M1 bridge collapse inquiry close to a wrap
The nearly three-year long inquiry into the Grayston Drive bridge collapse in Johannesburg, which killed Adrian Doodnath and Siyabonga Myeni and injured 19 people, is finally coming to a close.
“The Grayston Drive pedestrian and cyclist structural bridge collapse inquiry set up by the department of labour completed its work of gathering evidence on the collapse of the temporary work structure this week,” labour department spokesperson Teboho Thejane said yesterday.
“It is awaiting the submission of written heads of arguments by legal representatives of interested stakeholders by August 14.”
This will be followed by written responses to the heads of argument, which are expected to be submitted by September 17.
The section 32 hearing was set up by the department of labour to investigate the incident on October 14, 2015 at 3.25pm.
Stakeholders in the inquiry include the Johannesburg Municipality as the client; Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) as the agent; Royal Haskoning, a company appointed by JDA as the engineering agent for the project; Murray & Roberts (MR) as the principal contractor appointed by JDA; Form-Scaff as the contractor appointed by MR; the people injured in the incident; the Engineering Council of SA and National Union of Mineworkers representing the M&R employees; and the attorneys representing Doodnath family members injured in the incident and the late Mr Doodnath.
Witnesses who appeared before the inquiry included expert witnesses representing M&R Professor Roelf J Mostert, Richard Beneke, Ric Snowden and Dr Stefanus Francois van Zyl; Garry Farrow and Dr Andrew Potts, Australian-based engineers testifying for Form-Scaff.
Other witnesses included Roxana le Roux, Nemai Consulting, an environmental, health and safety officer; and Oliver Aadnesgaard, M&R employee and assistant to the construction manager at the time of the collapse.