The City of Johannesburg estimated that R178 million would be required for repairs after the explosion in Bree Street.
This was revealed at a media briefing in Braamfontein on August 2.
The explosion occurred a month ago, claiming one life and damaging roads and infrastructure.
The City of Johannesburg manager Floyd Brink said the cause of the explosion was methane from an unknown source which had travelled along the services tunnel to the crest of the tunnel near Von Brandis Street.
He added the cost of the repairs might change after they received the detailed designs for the entire project.
Brink said the city had so far spent about R4m which included the services of experts, cordoning off the site, and temporary relief services in the form of water tankers and ablution facilities.
The City of Johannesburg manager said the following were ruled out by the investigation:
- It was not terrorist related or the action of zama-zamas, cable theft or foul play
- All emergency responses by EMS, JMPD, and all departments were effective and compliant, and no shortcomings were to be addressed
- It was not an Egoli pipeline explosion or pipe rupture nor a large leak before the explosion, only post-explosion as confirmed on the timeline of the Egoli Gas Scada (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) monitor system.
- No negligence by electricity utilities or any department or the intentional release of gas into the tunnel
- No signs of people living in the tunnels nor recent cable theft were found
Brink said to avoid a future recurrence, the tunnel design would be upgraded based on current international codes for tunnels to reduce the risk and severity of explosions.
“We will also introduce continuous gas detection and alarms and gas detector sensor monitors for all staff working the tunnels regularly. Our tunnel design will be based on international relevant standards for tunnels and fire, and explosion preventions with accidental combustible gas release in tunnels or cavities.”
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