Hendrik Potgieter Road rebuild hits 200 days to proposed completion
The provincial roads department and contractors are still confident of rebuilding the main road by November 30.
May 15 marks 200 days until the targeted deadline for the Hendrik Potgieter Road bridge rebuild.
It may have felt like an eternity for residents sitting in endless traffic, dodging massive vehicles, but it has been just less than 160 days since the road was closed. That period has seen two public engagement meetings, one contracting company having their employment terminated and countless emails sent back and forth between entities and frustrated residents in the thick of the detour.
Also read: Provincial Roads department confident Hendrik Potgieter Road will be reopened by the end of the year
A site visit was conducted on May 11 involving the contractors, the Gauteng Provincial Department of Roads and Transport (GPDRT) as well as ward governance.
Ward 85 councillor Zoné Hughes gave her feedback stating, “They are busy reinforcing the soil underneath the bridge to ensure that what happened in December 2022 does not happen again by reinforcing the culverts and building a reinforced wall. Teams are also busy desilting along the road to ensure that the road does not get damaged by any further rain.”
Also read: Motorcyclist airlifted to hospital after collision on Hendrik Potgieter Road
VEA Road Maintenance and Civils is the company who has taken over the full scope of work required.
VEA’s contract manager Zama Kokela explained further, “We are now filling with dump rock to the level of the base and channeling the water using a concrete channel.”
Elaborating on claims of working around the clock Kokela said, “The above doesn’t require us to work at night as yet. We are at 20% progress of the works so nightshifts haven’t started. That will only commence when we do the culvert.”
Claims that no surveyor was active on-site were circulating on community WhatsApp groups, something Kokela dismissed.
“We have our in-house survey team. The surveyor is on-site, there are no issues,” he said.
“We must do the survey and send it to the engineer for approval. Once approved we then work. That is not an issue at all,” Kokela added.
Explaining the role of the surveyor Kokela stated, “Picking up existing turnkey survey, giving points of reference of the structure to the team, controlling levels using design levels and pickup after survey for actual and for record purposes.”
Confident of meeting the November 30 deadline, he concluded, “We are on the programme and no delays have been encountered as yet. We are positive with our approved timelines and milestones”.
One of the earliest requests from residents was to have signs erected to properly enforce a traffic management plan. To date, many believe the signage to be inadequate and at worst, misleading. Members of the WRAP residents association have pointed out two glaring issues, one sign on Peter Road pointing away from the hole and another seeming to direct five-tonne trucks onto Van Staden Road.
GPDRT did not provide further comment on the project but those closest to it believe the road will be transformed from the current pit into the main arterial it was.
Answering residents’ calls to remain informed, Hughes stated, “I will be joining the team on-site to make sure that work is continuing according to schedule. GPDRT will advise once another stakeholder engagement meeting will be called, and once the information for the meeting is available, it will be shared.”
