The Drakenstein Municipality has in the interest of road user and pedestrian safety temporarily disconnected all traffic lights that have gel batteries from its Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems following two incidents where these R5,1 million UPS systems exploded at separate intersections.
These UPS systems form part of the municipality’s backup power supply initiatives and keep traffic lights on during prolonged hours of load shedding.
Last week Paarl Post reported that 41 out of the total of 48 traffic lights within the municipality have already been fitted with UPS systems at its intersections.
On Sunday at around 18:00 an explosion was heard near the intersection of Bergrivier Boulevard and Cecilia Street in Paarl.
According to some residents, the lid of the manhole reportedly landed 500 m away from where the manhole is located.
Louis Pienaar, the municipality’s executive director of engineering services, confirmed to Paarl Post that the UPS at this intersection did indeed experience a failure.
“In the interest of road user and pedestrian safety, the municipality temporarily disconnected all traffic lights that have gel batteries as a precautionary measure. This followed two incidents where gel batteries leaked, which resulted in explosions. In Berg River Boulevard, the manhole unit was damaged and will be repaired in the next two weeks.”
According to Pienaar no injuries were reported. He says the municipality has disconnected all gel installations and will replace gel batteries with “more reliable lithium ones”.
“The UPS systems will be reconnected as soon as the installations are completed. Most of the installations are already equipped with lithium batteries, which have proven to be reliable,” Pienaar added. He says this strategic investment in UPS technology is a key component of Drakenstein Municipality’s three-pronged Eskom Load Shedding Resilience Plan, aimed at the continuation of service delivery.
“The UPS systems assist with traffic flow and help to ensure road safety, particularly during periods of Eskom load shedding when lights are inactive. The municipality is among the first municipalities in South Africa to implement such systems.” Intersections in areas such as Wellington and Klapmuts have also recently been added onto the grid.
