Only 5% of city bridges are safe

TRAFFIC JAMS AHEAD: M2 CLOSES FOR REPAIRS

As of 6am next Thursday, rush hour traffic in and around Johannesburg will get exponentially worse. This is because the City of Joburg is closing the M2 for major construction work between the Crown Interchange and Maritzburg Street in Jeppe.

Announcing the closure for repairs, Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba said only 5% of the city’s bridges were in an acceptable condition.

“An assessment indicated that the structural integrity of the concrete elements was severely reduced,” said Mashaba.

“The Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) realised that parts of the support structure have moved and that was affecting the structural stability of some bridges on the M2 motorway.

“The safety of the Selby bridge cannot be guaranteed for continuous use by motorists and thus the decision for a closure.”

Mashaba noted the bridge was built in the ’60s and was nearing the end of its of its design lifespan.

“A specialist appointed by the JRA has completed detailed assessments of the affected sections of the bridges.

“The affected sections have severe cracks that have affected the structural integrity of the sections,” said Mashaba.

He said the previous administrations had a R6.5 billion backlog in bridge infrastructure.

“In a survey conducted in 2017, 3 900km of our road network fell into the poor or very poor category. The overall acceptable condition indices for bridges in a very good and good condition should be minimum 80%,” Mashaba said.

“Currently, only 5.77% of city bridges are in an acceptable condition and 78.38% of city bridges are in a poor or very poor condition.

“This means the condition of the bridges has deteriorated alarmingly.”

Since 2013, 37 bridges have collapsed during the rainy seasons. The city has 902 bridges that are maintained and managed by the JRA.

“While repairs are under way, I appeal to residents to be patient with the city as we seek to mitigate any loss of life as a result of the previous neglect of our infrastructure,” said Mashaba.

For a full list of access points and alternative routes, please visit www.citizen.co.za