ACCESS TO CLINIC, SCHOOLS AND LIBRARY – This month, the Mayor of KwaDukuza Municipality Cllr. Lindile Nhaca defied the rain and led a Council delegation to Darnall in Ward 02 where she presided over the sod-turning ceremony for the reconstruction of the Hulett Bridge which was damaged in the April 2022 floods.
The Hulett Bridge plays a significant role in this community as it is a conduit to reach Hulsug Primary School, Lee Primary School, Darnall Secondary School, Darnall Library and the Darnall Clinic. Since the bridge’s destruction, residents of Zamani, Soweto and Barracks have had to use detours that multiply their usual travel time by a minimum of 20 minutes just to get to either of the aforementioned services. As a result of the prolonged travel, there’s information that some elderly citizens ended up defaulting in keeping to their clinic visit schedule, and some school-going children endanger themselves by trying to cross the Nonoti River at times using makeshift materials.
During the SOD-Turning Ceremony, Mayor Lindile Nhaca presented the project consultants, Vuba Imagineers (Pty) Ltd, and projector contractor, Benjivert (Pty) Ltd. Nhaca first explained the cost breakdown that makes up the R29 million, mentioning that R3,5 million inclusive of V.A.T would go towards Professional Fees and R25,6 million would go towards construction costs.
The construction of this state-of-the-art project entails the following:
- Reinforced concrete bridge measuring 10.75 m wide and 50 m total length. The bridge components comprise foundations, abutments, wing walls, piers, deck slab, approach slab and parapets.
- Mass excavations in fractured rock for bridge foundations.
- Approach road construction on either side of the bridge with a total length of 300m and asphalt finish over a carriageway width of 7,8m
- Mass earthworks and importation of fill material for bridge approach road.
- Approach road pavement layers comprising:
- 150 mm selected layer of G7 material compacted to 93 % Mod AASHTO.
- 150 mm subbase layer of G5 material compacted to 95 % Mod AASHTO.
- 150 mm base layer of G2 material compacted to 98 % Mod AASHTO.
- 1.5 m wide pedestrian walkways on either side of the bridge and approach road.
- Construction of a temporary river diversion and keeping the working areas dry.
- Temporary river crossing for contractor’s purposes.
- Stormwater management features such as drains, culverts and catch pits.
- Scour protection measures in the form of gabion mattresses and stone pitching.
- Breaking and removal of existing storm-damaged pavements.
- Guard Rails, Road Signs and Road markings.
The Mayor also appealed to the contractor to do all in their power to complete this project in less than the 10 months the contractor had needed to ensure that the lives of all those who were affected are restored and the living conditions are improved.
The project will create some 10 jobs from inception, and this will increase as and when required by the contractor.
Listen to the Mayor’s remarks here
MAIN IMAGE:
| SOD-TURNING: Mayor of KwaDukuza Municipality, Cllr. Lindile Nhaca, officially handing over the Hulett Bridge Project to the project consultant and contractor. In this picture with the Mayor is the Deputy Mayor – Cllr. Thulani Ntuli, the Speaker of Council, Councillors, residents of Darnall as well as project consultant and contractor. |
