What has become a street notorious for collapsing sewer pipes and resultant sinkholes, De Villiers Street in Strand continues to break up and crumble after more than a year since contractors have been on site.
On Thursday 13 July, yet another sinkhole formed along the stretch of street when a rubbish removal truck had its tyres lodged in a sinkhole, which took hours for emergency services to successfully lift.
The latest sinkhole means there are three different sections of De Villiers Street currently cordoned off due to repairs and roadworks, which include intersections with Mills, Myburgh and Rabe Street.
According to Mayoral Committee member for Water and Sanitation Councillor Zahid Badroodien, the section of the pipeline where the latest sinkhole occurred was constructed about 40 years ago so its walls have been thinning considerably, which makes it susceptible to collapsing when exposed to heavy loading.
“When the peak flows coupled with excessive stormwater ingress are experienced the pipeline also has to withstand pressurised flow conditions, which also lead to sporadic pipeline collapses,” explained Badroodien.
He added the City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate appointed an emergency contractor to conduct point repairs whenever sewer collapses are experienced.
Speaking of the long-term plan he said: “However, the City is busy fast-tracking the refurbishment contract for this section of pipeline, and if all goes well the plan is to have a contractor on the ground at the beginning of 2024.”
He assured that the site had already been cordoned off and made safe to prevent any further collapsing of the trench walls into the sewer pipeline, and on Monday 17 July the emergency contractor had already started its repair work. “The estimated time to completion is two weeks,” said Badroodien.
Asked to comment on claims from the pubic should damages be sustained to vehicles as a result of sinkholes, Badroodien responded: “Owners of vehicles that have sustained damage due to sewer collapses and/or sinkholes have the right to submit public liability claims which will be evaluated by the City’s Insurance Department.”
In April earlier this year, the City had estimated that they had already spent R888 450,00 on fixing De Villiers street, and it expected that the latest repair work could take that figure well over R1 million.
