On the other hand, the metro is still grappling with how and when to rebuild the council-owned sections of the bridge destroyed in the gas tanker explosion.
Reconstruction work on the bridge that was ruined in the gas tanker blast has been delayed.
The reconstruction of the much-anticipated multi-million rand railroad bridge in Plantation, which was damaged in the gas tanker explosion, has been hit with delays.
This R80m project forms part of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa)’s mission to restore its passenger rail services along the eastern corridor, Ekurhuleni.
During a site visit, attended by both municipal and Prasa officials in October last year, the rail agency estimated that the project would be completed by December, weather permitting.
However, it appears that the contractor (Re A Letamisa Trading and Projects CC) has failed to meet the initially estimated completion time.
Work to reconstruct the city bridge linking Railway Street and Hospital Road has not started.
While Prasa is keeping mum about the work progress, when this publication revisited the site several times this week, workers were found still hard at work.
A well-placed source pointed out that the contractor is hoping that the project, which started late in 2023, will be completed at least by the end of March if everything goes well.
Metro lags behind
On the other hand, the City of Ekurhuleni is still grappling with how and when to rebuild the council-owned sections of the bridge destroyed in the gas tanker explosion along Hospital Road and Railway Street.
During the October visit, it was revealed that the state-owned enterprise had engaged the city and even submitted a quote for the demolition of the council-owned section of the road infrastructure, but the city failed to come to the party because of bureaucratic and lengthy internal processes.
