Renovations at the M1 Double Decker Bridge in Johannesburg on 10 July 2019. Picture: Gallo Images/Netwerk24/Felix Dlangamandla
The City of Johannesburg estimates that repairing the fire-damaged electrical infrastructure and concrete under the M1 highway bridge will cost around R33 million.
Joburg city manager, Floyd Brink, alongside officials from City Power and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), briefed the media on the progress of bridge repairs and electricity restoration.
WATCH: Cutter, cellphone and 200 degrees heat: Inside the fire that darkened Joburg
Several parts of the city, including Braamfontein, were left without power on 1 May.
This is after cables went up in flames under the bridge on the M1 south as a result of theft and vandalism.
The incident led to the closure of the Smit Street, which is below the bridge.
On Wednesday, Brink said at least 450 metres of the 88KV electrical cables were affected by the fire.
He said City Power was working to restore power in Braamfontein and Newtown. The Fordsburg substation was also damaged, but has since been fixed.
“The Fordsburg substation remains operational as we speak, while the Braamfontein substation remains offline pending repairs,” Brink told reporters.
The city manager said the JRA had identified structural damage to the M1 bridge.
“This particular bridge was constructed around 1971 or 1972. So despite the fire damage, recent assessment was conducted around 2018/2019 financial year and the bridge declared to be in a good condition and safe for use.”
READ MORE: 300 metres of cable stolen in Joburg M1 fire, as routes on and off highway closed
Brink indicated that city would work to secure with steel the concrete panels at the bridge that were in danger of falling on Smith Street.
“That will be done in the next two weeks and I have been informed that a contractor has been appointed.”
This construction repairs work will cost the JRA at least R10 million.
“Our principle visual condition inspection, which includes lab testing to assess the bridge structure with an estimate of R10 million we need to spent in the medium to long term,” Brink continued.
The city manager urged vehicles and pedestrians to avoid Smit Street and the railway yard below the bridge.
“There’s nothing wrong structurally with regards to the bridge. We do have structural engineer reports that indicate that the bridge is still safe.”
He further said the City of Joburg was concerned about the “high level of sabotage” of its infrastructure.
“It’s unfair towards the city if you look at what is happening because all of these issues are now just bringing financial strain on us as we have to reprioritise within our current constrained budget to able to address these particular issues.”
City Power’s group executive for service delivery centre operations, Charles Tlouane, confirmed that the entity would need to spend around R23 million to fix the electrical infrastructure.
“We had 11kv cables, telecommunications cables in that bridge. We had 88 oil filled cables. So, we are replacing those by their own entirety. That work is going to cost around R23 million.”
Tlouane said City Power technicians were working around the clock to ensure that they temporarily restore the areas that has experienced power supply interruptions.
The work is expected to be completed by 20 May.
He added that the city was under siege from vandals targeting infrastructure such traffic lights.
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