Question NW624 to the Minister of Transport

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29 March 2017 - NW624

Profile picture: Van Der Walt, Ms D

Van Der Walt, Ms D to ask the Minister of Transport

(a) What was the total flood damage to the R33 road and bridge between Lephalale and Vaalwater in 2014, (b) were any funds by (i) national or (ii) provincial departments allocated for the flood damage, (c) why has the bridge near Vaalwater on this main road to Lephalale not yet been rebuilt, (d) when will the road and bridge be fixed and (e) what is the total cost to rebuild the bridge and road?

Reply:

a) The total damages from 2014 floods on both the R33 Road (formerly P198/1) and Merriespruit Bridge were estimated at R23m as per the initial assessment and final verification.

b) (i) No funds were made available for National Department

(ii) Funds were made available to Limpopo Provincial Roads for temporary (Emergency Funds) and permanent (Reconstruction and Rehabilitation) restoration of access. Emergency funds were made available immediately and the road was repaired by patching the potholes and resealing. Pipe Culvert Bridge was erected to restore access on the washed-away Merriespruit Bridge, with assistance of private sector. Reconstruction and Rehabilitation funds were only made available to the province as part of Provincial Road Maintenance Grant over an MTEF period, from 2015/16 financial year.

c) The bridge has not been built due to the following;

(i) During 2014, the road P198/1 was part of the list of roads to be transferred from the then Limpopo Provincial Department of Road and Transport to SANRAL and the transfer was finalized after flood damages. The road now belongs to SANRAL in terms of Notice 538 of National Gazette No 37815, and SANRAL is finalizing their assessment which is already revealing additional two bridges might be reconstructed on the R33.

(ii) SANRAL upon taking over the road preferred to standardize the bridge and the road accordingly, and the process entailed commissioning a new design of the infrastructure and a budgeting process to cover the standard of design.

Other processes including application of environmental authorization has to be done.

d) The road has been repaired to a relatively required standard while the plan to fix the bridge is been finalized. The road is also monitored and maintained on a constant basis by SANRAL. The construction of the bridge is planned to start in October 2017 and the construction process is scheduled to take about 14 months from the date of construction. The bridge will be completed by January 2019, in case all processes run as planned. The project steering committee has also been established specifically for the road and the bridge to monitor and establish possible measure to fix the bridge and the road, while also fostering road safety.

e) The total cost to fix the bridge has not been established but will be determined through the final design report which is expected by the 15th May 2017, also refer to point a) above.

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