Flood-damaged Coedmore Bridge reopens after three years
An eThekwini councillor says
while the completion of repairs to Durban's Coedmore Bridge is a victory for
Durban South, many other flood-damaged bridges remain in limbo as the
municipality waits for disaster relief funds from national government.
After more than three years, the first vehicles crossed Coedmore Bridge's new double carriageway on Friday, marking the end of a long construction process.
The bridge is a key link to areas including the M7.
It was destroyed in the April 2022 floods.
READ: More fatal disasters for SA east coast: Wits study
eThekwini Executive Committee member Andre Beetge says the R47 million project faced multiple setbacks.
"We had further floods, which then created further problems. Then there were technical challenges where there was some blasting that had to be done because there were rock beds and then also the main contractor incurred some financial constraints. Only when a session was able to be done, it was then the contractor completed the bridge. It was originally destined to open in December 2024."
In June, the City’s Engineering Directorate reprioritised R42.8 million in savings from its capital budget to speed up projects delayed by recent storms.
"The municipality remains reliant on funding being released from national. In the last storm alone, the one that has just passed, the quantified damage was about R1.3 billion. So, that's not money that we can take out of the municipal fiscal. We have to wait for the allocation from national and unfortunately, that doesn't happen the next morning. That could take months, even towards the end of the financial year,” Beetge says.
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