Olifants road still closed

EMMARENTIA – Upgrades to the Emmarentia Dam Bridge are on schedule says Ward 88 Councillor Pat Richards.

March 8, 2016

Neo Phashe 1 minute read

Construction should be finished by end of April.

Residents will have to practise patience a little more liberally for the next month as construction on Olifants Road is still underway. The road is closed off due to an upgrade on the Emmarentia Dam Bridge.

Ward 88 Councillor, Pat Richards said that the upgrade was long overdue, and it had been requested for the past decade.”The upgrade is going according to schedule,” said Councillor Richards. She went on to add that although residents are not happy with the inconvenience, the upgrade will be beneficial to all.

Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) spokesperson, Bertha Scheepers said that the Emmarentia Dam Bridge upgrade is currently 90 per cent complete. “It is envisaged to be completed by end of April,” said Scheepers.

She went on to add that the reason the Emmarentia Dam is being upgraded is that a comprehensive investigation recently undertaken by the JRA, confirmed that preventative maintenance and flood retention protection is required to safeguard the dam’s integrity and ensure the safety of residential properties downstream.

The investigation also revealed the dam wall’s slope stability to be potentially at risk, and that urgent repairs were required to the return channel as a major flood could undermine the existing gabion and concrete walls causing significant structural damage.

“While continued erosion could expose the banks and possibly undermine existing municipal roads located in close proximity to the right-hand side of the return channel, in addition, the Olifants Road located along the crest of the dam’s embankment has also been affected by possible leakages within storm water inlet structures requiring repairs and road reconstruction,” concluded Scheepers.

Details: Johannesburg Road Agency, hotline@jra.org.za or 0860 562 874.