Bypass to St Francis completed

Bypass to St Francis completed

Kouga Municipality has completed a bypass across the Sand River to restore access to St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis.

The bypass was completed just more than a day after flood waters washed away the Sand River Bridge.

Kouga Municipal Manager Dr Eddie Rankwana said the bypass was a one-lane road of ground and gravel, with pipes underneath to allow water to flow through.

Traffic lights were put up on either side.

Rankwana said there would be a 3-tonne limit on vehicles using the bypass.

“Heavier vehicles will only be allowed if absolutely necessary to minimise wear of the bypass,” he said. “The Kouga Municipality and Department of Public Works will check the bypass regularly and strengthen it when required.”

The Municipal Manager said that the municipality and department would also be conducting a full investigation into what happened.

“The aim of the investigation would be to identify the factors that led to the road's collapse and what measures can be put in place to prevent this from recurring. We will be conducting a broader study of the Sand River catchment area as well to determine what measures can be put in place to prevent what happened from recurring,” he said.

 Work on fixing the broken water line from the Churchill dam is also underway again. Kouga expects to have it fixed by Monday.

“Till then, we ask residents to continue using water sparingly,” he said. “We are making use of boreholes and the St Francis Links well, but the reservoir does not fill up as quickly from these sources as it would from the Churchill line.”