Boundary Road suffers 6 burst water pipes in 2 months

If Blairgowrie and Robindale are already looking like a war zone with all the trenches dug out of roads and pavements, then Boundary Road is Berlin during the last year of World War II.

A 1km stretch of the road has suffered six water pipe bursts within the last two months. The two pipes responsible for the bursts run parallel to the road on either side and have been repaired. All that remains is the reinstatement of the road itself.

“I have been told by Johannesburg Water the pipes are old asbestos cement pipes that break in one place, are repaired, and then break again a little further along,” Ward 99 councillor Nicole van Dyk complained.
“ Joburg Water told me they have to wait a few weeks for the ground to settle and the water to dry, but it has been a while already.”

In the meantime, there is little space for pedestrians to walk and it being such a busy road, Van Dyk worries accidents will occur.
A larger reinstatement is also awaiting attention on Bram Fischer Drive nearby, where the burst water pipe left residents in the area without water for a week. This, another very busy road, has held a pool of water since the burst on August 24. Somehow, sewage has also found its way into the trench, and this will need to be investigated.

Again in the meantime, the water is not drying up and so reinstatements will not receive attention by Johannesburg Water.

Questions were sent to Johannesburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala on September 19, as to why there have been so many water pipe bursts on Boundary Road; when these will be reinstated; and what is being done to prevent further bursts. She was also asked what the reason is behind the larger burst on Bram Fischer Drive and when that will be reinstated.

She replied the next day that she would forward the query to the relevant depot and ask them to prioritise it, but response times may be delayed.

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