Chancers cross damaged Tongaat M4 bridge
The bridge has been closed for more than three months after the April floods, but reconstruction or repair work has yet to begin.
Despite concrete barriers repeatedly being relaid, a steady flow of motorists have been illegally and dangerously crossing the flood-damaged Tongaat M4 bridge.
The bridge has been left largely unattended, with motorists towing away the concrete barriers as soon as they are placed to open the bridge for use.
“People must understand the bridge was closed because it has been compromised. If it was safe to drive over the transport department would have allowed it,” said Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) head, Nazir Sadack.
Vehicles have been crossing the bridge since the first day of closure, but they were small in number and largely motorbikes to begin with.
With time, motorists have been emboldened to test the bridge’s limits and Sadack said even trucks had been seen crossing.
“To get an idea of how many cars were crossing, we went to the bridge last Friday. Within four minutes we had seen six crossings,” he said.
Together with ward 58 councillor Geoff Pullan, CERT have lobbied the Department of Transport (DoT) to replace barriers, which they had done on multiple occasions.
Most recently, the department laid a new set of barriers on Sunday afternoon, but by Monday morning they were gone.
“You can see the damage on the road where the barriers have literally been dragged away to clear a path,” said Pullan.
So far, no accidents have been reported but it could be just a matter of time if the bridge is tested beyond its current limits.
The DoT recently announced its intention to dismantle the bridge and build a new one, rather than repair the current structure.
This indicates a need for major work to be done.
Until then, motorists are urged not to cross the bridge because of the potentially dangerous nature of the journey.
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