Reconstruction of bridge damaged in gas tanker explosion still has a long way to go
There are fears that the city’s demolition work may jeopardise the work already done by the state-owned enterprise, which is now nearing completion.
While the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) believes it has made inroads, it still has a long way to go before it is ready to start repairs on the sections of the Hospital Road/Railway Street bridge it is responsible for.
It has been more than two years since the portion of Hospital Road near the bridge was closed because of the extensive damage caused when a gas tanker exploded under the bridge on Christmas Eve 2022.
On the other hand, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) contractor, Re A Letamisa Trading and Projects CC, found itself in a race against time to get its slightly delayed R80m project to reconstruct the railroad bridge completed at least by the end of this month.
According to CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, the city has concluded the tender processes to appoint a contractor to reconstruct the council-owned underpass of the bridge.
“The city is finalising the construction tender. The roads department has already appointed a team of professional engineering services to do a detailed investigation that includes preliminary design options, to get cost implications for the work that needs to be undertaken,” explained Dlamini.
He said construction will only start after the investigation and design phases are finished.
Once the investigation and designs have been concluded the CoE will allocate budgets and the project will get underway with a clear time frame.
There are fears that the city’s demolition work may jeopardise the work already done by the state-owned enterprise because the city failed to ensure that its project moves synchronously with Prasa’s project, which is now nearing completion.
The city assured it would undertake every precaution to ensure no damage to the newly constructed Prasa bridge.
“Before the demolition of the city’s bridge, we will assess the best possible demolition method, especially taking into account the newly built bridge,” assured Dlamini.
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