30 Million is Needed to Repair the M1 Bridge Fire

Picture courtesy: (TimesLIVE) City Power said placing new cables on the M1 bridge will take time because of the extreme damage and technical problems.

Tsakisi Muhlari

(The Post News)– The City of Johannesburg requires more than R30 million to repair the damaged infrastructure on the M1 bridge. Recently, an intense fire, estimated to be six times hotter than usual, swept through a tunnel containing City Power infrastructure. This fire caused damage to the bridge and burned approximately 500 meters of underground cables.

City Power estimates that R23 million will be necessary to fix the fire damage to its infrastructure. The power supply disruptions affected several areas of Johannesburg, including Parktown, Newtown, Braamfontein, the Johannesburg CBD, and surrounding areas. City Power has indicated that testing will commence after the outstanding joints have been connected.According to City Power Group Executive for Service Delivery, Charles Tlouane, the restoration process will require nearly two weeks to restore things back to their usual state. “From how City Power Group executives see it, the overall repair is going to cost R23 million in total.

This includes replacing the 11 kV cables, the telecommunications cables within the bridge, and the 88 oil-filled cables. Furthermore, we are replacing those in their own entirety.” JRA Acting Head of Department of Regional Operations, Khayalethu Gqibithole, stated that so far, they are going to need R10 million to repair the damages. Joburg City Manager Floyd Brink said this is sabotage to the city. He apologized to the residents of Joburg for the inconvenience.

He also emphasized that a case has been opened with the police. The City Power team has managed to reroute some of the underground cable network and is operating on connecting the other six remaining joints once they were able to connect four joints on Tuesday night. “If the test results are favorable, the team will gradually and cautiously restore supply to prevent any issues with the wiring.

This is part of the efforts equal to the work of replacing the burned and stolen cables,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena. “A notice to inform residents of the load-rotation plan will be issued, and the estimated time of restoration will be communicated. Residents are encouraged to unplug appliances during the outage to avoid circuit trips when supply is restored.” He added.