Beukes Road collapses following heavy rains
A portion of the road on the corner of Beukes and Stephanus roads collapsed on January 19 following the heavy rains earlier that day.
It appeared the problems on Beukes Road, on the corner of Stephanus Road, were over last year when massive repairs were being done on that section of the road.
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The light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel feeling was due to the work done on the area at the beginning of 2021 (around February); however, in less than a year, the problem just seems to have relocated about 3m away.
A portion of the road on the corner of Beukes and Stephanus roads collapsed on January 19 following the heavy rains earlier that day.
A car was seen trapped as a result of the collapse, but with the help of community members, the vehicle was removed without any injuries reported by victims.
As eyebrows were raised in shock of the collapsed road, hands were also put on the head by community members who know the road’s history.
It was previously noted and reported that the area was referred to as ‘Beukes Gat’, as the area has been an issue for years.
According to Ward 15 Clr Amanda Davison, the issue was a hole that formed due to a flawed manhole design on Beukes Road.
“This area has been an issue for over 15 years, with the hole getting bigger and bigger. The stormwater system has a design flaw in terms of a T-junction which forces the water up through the manhole instead of directing it away towards the catchment,” Davison told Express in February 2021.
“This then continues to break up the road surface and flushing debris towards Old Pretoria Road.”
A new pipe was installed from Stephanus Road running diagonally to Ceylon Road, completely cutting out the area where the hole was joining the existing stormwater system down Ceylon Road.
In less than a year, Davison is in talks with the Department of Roads and Storm Water to discuss Beukes Road, again.
“Beginning of 2021, the stormwater line was redesigned to assist the thousands of kilolitres of water running down the line from Monument Road that caused damage to the road surface of Beukes,” explained Davison on January 20.
“We had a huge rainstorm last Wednesday and the force of water damaged the misaligned pipes, breaking through the road surface. I met with the roads and stormwater department on the same day on the site of this hole.
“I have also requested the department to inspect the whole line from Eland, down Stephanus, crossing Beukes, down Ceylon roads to ensure this doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
Davison said residents will be updated with the timeline of the inspection and repairs. In the meantime, residents are urged to avoid using Beukes Road, various barriers and signage were placed and the road can’t be accessed from Pretoria nor Rietfontein roads.
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