow conflict in the manhole.

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He said unlike the previous construction the new chamber will be constructed from reinforced concrete.

Addressing Damerell’s s concerns regarding the lack of sidewalk maintenance, Dlamini said Edenvale Roads depot that services nine wards and is responsible for clearing sidewalks, has a large backlog.

It will be included on the priority list.

Speaking about stormwater drain maintenance, Dlamini said the pipelines are clear from siltation.

“The problem in the area is not the blockages of pipelines, but the capacity of the existing stormwater system which cannot handle the flow,” he said.

“The city is busy with the stormwater master plan to alleviate the stormwater challenges currently being experienced by the residents.”

Dlamini said the work in the park is being done to re-route stormwater collected from the park away from the pipeline passing through private properties.

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“The maintenance creates access challenges for the city during the required maintenance of the stormwater pipeline infrastructure thereby also minimising the stormwater flow in the existing mid-block pipeline.”

Although Damerell raised safety concerns, Dlamini said the park is still operational

“Construction activities are limited to certain sections of the park.”

Dlamini said the construction areas were barricaded to stop members of the community from accessing them.

Despite not receiving any formal complaints about walls leaning over or being damaged, Dlamini said if complaints are lodged and damage is discovered it will be repaired by the main contractor at his cost.

The park will also be rehabilitated by the contractor.

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Dlamini said the site will close for the annual builders’ break on December 15 and construction will resume on January 9.

“The site will be made safe and maintained by the contractor during the annual builder’s break as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993.”