Africa-Press – South-Africa. The City of Johannesburg is appointing a company to redesign Lilian Ngoyi Street after a fatal explosion a month ago.
The City said it was not just interested in restoring the road, formally known as Bree Street, but was driving a rehabilitation programme that would enhance it and the surrounding areas.
According to city manager Floyd Brink, the estimated cost to fix the road would be about R178 million.
“However, this estimate is dependent on the final designs. It should be noted that the property owners [have a say in some] of the designs,” he said.
The City added the service provider to perform the redesign would be appointed this week.
“Rubble removal will form part of the investigations that will be undertaken during the design phase of the project.”
In his last update, Brink said the cause of the blast was methane gas, which dislodged from deep within the tunnels or the ground by recent tremors.
The gas raced through the cavities under the city and reached the highest point under Lilian Ngoyi Street.
The gas was trapped in the tunnel under a 400m-stretch of the road because the City had welded the manholes to prevent cable theft.
On 19 July, a spark from unknown origins ignited the gas and caused the explosion, which killed one person.
The tunnels under the city hold cables and piping which transport water, electricity, gas, and other essentials needed to run the city and its roads.
Brink said the City would explore these tunnels to ensure a similar incident did not happen elsewhere.
The City added it was prioritising the investigation of tunnels within the CBD.
It said:
Last month, the City told the media it would ask the provincial government to have the blast declared a local disaster.
The declaration will help unlock funds to fix the broken infrastructure.
Brink said the City was in the process of reprioritising its budgets before making the official appeal.
However, he added, there was still time for the province to approve the budget “as we need to finalise detailed designs” for the rehabilitation.
Because the tunnels were built in 1935, before the dangers of methane gas build-up under the roads were understood, the redesign will include modern infrastructure to mitigate future gas build-ups.
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