Witpoortjie residents south of Nassau Street can look forward to the upgrading of their sewer infrastructure. The City of Johannesburg has announced the approval of a R75 million project that brings relief to a suburb battling with aging infrastructure and repeated drain blockages.
The sewer infrastructure upgrade will focus on replacing the old 150mm asbestos cement pipes with new pipes that have a minimum diameter of 160mm. Streets in the block between Nassau and Quellerie Streets to the north and south, and Trezona and Corlett Avenues to the east and west, are the areas earmarked for the infrastructural overhaul.
A total of 19,55km of pipe will be replaced by three separate contractors appointed by Johannesburg Water. The three contracting companies beat 156 other entities that were tabled in the early Panel of Contractors for the project that was initiated back in 2018. “This is to come about because of the large number of continued blockages we have had within the Witpoortjie area,” stated Ward 71 councillor René Benjamin.
The companies responsible for the upgrades have been awarded 12-month contracts, with each given a section to complete in that time frame. Upon completion, the end result will be improved accessibility to sewer pipes by having repositioned the pipes to run along the road reserve as opposed to the midblock system that is currently in place.
As well as fulfilling staff obligations, contractors will also be responsible for, but not limited to, site clearance, excavation of trenches, horizontal directional drilling, reconnections and reinstatement of disturbed surface to their original condition. Exact date of commencement has been communicated and this will be shared once forthcoming.
