High Street bridge takes shape

THE TWO sections of High Street are now all but one.
This week on Tuesday, the setting of the beams began, that will support the roadway over the railway lines.
A huge crane arrived on site, and by mid-Tuesday morning it had already lifted a number of the precast concrete beams into position.
The High Street bridge will link the top end of High Street, that used to end at the intersection with Brecher Street, with the upper section of High Street between Hird and North streets.
Prepared to receive the beams are bearings set into the top of the piers and abutments. On the Vryheid Resident’s Association facebook page, Doug Grewar explained that: “The bearing are made of two metal plates with some sort of high density polyethylene material sandwiched in between.
“They allow for some slight movement between the sub-structure and the superstructure (beams and deck).”
A number of people have asked why the bridge has in effect been constructed at an angle. In fact, the two sections of High Street are not directly linked by the bridge, but at least at the northen end will require an actual stop sign to control traffic wanting to access the bridge from the upper High Street section. It will also be necessary to build ramps at both ends of the bridge.
Presumably, traffic travelling east along Brecher Street will have to stop at the High Street intersection before turning either left or right onto the south ramp.
As Doug Grewar points out, “If a bit more thought had been put into the planning, a design could have been made that would keep the substructure at right angles with the railway and kept the superstructure on a straight line with High Street, thereby avoiding the zig-zags in the road.
“This would however have necessitated the removal of the existing footbridge, but the new bridge could have easily been widened to take footpaths on the sides.”