Work is forging ahead on the Gautrain, with tunnels being dug in the city centre, in Rosebank and Sandton. Three historic houses have also been demolished in Modderfontein.

Workers are dwarfed in the shaft at Rosebank

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HE Gautrain is steaming ahead in Modderfontein, cutting a swathe of nine kilometres through the quaint village and, in the process, demolishing three historic houses.

The speed train will follow an 80km long route between the Joburg CBD and OR Tambo International Airport, with a line going to Tshwane. Work is continuing at various sites across Joburg and Tshwane and it is expected that the line from the city centre to the airport will be completed in 2010; the Tshwane line will be completed in 2011.

Modderfontein, which dates back to 1894 and the explosives manufacturer AECI, is in the Gautrain's path, on its way to the airport.

Originally the AECI factory area consisted of a weather station, a machine shop, shops for riggers, electricians, blacksmiths and boilermakers, a power station, an interdenominational church, a grocery store, bakery, butcher, hospital and a salt plant. Elements of the original village have been maintained, creating a unique residential area and green lung among busy freeways and expanding suburbia.

Three houses – numbers 4, 6 and 7 Antwerp Avenue - have been demolished, and Centenary Avenue is being re-aligned to accommodate the track. Permission for the demolition of two of these houses was obtained from the South African Heritage Resources Agency, while the City gave permission for the third house to be demolished.

The houses, with brick walls and corrugated iron roofs, had Oregon pine floors and doorframes, with fireplaces and sash windows. Front stoeps and big yards with duck ponds and tall trees were reminiscent of old frontier farm towns.

Heartland, the property arm of AECI, handed over four houses, but the fourth, 9 Antwerp Avenue, will not be demolished as the Gautrain route has shifted slightly.

A Modderfontein resident and member of the Modderfontein Conservation Society, Keith Martin, says that the society managed to salvage items from one of the houses before it was demolished. This material will be used to restore number nine, which was left in a "terrible state" by the tenants, he says.

All the houses in Centenary Avenue are owned by Heartland and are residential.

One of the houses in Antwerp Avenue before demolition

Modderfontein residents have indicated that they are not happy about the Gautrain coming through their neighbourhood. "I don't feel good about this," says one, who lives in Centenary Avenue and who wishes to remain anonymous. "Crime is going to come," she adds.

Another says that the construction has caused a "great big slash through our beautiful village, all in the name of progress". In the four months that the Gautrain operations have been going on in Modderfontein, there has been an increase in crime, he says, arguing that the Gautrain has put Modderfontein on the map. Previously it was "fairly isolated".

Over the past few months businesses have been broken into, there has been a shooting in Lakeside Village, a residential complex, and there have been attempted car hijackings.

He says, though, that Heartland is "determined to leave a decent legacy". It has made the environmental impact assessment reports available, and has included business owners in discussions, being "very transparent".

Money spent and progress
At a press conference earlier this month, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said that R8,8-billion had already been spent on the Gautrain project. The private sector was spending more than R3-billion, most of which had already been spent.

So far, more than a kilometre of the 15 kilometres of tunnelling has been completed. Tunnels are being constructed at Park Station, Rosebank, Mushroom Farm Park and the Marlboro portal.

Radebe said that a number of "planned strategic transport interventions" were being put in place to support the Gautrain. "These would include, among others, the Joburg CBD inner city distribution system; the Tshwane CBD inner city distribution system; and the Wits regional rail priority corridors."

He explained, too, that the government would be investing more than R16-billion through the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) to upgrade both rolling stock and infrastructure for the Metrorail service over the next three years. This involved the incorporation of the Shosholoza Meyl into the SARCC, to be completed by April 2008.

"It is our firm belief that these initiatives will transform and integrate our public transport into a world-class system."

Meanwhile, progress is being made at other stations. Tunnelling towards Rosebank Station from Park Station is ongoing - nearly 15 metres of the tunnel has been excavated. Smit Street has been reopened and Wolmarans Street is closed as utilities under the street are being diverted.

In Rosebank, a concrete platform is being prepared from where the tunnel boring machine will start tunnelling in the direction of Park Station, to start in January 2008. Tunnelling towards Sandton Station is already 15 metres from the tunnel opening.

In Sandton two shafts are being dug – the northern shaft is now 10 metres deep, while the southern shaft is 15 metres deep. These shafts will be used for tunnelling towards Rosebank in the south and Mushroom Farm Park in the north.

A vertical shaft of 31 metres at Mushroom Farm Park has been dug. From this depth, tunnelling towards Sandton Station and the Marlboro portal is going ahead simultaneously. These two tunnels have each reached a length of 80 metres.

Tunnel excavation is progressing well at the Marlboro portal and has reached 815 metres from the portal opening, according to the Gautrain website. The total length of the tunnel towards Mushroom Farm Park will be 2 700 metres.

Blasting activities have resumed at the Mushroom Farm Park construction site and will take place 24 hours a day, six days a week. "The notice board at the corner of Pretoria Street and Rivonia Road will continue to be updated on a daily basis, with 24-hour notice for blasting."

For more information concerning blasting operations, contact Kebu on 011 286 5993 or 078 457 0041. More information can be obtained from the Gautrain website or from the Gautrain toll free number, 0800 Gautrain (0800 428 87246).

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