Dig-out port planners move to Bluff valley
The dig-out port might find a new home on the Bluff, according to plans seen by the Sun.
AUTHORITIES will start engaging with residents of the Bluff, Wentworth, Merebank and Merewent soon, as an alternative plan for the siting of the dug-out port has come to light.
The Sun this week had sight of documents revealing that the ministerial task team appointed to assess the feasability of the dug-out port option for Durban has also started to measure the possibility of the Bluff valley as a potential alternative.
It is viewed as a bold departure from the old airport site, where some 641 hectares of land was purchased and earmarked for the construction of the second port. However, this site has amassed major opposition from environmental groups, and now consultants are instead considering the impact of constructing a second harbour for Durban in the naturally low-lying valley that is centred along Tara Road, running between the headland ridges of Marine Drive and Bluff Road.
With its proximity to the Bluff valley, the plans include ways to link the existing harbour with the proposed port by widening the extensive system of existing canals.
The dig out port project is seen as crucial to Durban’s ability to keep pace with future containerised traffic with demand expected to grow from 2.5-million TEUs to 12-million within 30 years.
