Residents want answers before blasting proceeds
Clir Antonie Brits from Ward 22 said that the community's safety and the integrity of their hard-earned properties and assets are paramount.
The Klarinet Bulk Water Supply spearheaded by the Bo-mamohlala Projects (BMP) has reached new heights as the project needs to blast in Christian De Wet Streets soon.
Shortly after BMP confirmed the blasting, a community meeting to inform residents was scheduled on Thursday, July 11 at Victory Family Church.
A report by Blast Management and Consulting highlights that BMP is required to drill and blast a trench for the new pipeline for the Klarinet and Siyanqoba Bulk Water Supply Phase 2 in the area of Christiaan De Wet Street in eMalahleni. The trench is approximately 25m deep and 25m wide.
The go-ahead to blast was stopped after the community raised concerns.
Residents shared their frustration and concerns with the contractor with one resident asking how the contractor will be able to rehabilitate any damages done to the home or swimming pools when they have not fixed the part of Woltamade Street after operating there.
Because the residents’ business owners felt a lack of assurance and preparation from the contractor, they asked for the blasting to be paused until further notice.
Water Supply Project has been halted by the community after it as it needs to blast.
Cllr Maureen Scheepers commented that she supports the community’s concerns regarding the proposed civil blasting in the residential area.
“The residents expressed legitimate concerns about potential property damage, and I must be their voice. Unfortunately, the contractor was unable to answer all questions posed by the community and was requested to prepare all relevant documents, credentials, and liability letters for damages. A follow-up meeting will then be hosted for the contractor to present again to the community,” Scheepers outlined.
Cllr Brits from Ward 22 said that the community’s safety and the integrity of their hard-earned properties and assets are paramount, “I will be relentless in advocating for thorough assessments and necessary precautions to protect their homes. It’s our duty as ward councillors to represent the voices of our community. The concerns raised by our residents about the potential damages from civil blasting in the residential area are valid and it was deeply troubling when the contractor could not provide proper answers at the meeting.”
Blast Management and Consulting (BMC) is a consulting company for the mining and construction industry on aspects concerning blast preparation and results of blasting operations.
BMC was requested to provide a proposed drill and blast design for the development of the trench to present a blast design for the trench blast to be done with control of ground vibration due to the existing pipeline adjacent to the new trench.
Tshego Malebye who is the contract engineer explained that they encountered a 500mm below ground-level rock, “As soon as we hit that rock, we decided to start far down the street and we had a leeway of 500 metres. When we approached Henry Potgieter Street we hit rock again,” said Malebye.
He also said that typically when the contractor is faced with a situation like that it looks at three possibilities of dealing with a hard rock, one being chemical blasting.
“The first is to look at chemical blasting where we draw holes within the rock, insert the chemical, it expands and it cracks the rock and you’re able to excavate,” Malebye explained.
Blasting Consultant Danie Zeeman outlined that his job is to ensure that blasting is done in a responsible, efficient, and safe way.
He said that the blaster has a legal obligation and requirement to ensure that the area to be blasted must be barricaded and boards with blasting signs must be put up to ensure that all are visible.
“Most probably, this should be anything between 30 to 80 hurds and that is the frequency of the shockwave driving through the ground. The damage to homes comes from the low-frequency hurds because the structure gets time to move so the higher the frequency the better,” Zeeman enlighted.
Brits said a follow-up meeting will be scheduled as soon as he has all the relevant paperwork relating to the intended blasting.
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