Illovo River steel bridge to be reopened
The bridge, which was closed two years ago, is expected to be re-open to traffic by the end of August or middle of September.
The refurbished Illovo River steel bridge, which was closed two years ago after its disrepair proved to be a danger to vehicles and pedestrians, will be re-open to traffic by the end of August or middle of September.
That’s the confirmation from the consulting engineers’ representative, who asked not to be named. Repairs to the structure started in January with a six-month contract, which was extended by a further two months by the department of transport (DOT), who is mandated with its maintenance as the P197 is a provincial road and bridge.
“The roadway was rutting (groove worn into the road by the wheels). The material was taken out by a milling machine and replaced with a mix and pre-mix. The nodes (steel girders) were rusted – the first one had broken off completely. All the nodes were opened and the steel replaced. There was varied degrees of other damage on the bridge, which was repaired,” said the rep.
“Currently the structure is now sound. The integrity was extremely bad. We evaluated it with the contractor and we believe the damage was due to extensive use of the bridge by the constant flow of sand mining trucks. The bridge will now have a height restriction but the problem is the loading. The trucks load wet river sand, which enhances the truck’s mass.” The rep said it will be up to DOT what restrictions are imposed on the bridge and how these restrictions will be enforced.
READ ALSO: Shocking state of Illovo River steel bridge
“Unfortunately the locals are a law unto themselves. Every attempt we have made to block access to the bridge until the repairs are completed have been disregarded. We even welded steel angles (bars) across both entry points on the Friday afternoon and on the Monday morning we arrived to find out the locals had cut them away with angle grinders and traffic was flowing across the bridge. There is a total disregard for any law enforcement on the bridge.” The DOT has now allowed the contractor to dump a huge pile of sand to block the one entry point.
All the repairs to the structure are completed, but a hand rail is still to be installed before the bridge can be opened. “While it is being installed, there cannot be any movement or traffic allowed on the bridge. We have allowed pedestrians to walk on the bridge while we have been busy as it was safe for them, but not on the sidewalks, as there are no hand rails yet.
Prototype hand rails were done on Monday, 12 August. We will have a final installation after they have been galvanised, possibly in the last week of August.”
The Illovo River steel bridge is 143 metres long, with a road width of 3.1 metres and two sidewalks of 750mm each.
It was built by a steelworks company in Scotland and probably transported in pieces by ship and ox wagon in 1919 and 1920 and assembled on site to be opened in 1921.
READ ALSO: Century old bridge gets a revamp
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