[WATCH] Road closures in the CBD due to lake retainer wall collapse expected to continue until the weekend

Motorists are urged to find alternate routes until the repairs to the wall are completed

Bunyan Street and the N12 onramp have been closed to road users

An operation to restore the slab that collapsed on the retainer wall of the lake in the Benoni CBD on the corner of Bunyan Street and the N12 has resulted in a closure of both the roads.

According to the Ekurhuleni Disaster Emergency Management Services (DEMS) district manager and media liaison, William Ntladi, the roads will be closed until the slab can be repaired.

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This, he said, may result in the roads being closed until the weekend in order to ensure the safety of community members and to effectively find a solution to repairing the collapsed slab.

On Sunday, the City Times received information that the water was being diverted to the lake on Tom Jones Street, which is a process that is being continued by emergency services.

“The operation here started on Sunday (December 23) after we received information that some of the concentrate slabs had collapsed,” explained Ntladi today.

“At present we are reducing the water levels in the dam, as per instructions of the engineers in order to relieve the water pressure.

“The water is being channelled via the water-relaying system from emergency services.

“The water-relaying system is very powerful and has high volumes of water flowing through.

“This could lead to an overflow which could obstruct the operation.

“The water is flowing into the other dam (the lake on Tom Jones Street) and we are monitoring the situation very carefully.

“Should there be an overflow we need to act quickly and this is the reason for closing off the roads.

“EMPD is directing the traffic to alternate routes and this will be the case until the operation is completed.

“We are helping reduce the levels at a quicker rate and this will enable the engineers to start with the repair as soon as possible.

“The engineering company has come up with a plan for us for when they will start and how they will operate.

“They will have to evaluate all the slabs and the inside of the dam wall as well before any repairs can commence.

“We are in the rainy season so the sooner this is resolved the better.

“By then we will need the contractor to be able to have sealed the collapsed slab.”

Ntladi added that the various departments involved with the operation are on standby at the site 24/7.

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Monitoring of the lake will continue until water levels have decreased considerably for the engineers to commence the necessary work.

Ntladi said rains would also pose a threat to the continuation of the operations and cause a setback to the already achieved water levels.

When asked about the possibility of flooding on Tom Jones Street due to an increase in water levels, Ntladi said it was a concern but was being monitored by emergency services and the chances of flooding, with the exception of rain, was minimal.

“This is a multi-departmental operation that includes DEMS, EMPD, and the Ekurhuleni water department as well as the engineers so there are many stakeholders involved.

“Every day we have a meeting at the Lakeview hospital to discuss our findings and reports of the previous day as we need to find a solution to the problem at hand very soon.”

Ntladi concluded that the repair process needed to be evaluated carefully and that a solution with repairs to the caved in slab was something Ekuruhuleni was looking to achieve before the New Year.