According to the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) for the South Road Bridge project, Mdu Myeza, despite the problems the team has been experiencing, the bridge is still set to be completed in April of this year.
The bridge collapsed approximately three years ago, leading to a section of the road being closed. Frustration has been a dominant emotion for motorists who used the road for their daily commutes. This frustration only grew as it took years for the construction to even start, and finally in June 2019, the repair work began. Since then, labourers have encountered problem after problem – two of the main ones being water pipes and electricity cables running through the site.
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The most recent incident that could have caused a problem was a drunk driver who crashed into the site with a light motor vehicle. Luckily no one was hurt and the damage to the site was minor, so it did not slow down the construction.
Fortunately, the water pipes have been dealt with by Johannesburg Water and the cables are on their way to being sorted out. According to Mdu, City Power is currently communicating with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to address the problem, but until then, the construction team has found a way to work around the cables.
The project is still using the same 15 EPWP (Expanded Public Works Programme) workers from Ward 71. They are all residents of either Witpoortjie, Davidsonville, Grobler Park, Lindhaven or Princess.
Mdu said the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) that applied to subcontract on the project would be notified within the first week of February. The SMMEs that have been accepted for subcontracting will hire more labourers to make sure the project stays on track.
The initial completion date was set for March of this year (2020), but was subsequently postponed by one month in November 2019. Much to the joy of residents and motorists in Ward 71, the completion date has not moved since then so the bridge should be open to traffic in the next few months.
Mdu said that he was very pleased with the progress and the team’s ability to stay on schedule despite the numerous difficulties they have encountered.
