M4 repair work halted during nationwide lockdown
The construction company in charge of the site were in the process of shoring up the western embankment of the highway when the lockdown was enforced.
WORK to repair a damaged section of the M4 Ruth First Highway will be delayed following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of a 21-day lockdown.
The highway has been out of commission since last year when a partial road collapse caused the closure of the route between uMhlanga and Sibaya.
Local company, Devru Construction, who have been tasked to carry out the backfill and repair work on the damaged section of the M4, were in the process of shoring up the western embankment of the highway when the announcement was made.
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Ward councillor, Nicole Bollman, said the construction site was closed due to the lockdown and that the road now would most likely not be finished by the end of April as predicted.
“In all probability work may be pushed back another month. The contractors are almost on road level which was hard to imagine a few months back when the damaged section was hollowed out into a massive sinkhole. I’ve been told workers were in the process of laying curbs and the eastern side embankment has been completed in terms of its stabilisation process.
“The eastern embankment collapse were a cause for concern for the hotels on Lagoon Drive. The horticulturalists and landscapers had started their project on the eastern side. The workers were on their fifth row (of 15) of laying green terramesh (GTM), which reinforces soil slopes and embankments. Once that project is complete the contractors will have a clear path to reconstruct the road and lay the tar,” Bollman said.
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