Rehab of old town dump at Umdloti making good progress
When the Courier visited the dump site, it was abuzz with contractors laying gabions at the base of the dump while others were still picking garbage from the sides and preparing it for soil savers to be applied.
The capping of the old town dump above Umdloti that purged its contents onto properties and the beach below when it became exposed during the April 2022 floods, is on track for completion next month.
According to email correspondence obtained by the Courier, the mammoth project that commenced in June 2022 saw 500 000 tonnes of waste removed from land owned by Tongaat Hulett and carted off to the Dolphin Coast Landfill Management (DCLM) site at a cost of R5-million to the landowner.
After removing flood debris from the dump and the gorge below, front-end loaders and articulated dump trucks spent weeks removing garbage and stockpiling it on Tongaat Hulett land below Shoreline in Sibaya Node 1, from where it was carted off to DCLM.
In the meantime, soil tests and hydropedological assessments were completed at the dump site to determine the waste classification.
Fortunately, no hazardous substances were found, and the waste was classified as Class D (general waste), which allowed for soft engineering solutions.
The sides of the canyon were then shaped by excavators at what was described in the email correspondence as a safe angle and the base levelled out.
When the Courier visited the dump site, it was abuzz with contractors laying gabions at the base of the dump while others were still picking garbage from the sides and preparing it for soil savers to be applied.
The soft red sand was still littered with vintage garbage from as far back as the 1980s and a contractor on site explained there was a delicate balance between how deep one could dig to get every piece of rubbish out and the size of the sandy banks one would need to stabilise. He said once the site had been capped, the remaining litter should stay put.
Further down, the gorge that runs past St Malo towards the beach has been stabilised and lined with gabion mattresses and baskets, and thick vegetation has returned to the lower end leading up to previously flooded beachfront properties.
Follow The North Coast Courier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for breaking news
Telegram Broadcast Service: https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0
Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.
Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here, or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.
