Much of Durban’s aging and crumbling infrastructure was highlighted this weekend when a pedestrian walkway linked to one of the city’s busiest routes over the uMgeni River collapsed. However, the eThekwini municipality has committed more than R1 billion a year to managing and upgrading roads, bridges and other infrastructure. On Sunday, the eThekwini municipal engineering head Adrian Peters told The Mercury the collapse of the Ellis Brown Viaduct, which crosses the uMgeni near the Blue Lagoon, was symptomatic of a bigger problem; much of the city’s infrastructure was reaching the end of its life cycle. The Ellis Brown Viaduct was built in the 1950s. “Old bridges are not necessarily a problem but they should be inspected regularly. We are so close to the sea and the environment is very corrosive,” said Peters. “In this case though we do need to establish what went wrong.” The cause of the collapse would be investigated but vandalism for scrap metal has not been ruled out. That part of the bridge was also very exposed to the elements. “Impact from a vehicle appears unlikely,” he added. Peters said the entire east side of the bridge was being isolated with concrete barriers. Both of the traffic lanes would be open on Monday. An in-depth report would follow as soon as an inspection had taken place. The cycle lane on the opposite side of the bridge had recently been revamped. He had been assured by the city’s structural engineers that the road bridge for cars was “perfectly safe”. Peters said a complete inspection of roads was done every two years and road structures, such as the bridges over the Umgeni, were inspected annually.
- RSOE Edis
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