DURBAN’S DIY BRIDGE
Enterprising team of volunteers now in demand in other areas
● A group of Durban volunteers who repaired a flood-damaged bridge and access road with donated funds and machinery have been inundated with requests for help by other frustrated communities.
The Pompene River bridge team, consisting of 10 community activists, repaired the bridge linking Shallcross and Blundell Road after it was hit by debris and the resulting blockage diverted the floodwaters to the side, washing away part of the road and a section of the bridge.
The team took on the task with R50,000 and the sponsored use of R12m worth of construction equipment.
Now other Durban residents grounded by the loss of bridges in the deadly floods last month are turning to the group for advice and help.
“We have been asked to repair the Hans Dettman, La Mercy and Yellowwood Park bridges. We’re doing due diligence first,” said Marcus Richards, the team’s spokesperson.
La Mercy Civic and Ratepayers Association vice-chair Tashya Giyapersad said the association had approached the team to get clarity on how they worked with the local authorities.
“At present, we have a temporary solution but we have no help whatsoever,” Giyapersad said. “The bridge in our area is on a provincial road so we have been told by the South African National Roads Agency and the provincial transport department that it will take at least six months to repair. We have only one way in and out of our area without this bridge being fixed,” she added.
“We are in consultation with the community safety and liaison MEC but we needed to know from Shallcross residents how they went about getting authorities on board to help with the temporary fix.”
The Pompene River bridge team’s efforts earned them applause from the eThekwini municipality for showing “civic pride” by taking on the project.
The municipality later said it was “a collaborative effort” under the “expertise, advice and supervision” of its engineering unit and that it had initiated the repair.
But Richards questioned the municipality’s statement. “It’s partially correct. We were asked to initially remove debris, and were given not so firm assurances of time frames to sort out repairs. Yes, it was a joint venture but all work was done by us.”
eThekwini municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the residents offered to help rebuild the washed-away portions of the road embankments leading to the culvert and they were asked to initially assist with the removal of debris.
“The residents employed the use of an excavator to remove the debris while the engineering unit started to stockpile backfill material on site. The residents also then provided a truck and a roller, while the unit provided a front-end loader for rebuilding the embankment. Following the expertise, advice and supervision by the engineering unit, the road embankments on the approaches to the culvert were quickly re-established through mass backfilling and compaction.”
Mayisela said the road was deemed suitable to reopen as a temporary gravel road, but the project was not yet complete.
“There still remain the tasks of providing a suitable base and asphalt wearing course, road markings, guardrails, drainage, removal of the balance of the debris from the culverts, further backfilling, the formation of a berm to properly divert water to the culverts, and the removal of the debris from the riverbed to prevent future blockage and damage here,” he said.
Richards said the municipality’s road department and engineering unit carried out daily site visits. He emphasised that the actual bridge was intact and certified structurally stable by the municipality before the team carried out the work.
“We built the approaches to the actual bridge in five days, not the concrete bridge. The work took us 12 days,” he said.
When residents Kader Goolam and Vernon Kisten suggested that they take on the project, the activists canvassed businesses for donations. About R50,000 was raised and the use of R12-million worth of construction equipment was sponsored for the project.
By the third day, after an assessment of the damaged bridge, 20 casual workers were hired and the team was on the ground to clear the debris.
The bridge was officially reopened a week ago.
“I wish I could explain how we felt when the first car crossed the bridge. People were actually crying. As a group of people, we did this together and on our own. It felt good to see how appreciative residents are,” Richards said.
Retired civil engineering technician Roderick Schultz said the residents cleaned debris blocking the culverts and reinstated the washed away bridge’s approach, earth fills and road surface.
“It is not difficult to repair a river crossing if the concrete structure is still in place and alternative access is available to bring in plant, equipment and materials. It is a matter of cleaning up and importing fill material, placing, and compacting layers in place. However, for an unskilled community to achieve what they did with limited resources was admirable,” he said.