Recently, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Herman Mashaba was alerted to serious concerns regarding the poor condition of the Karzene and Selby sections of the M2 Bridges. Upon his own investigation, various defects were detected at the bridges, posing significant risk to residents.
M2 bridge Photo Cred: wheels24.co.za image
Built in the 1960s, the bridges are now near the end of its design lifespan, requiring urgent reconstruction and rehabilitation. A specialist appointed by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) completed detailed assessments of the affected sections of the bridges. The affected sections suffer from severe cracks that have affected the structural integrity of the sections.
As an immediate measure, the JRA is preparing to redirect limited funding from other projects, at a cost of approximately R58 million, in order to start working on the bridge, as a matter of urgency, whilst seeking to minimise traffic disruptions as much as possible. Once work begins, reconstruction of the affected sections of the bridges is estimated to take up 12 months.
When construction takes place, only one lane will be closed at a time and most of the work on top of M2 will be done during evenings so as to limit the need to close down the bridge.
Mayor Mashaba said: “Since coming into office, I have been concerned about the massive infrastructure backlog which was allowed to accumulate within the City. Indeed, previous administrations allowed for a R12 billion backlog in bridge infrastructure, R7,1 billion on road infrastructure and a R56 billion backlog in the storm water drainage systems to develop just in respect of the road network alone. In a survey conducted in 2017, 3900km of the road network fell into the poor or very poor condition. These are enormous inherited backlogs arising from years of neglect that have seen our roads deteriorating over the past decade.”
The City has 902 bridges that are maintained and managed by the JRA. Below is the graphical representation of the state of bridge network as of June 2017.
M2 is one of the main motorways which link N3/N2 with the inner city and the western parts of Johannesburg. If the rehabilitation is not carried out soon and the affected sections of bridge collapses, the M2 motor way will be closed to traffic and the congestion on roads around and in the Inner City will dramatically increase. This in turn have severe consequences on the economy and mobility of citizens and visitors of the City of Johannesburg.
Mayor Mashaba said: “I appeal that once repairs to the bridges commence, residents be patient with the City as it seeks to mitigate any loss of life as a result of the infrastructure’s previous neglect.”
