Work on the High Street bridge has finally commenced
If things go according to plan, by the end of March this year, the bridge’s steering committee members should be cutting the ribbon and welcoming locals to drive over the completed bridge.
IT SEEMS that this could be the year when the High Street Bridge project is completed.
Five years ago, AbaQulusi Municipality received a grant from COGTA for four projects in the scope of Small Town Rehabilitation. The controversial High Street Bridge project was among these projects to be implemented by the Department of Development and Planning. However, due to a lack of technical skills in this department at the time and challenges, which arose during the projects, Technical Services was requested to step in and assist.
AbaQulusi Municipality appointed Masefane Trading on October 22, 2013 to construct the bridge, a project that included the construction of the bridge itself and the roads approaching the bridge, according to the report.
The duration of the project was initially anticipated to be six months or 24 weeks.
ALSO READ: High Street bridge repairs unrelated to project
It was set to commence on November 14, 2013, and the original completion date was set to be May 20, 2014. This, however, has proven to be completely impossible with issues having arisen continuously year in and year out.
On Monday last week, the mayor, Jerry Sibiya, officially handed the project over to local contractor, T K Gutters Plumbers Plant Hiring CC.
“Having hired a local contractor, we are optimistic that things will move smoothly from here going forward,” said Cllr Sibiya.
The handover was a short affair, possibly due to the fact that all those involved have gone through the technicalities of what went wrong and how it should be fixed often enough over the past five years.
ALSO READ: High Street Bridge – The story so far…
When he was requested to speak, member of the project’s steering committee, Harry Heyns, said that work on the bridge would commence on Friday and that everything should be completed by the end of March.
“We would just like members of the public to be aware that all entrances to the bridge will be closed as of Friday, January 25, and that they should use the old East Street bridge to get to the hospital and other places around the ‘top’ area until work has been completed,” he said.
If things go according to plan, by the end of March this year, the bridge’s steering committee members should be cutting the ribbon and welcoming locals to drive over the completed bridge.
