Joburg’s M2 bridge to close due to ‘structural defects’

[Drifter]

I read a report that a section of the bridge has moved and the structural integrity of the concrete is compromised.

 

[Mila]

After Greyston between Malboro?, that's for busses afaik.

never seen anything move on it. Very weird

 

[pinball wizard]

This is what happens when you don't prioritise maintenance. s.

Like Eskom...

 

[PoppieChoffel]

Also, if they say 8 months, should we bank on at least 12?

 

[ArmatageShanks]

Um, there is a vast difference between repairs and maintenance. Repairs are those extremely expensive things that you do after you have ignored maintenance and pulled the asset through your backside.

Maintenance is relatively cheap, small things done continuously in order to avoid expensive repairs. Undoubtedly a white man thing.

Was I arguing about the difference?

 

[thestaggy]

Also, if they say 8 months, should we bank on at least 12?

Of course. Delays are common in large engineering/construction projects plus this is SA, work is done on African time and I'm sure there will be a strike or two.

I've read a detailed report of their traffic accommodation plan. This is going to gridlock the CBD. Main Reef Road has essentially been identified as the replacement for the M2 and all major roads out of the CBD intersect Main Reef. Other roads that have been identified for heavy usage are Anderson Street and Marshall Street.

I cross Main Reef twice a day and drive through Fordsburg, an area that is frequently gridlocked with overflow if there is a mess elsewhere in the CBD. I also travel along Booysens Road and the bottom of Kliprivier Drive, both of which have been identified as secondary routes in accommodating east and west flow.

I'm getting depressed already thinking about the hours of my life I will be wasting in traffic.

 

[schumi]

Life under the M2 motorway in Joburg - filth, drugs, hardship and love

While part of the M2 motorway in Johannesburg will be closed to repair its unstable bridges, scores of homeless people living there in squalid conditions don't want to leave.

A strong stench, rubble, stacked filthy blankets and clothes were evident as TimesLIVE approached an open space under one of the bridges.

There is no privacy in the space they share. Prostitutes ply their trade openly.

Inside a tiny shack wrapped in plastic, a couple - in love - own a single-seater couch.

Nearby bushes serve as toilets.
At around 11am on Tuesday, about 10 men had congregated for a mid-morning nyaope fix. Some were busy packing trolleys, about to leave to hustle for food and nyaope.
"If they [the municipality] chase us away, we will come back to sleep here. They have come here before and burnt our clothes and blankets," said John Maluleke, 37, as he rolled a joint.
Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba announced on Monday that the M2 would be closed on Thursday to allow for bridge rehabilitation to resume.
The Karsene and Selby bridges were closed on the eastern side in 2018 due to damaged stabilising pillars. And now support structures on the western sides of the two bridges have moved.
Vandalism has also been identified as a factor contributing to the bad state of the M2.
Times Select reported on Tuesday that along the cordoned-off bridge was evidence of scores of people living within the structures supporting the bridge.
On average 12,000 motorists use the motorway during the peak morning and evening rush.
City of Joburg transport MMC Nonhlanhla Makhuba said vandalism of infrastructure was a challenge throughout the city.
"We have people living within the bridge pillars who use or remove infrastructure to make themselves more comfortable. Some will make fires which heats the concrete ... There are also people who have diverted gutters, which means rainwater is channelled around the beams, eroding the soil and causing instability,” she said.

More at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...rway-in-joburg-filth-drugs-hardship-and-love/

 

[RaptorSA]

I'd gladly be crushed by a collapsing bridge than spend an extra 30 - 60 soul-destroying minutes in traffic for 8-months.

This guy gets it.
Don't you just love it when you get that "Google Maps Month in Review" mails and it looks like this:

 

[Arzy]

This is going to be an absolute fark up. I strongly doubt the spill over will be contained to the cbd. My gut feeling is that people are either going to try and get through Kazerne (around eskom/behind ppc) or, heaven forbid, try using the N3 and come in through bez valley/Sylvia's pass.

