Construction on the second phase of the Sandpruit Bridge is in full swing as the massive infrastructure build for the Phase 1C extension of the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit (BRT) continues in Johannesburg.

Construction teams have been hard at work along the new 16km trunk route between the CBD, Alexandra and Sandton.

According to Siyabonga Genu, senior development manager at the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), which is spearheading the Phase 1C BRT build, the multi-million rand Sandspruit project, which began in November 2014, has just entered its second phase, with projected completion in September 2016.

Resident Engineer Trevor Nxumalo, speaking to Elias Nkabinde from the JDA during an on-site interview, explained that phase one “involved the completion of the western section of the new bridge, the diversion of traffic onto the new section and the demolition of the old bridge, which took place in November last year.

Promoting flood protection and ending traffic bottlenecks

“For phase two, we are now building the next two-thirds of the bridge and have started laying a new concrete foundation base that will underpin the eastern section of the bridge.”

The new bridge will be both higher and considerably wider than the old bridge, and therefore better protected when the Sandspruit River is in flood.

The old, two lane-bridge was unsuited to the volumes of traffic that traverse the Katherine Street stretch between Grayston and Marlboro Drives daily.

The new, six-lane bridge will bring an end to traffic bottlenecks at this point, while opening the way for the BRT route that the JDA is laying down along Katherine Street.

Over the last two weeks, besides ongoing work on the bridge’s foundations, the contractor has been conducting roadworks along Katherine Street from Westbrooke Drive through to the BRT bridge construction site – as well as beyond this, through to the intersection of Katherine with Marlboro Drive, and eastwards on Marlboro Drive until the M1 north onramp.

–Elias Nkabinde