Durban - WHEN a group of community-minded men and a woman, with limited construction knowledge, but loads of determination, attempted to fix a flood-damaged section of Blundell Road, linking Shallcross to Queensburgh, they were not without detractors.
For what some naysayers regarded as “impossible”, the group, who have been dubbed the “Pompeni River Bridge Project Team”, with some assistance from the eThekwini Municipality, achieved their objective in five days.
It resulted in a section of Blundell Road bridge reopening last Sunday. The roadway and the supporting banks, on either side of the Pompeni River Bridge, were washed away after April’s heavy rains, forcing authorities to shut the affected section – causing daily major traffic jams in the area.
Blundell Road provides a vital entry and exit route to Shallcross and surrounding areas. Marcus Richards, a member of the Pompeni team, said they were concerned when they heard the road might only be reopened in between three to six months.
“Traffic in Shallcross was gridlocked especially during peak hours. It affected people who needed to travel to work, children to school, and we weren’t able to get supplies into the area.” Richards said Kader Goolam, the chairman of a local mosque and Vernon Kisten came up with the idea to fix the road and they roped in others to help.
At the time of April’s heavy rainfall, tall trees, massive boulders, rocks, plastic items and tyres were carried from upstream and jammed the culverts under the bridge. The blockage hindered the flow of water, which then gushed to the sides of the bridge for release. This resulted in the washing away of the roadway on both sides of the bridge.
Richards was tasked with co-ordinating the project with a team of volunteers, two consulting engineers, and the councillors from Ward 63 (Chris van den Berg) and 71 (Fatima Ismail). After an on-site meeting, which included the private consulting engineers, the councillors and the municipality’s engineers, the team’s plans were approved.
Richards said they were confident they would complete the work in a few days. “The plan was to get out debris from under the bridge and the river, and we needed to create a slipway into the riverbed, strong enough to carry a 22-ton excavator, to remove the embedded material.
“While that happened, we had another excavator on site, milling recovered rocks and debris to be used in the reconstruction of both sides of the roadway.” Richards said they sourced plant and equipment worth more than R12m for the job, at no cost. “All we had to do was pay the operators and cover the diesel costs, which ran into thousands of rands per day.”
Community contributions and a businessman donating R25 000, enabled the team to meet their running costs. Richards also lauded the local security companies that protected the equipment at no cost.
“A team of about 20 did the actual work while other members of the community helped with support duties, and those who couldn’t join, brought meals, coffee, tea and snacks each day.” News of the bridge’s reopening went viral.
Imtiaaz Mahomed, who previously worked in the construction industry, and was involved with the project, said he was confident they would complete the job in a week. Businessman Suren Govender said he offered his trucks and machinery at no charge when approached.
Team member Menon Naidu said he was initially sceptical about Mahomed’s plans. “I said there was no way we could achieve it in a week, but I happily retracted and apologised afterwards,” said Naidu. Ashika Lutchmanan said she was the “big mouth” in the group who questioned many things, especially issues like “liability”, but was satisfied with what has been achieved.
Van den Berg said: “I am humbled by what was achieved by this group. They saw a need and stepped in.”
Msawakhe Mayisela, the municipality’s spokesperson, confirmed the teams’ involvement in rebuilding of the washed-away portions of Blundell Road, in collaboration with their engineering department, and that it was deemed suitable for reopening last Sunday.
Mayisela said the project was not yet complete.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE