176 days and R196 million later to start repair works

GAUTENG – It will take the City of Joburg R196 million to start with the Lilian Ngoyi Street repair project after 176 days of waiting. Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has announced the start of the project to repair the damage to Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street). Gwamanda made the announcement at a press briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday.

A gas explosion, which occurred on the evening of 19 July 2023, claimed one life and left a trail of destruction over a stretch of nearly 400 metres of road. It’s reported the blast was caused by a spark that ignited methane gas that had been leaking into the underground tunnel. The area has been closed off to the public over safety and vandalism concerns for nearly six months, limiting access for residents and bringing business to a halt.

Just to put it in a type of ‘priority to get the repairs done’ perspective, in the other pictures, it shows Japan’s mega-pothole that swallowed a five-lane motorway and was repaired in just one week after workers toiled 24/7 to patch it up.

Stoplights and sidewalks were sent tumbling more than 33ft as the earth crumbled, snarling transport and even disrupting power supply at an international airport. The sinkhole, apparently triggered by subway construction in the area, also exposed the support columns of nearby buildings at a key traffic intersection. But Japanese workers toiled continuously for a week, dumping huge amounts of wet cement and sand into the gaping hole. The workmen also managed to fix electricity, gas and water lines in the same time frame, after they were all broken during the accident.