01 Sep 2024

 It is not yet clear as to when the Moshupa Bridge located along A10 Road, will be opened for public use as unforeseen circumstances have come into play among them the discovery of high water table area that weakens the soil by submerging the rock structure placed for the foundation of a wall.

Ministry of Transport and Public Works Chief Roads Engineer Mr Mphetang Mmolawa, however, assured that they were in the process of engaging experts to deal with different aspects of the project in a bid to find lasting solution.

The P26 million project awarded to Lobkom Investments (PTY) LTD on September 11, 2023 was expected to have been completed on March 10, 2024.

It included repair of an access road into Moshupa which required asphalt overlay, patching of potholes, curb stones, road markings to upgrade the road standard to be able to contain high volume traffic from A10 road as well as repair of linking road to the bridge.

Mr Mmolawa noted that while Moshupa Bridge had no defects at all, the main huddle was to link the bridge to the road.

He said most of the earthworks were done, but emphasised,  “we will not touch the bridge structure as it is fine but we need to solve the challenge of water ingress in the soil, right now we are in discussions with the contractor and relevant stakeholders. At least we have identified the problem, the water table was discovered while we were on site.” 

He said upgrading of the access road project component had been achieved including fixing the access road and patching potholes. “However, the challenge is dealing with connecting the road to the bridge. The water flowing beneath the surface causes the soil to become weaker and then it slides off, affecting the road structure. When the embankment falls off, it begins to deconstruct the road,” he said.

He said the contractor was still on site as the project team needed to go back to the drawing table to review designs upon discovery of the high water table which was initially not reflected on the geological survey report at commencement of the project.

Mr Mmolawa explained that as a result, they had to spend time designing a retaining wall to be able to contain the soil to deal with the water ingress on the soil. The construction company had excavated about 60 metres depth to reach the river bed level where they planned to build the soil retaining walls but they encountered underground water challenges.

We had to collect rocks and place them beneath to create a solid foundation for construction of the soil embankment wall, however the rocks also submerged leaving us with no choice but to pause and go back to the drawing board to re-plan, he said.

He therefore, indicated that the project completion date will depend on the geological findings and other project components. Ends