Collapsed bridge could leave residents stranded

According to Douglasdale resident Linda Bogle, the bridge was initially hit by a raging river on 31 January. This damaged the road surface, broke sections of the wall and bent the railing.

“On 26 February the bridge was again hit by the river which wasted away the walls completely, along with the railing and again did serious damage to the road,” she said.

Bogle explained that the bridge is the only public route for residents to enter the section of Niven Avenue where she lives as it is a cul-de-sac. The residents of the street got together to fill in the holes in the road with bricks in an attempt to make the road usable but Bogle is worried that trucks or emergency vehicles may weaken the structure and not be able to make the crossing. At the moment most residents are accessing the cul-de-sac through a private road in an adjacent retirement village.

Bogle has now started a petition via the Niven Avenue Bridge Group Facebook page to prove to the Johannesburg Roads Agency that the bridge is in a dire state.

Ward 115 councilor, Chris Santana agrees with Bogle in that the community needs to mobilise to get the bridge fixed. Yet he also mentioned that while a Facebook group will help to unite the community, he does still require the petition to be submitted to him in writing via email with each residents’ necessary information.

However, Bertha Peters-Scheepers, spokesperson for the roads agency, said that a petition is unnecessary as they have already compiled a report on the damage caused to all bridges in the city and remedial work to the bridges is now being prioritised and attended to.

“The roads agency is aware of this bridge’s collapse,” she said. “Roads agency inspectors have confirmed that the bridge is in driveable condition and safe for traffic, including heavy and emergency vehicles, and the bridge will be maintained on an ‘as and when’ basis by the relevant depot.”

Details: csantana@global.co.za