With the amount of people already trying to get to Sandton using Marlboro the N3 may as well be a parking from elands most days. I now rather just drive through Germiston.

 

[RonSwanson]

Was I arguing about the difference?

No, but it needed to be pointed out.

 

[Bryn]

This guy gets it.
Don't you just love it when you get that "Google Maps Month in Review" mails and it looks like this:

I'm definitely never moving to Gauteng. Here in PE it takes me 7-10 minutes to get to the office from home during off-peak traffic and up to 20 minutes otherwise.

 

[thestaggy]

Looking for a visualisation of the whole process.

Reports that the timing on traffic lights will be adjusted as well as the deployment of points duty at key intersections.

 

[thestaggy]

I read a report that a section of the bridge has moved and the structural integrity of the concrete is compromised.

Confirmed. And a contributing factor seems to be vandalism.

The Karsene and Selby bridges were closed on the eastern side in 2018 due to damaged stabilising pillars. And now support structures on the western sides of the two bridges have moved.

Vandalism has also been identified as a factor contributing to the bad state of the M2.

Times Select reported on Tuesday that along the cordoned-off bridge was evidence of scores of people living within the structures supporting the bridge.

On average 12,000 motorists use the motorway during the peak morning and evening rush.

City of Joburg transport MMC Nonhlanhla Makhuba said vandalism of infrastructure was a challenge throughout the city.

"We have people living within the bridge pillars who use or remove infrastructure to make themselves more comfortable. Some will make fires which heats the concrete ... There are also people who have diverted gutters, which means rainwater is channelled around the beams, eroding the soil and causing instability,” she said.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...rway-in-joburg-filth-drugs-hardship-and-love/

Its a freakin' joke. People living in and destroying the bridge and nothing tangible was ever done about it.

 

[R13...]

Confirmed. And a contributing factor seems to be vandalism.



https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...rway-in-joburg-filth-drugs-hardship-and-love/

Its a freakin' joke. People living in and destroying the bridge and nothing tangible was ever done about it.

Almost all of the bridges near the city have scores of people living under them, burning **** and what not. Too bad politics get in the way of any real efforts to clean up.

 

[schumi]

Joburg road users brace themselves as M2 closes for bridge upgrades

Joburg road users are reminded to brace themselves for the closure of the M2 highway between the Crown interchange and Maritzburg Street which commences on Thursday at 06:00, and to familiarise themselves with new routes.

This is to allow for the rehabilitation of the Karzene and Selby sections of the M2 bridge.

Rehabilitation of the bridge is expected to continue until the end of October.

"The closure is necessitated by the continuous monitoring and the bridge visual conditions assessment which indicated that the structural integrity of the concrete elements is severely reduced," Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) spokesperson Goodwill Mbatha said in a statement.

More at: https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/...ves-as-m2-closes-for-bridge-upgrades-20190227

 

[thestaggy]

My drive to work this morning was normal. I make use of Booysens Road and then cross Main Reef where Treu Road becomes Park Drive and the traffic was light. However, from what people have told me since then, this afternoon will probably be a different story.

 

[surface]

I'm definitely never moving to Gauteng. Here in PE it takes me 7-10 minutes to get to the office from home during off-peak traffic and up to 20 minutes otherwise.

We all get compensated by the millions of rands we earn here.

 

[Hamster]

I'm definitely never moving to Gauteng. Here in PE it takes me 7-10 minutes to get to the office from home during off-peak traffic and up to 20 minutes otherwise.

Depends where you live work. Takes me 15-20 minutes. My poor wife has to head into Sandton every day so it's between 20-60 minutes for her.

 

[dlk001]

 

[VooDooC]

557 bridges in poor condition, holy **** that is more than fair, good and very good combined. Might as well just sent out a report that said "Bridge conditions in JHB : ****ed"