Rain washes away bridge and water line

Rain washes away bridge and water line

ROAD access to St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis has been cut off after the Sand River Bridge washed away in heavy rains on Thursday afternoon, July 7.

Kouga Municipality's Emergency and Technical Services teams are busy assessing the damage to determine how quickly access can be restored.

Kouga Municipal Manager Dr Eddie Rankwana said the municipality’s first priority would be to put up a walkway so that people could get to St Francis on foot . Work on a temporary bridge, consisting of at least one lane, will commence early  tomorrow so that vehicles can get in and out of the area.

Rankwana said a section of the main water line from the Churchill Dam to the town also washed away in the flood waters on Tuesday.

“The municipality had planned on installing a temporary connection across the Sand River Bridge, but  this is no longer possible with the bridge having washed away. We are using boreholes to supply water to the town, but we ask people to use water sparingly please,” he said.