Faced with the imminent collapse of a vital neighbourhood link, the Randpark Ridge Village Association (RRVA) has taken matters into its own hands.
Using surplus rocks donated by Rand Park High school, community workers are busy repairing the heavily eroded Medlar Street culvert, an intervention that is saving the City of Johannesburg millions of rands. Medlar Road is a crucial artery connecting the Seder entrance of the suburb to local schools. According to engineer, and former RRVA chairperson, Rod Rankine, the stakes of leaving the erosion unchecked were incredibly high. “What is at risk is Medlar Road itself, and the consequential disruptions that would ensue should we lose the culvert and Medlar Road gets closed to traffic. Without it, traffic jams in our area at rush-hour would become untenable.”

He added a stark warning about the structure’s fragility before the community stepped in. “Without this intervention, we could have lost this culvert in the next severe thunderstorm.”

Read more: RRVA and EcoSolutions team up for wildlife

The scouring and erosion problem downstream of the culvert has been a headache for the community for years. Despite previous RRVA chairs lobbying Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) for a fix, and a formal, peer-reviewed engineering report drafted by Rankine in 2017, the city failed to act.

When JRA-appointed consultants finally reviewed Rankine’s report, they concluded that the entire structure needed to be replaced due to inadequate hydraulic capacity. Rankine dismissed this as a nonsensical conclusion, noting that, in his 25 years of living in the area, there has been no evidence of the structure ever overtopping. Instead of a practical repair, the project simply stalled. “Whenever we enquired, the ward councillors always responded with, ‘We don’t have funds in the current budget to do anything about it’.”

A community solution

The breakthrough came when current RRVA chairperson Inderan Govender approached neighbouring Randpark High School. The school was busy excavating rocks to build a new hockey Astroturf. Govender connected with the school’s estate manager, who generously agreed to donate the excavated rock to the RRVA.

The financial benefit of this partnership is massive. Rankine pointed out that a very similar structure, the Cork Road Bridge in Ferndale, cost the JRA R4m to rebuild a decade ago. “I think we could safely assume that the cost today would be at least double.”

Also read: RRVA sets out to beautify Randpark Ridge

Heavy lifting and a call for help

Currently, dedicated RRVA workers are manhandling the heavy rocks into position to restore the downstream level and stabilise the foundation. While the placement of the rocks from Randpark High is expected to be finished within the next week, the overall mission is not yet complete, and the RRVA is actively appealing to the wider public for help. “We will still need to procure many more rocks to fill and reinstate the downstream level in the area of the scour cavity to its former level. If anyone knows where we can get a donation of more rocks, please let us know. We need to finish filling the Medlar cavity, as well as one on Seder and the side channel spillway erosion downstream of Hymany Dam.”

Despite the hard physical labour still ahead, the community’s proactive approach has secured the immediate future of the road. “Hopefully, by stabilising the downstream founding material, we have bought at least one or two more decades.”

Rankine extended a heartfelt thank you to Randpark High’s estate manager, school representative Heather Robinson, the earthworks contractor, RRVA office manager Nerisha Govender, and the tireless RRVA workers on the ground.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates!