Local businesses along the N12 freeway near Eldorado Park can breathe a sigh of relief following the official re-opening by Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Ismail Vadi, of the refurbished East Road Bridge on Monday.
The bridge, commonly known as the ‘Kliptown/Samfur Bridge’ to local residents, serves as a critical link between Kliptown, Eldorado Park, Nancefield Industrial and the nearby Slovo Park informal settlement. It was wholly repaired at a cost of R10 million.
The 60-year-old bridge was structurally damaged when a truck carrying a load exceeding the permissible height restrictions hit its top structure, rendering nearly half of the bridge completely unsafe.
The severe damage led to the closure of the bridge as it posed serious risk to motorists and pedestrians.
The closure negatively affected local businesses as traffic had to be diverted through other routes, which proved to be costly and time consuming.
Speaking at the event, Vadi called on freight trucks to abide by the load and height restrictions as well as set speed limits.
“The damage to this bridge is another example of how overloading of freight trucks and disregard for height restrictions continue to cause untold damage to our road infrastructure,” said Vadi.
He called on all motorists, especially drivers and owners linked to the freight truck industry, to respect the rules of the road at all times as this not only damages road infrastructure but poses a serious risk to other road users.
For more information, please contact:
Melitah Madiba
Cell: 073 644 9935
