City of Johannesburg

Johannesburg Development Agency

No 3 Helen Joseph Street PO Box 61877 Tel +27(0) 11 688 7851 (O)
The Bus Factory Marshalltown Fax +27(0) 11 688 7899/63
Newtown 2107 E-mail: info@jda.org.za
Johannesburg, 2000

www.jda.org.za
www.joburg.org.za
To: All news editors
For immediate release
29 August 2023

UPDATE: REHABILITATION OF MODDERFONTEIN BRIDGE

The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) has completed the southern section of the
Modderfontein Bridge project following an extensive period of rehabilitation and
modernisation.

The upstream gabion works installed on the south bridge single cell have been extended and
are now open and in use, thus relieving some of the past congestion from when the project
started.

The JDA is the infrastructure arm of the City of Johannesburg. The Johannesburg Roads
Agency (JRA) appointed the JDA to rehabilitate the Modderfontein bridge east of
Johannesburg.

The rehabilitation was intended to address critical structural issues and ensure the bridge's
continued safety and functionality. The rehabilitation was for critical structural issues and for
the bridge to be safe and functional. The need for the bridge project arose from the need to

Directors
D Oliphant (Chairperson) S Genu (Acting CEO) M Mokoena M Ntanga M Ramonyai N Zonela B Sarela P Numa V Hlongwa J Makgonye S M asiza
Registration Number: 2001/005101/07
increase the cell capacity to accommodate the river flowing below. There have been previous
incidents where the river would overflow onto the bridge deck, damaging the infrastructure.

Modderfontein Road is a critical artery that connects the Johannesburg and Ekuhuruleni
Metropolitans and its bridge, within Region E, lies north-east through the suburb of
Sandringham, crossing the Jukskei River and bypassing Edenvale Hospital.

The reopening of the southern section of the bridge comes as a relief to the local community,
businesses, and commuters who have faced challenges and inconveniences during the
construction period.

The remaining works on the project will include the balance of gabion works between the
bridges and downstream of the river. The northern section of the bridge has been closed off
to commence with the north bridge works.

The implementation of the project has undergone many challenges. Due to performance
challenges that were faced on the project by the current contractor, the JDA has terminated
the current contractor.

The current status of the project will see the JDA closing out the termination process with the
current contractor. The project will be returning back to the JRA as the custodians of the
project to source another contractor to complete the project.

The JDA’s Executive Manager: Project Implementation, Siyabonga Genu, explained, “This
project has had various challenges in the past that have delayed its implementation. We are
on track. We apologise to the communities affected for the inconvenience caused.”

In the interim, we are assessing the current site and traffic flow and to minimise traffic impact
and ensure the safety of the public. Further communication on the project will run through the
JRA once a new contractor is appointed.

The extent of Civil Works includes but is not limited to the following:

• Proving & Relocation of Services

• Excavation
• Northern Bridge Single Cell Construction
• Southern Bridge Single Cell Construction
• Bridge Concrete Barriers
• Stormwater Pipe Culverts, Structures & V-Drains
• Gabion baskets and mattresses for erosion protection
• Backfilling
• Road Layerworks
• Asphalting
• Road Furniture
• Removal of Temporary Traffic Diversion Facility

“The safety of the travelling public, and all affected parties remains the utmost importance to
us. The traffic and pedestrian management plans will remain in place to ensure the safety of
the public and motorists,” Mr Genu noted.
ENDS

Issued by:
Kenneth Nxumalo
Johannesburg Development Agency
For more information:
Elias Nkabinde

Email: enkabinde@jda.org.za
076 961 8022
www.jda.org.za