CURRENT PROJECTS AND PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

THE DEMOLITION OF THE EXISTING ILLOVU STEEL BRIDGE AND RECONSTRUCTION OF A NEW RAILWAY BRIDGE WITHIN THE EXISTING RAILWAY SERVITUDE ON ERF 195 KINGSBURGH IN THE ETHEKWINI METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY, KWAZULU-NATAL

PRASA Illovo Draft BAR August 2024THE DEMOLITION OF THE EXISTING ILLOVU STEEL BRIDGE AND RECONSTRUCTION OF A NEW RAILWAY BRIDGE WITHIN THE EXISTING RAILWAY SERVITUDE ON ERF 195 KINGSBURGH IN THE ETHEKWINI METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY, KWAZULU-NATAL (DFFE Reference Number 14/12/16/3/3/1/3045)

The Information Sheet is a summary of the Basic Assessment Report and is available at the hyperlink.

INTRODUCTION

An Environmental Basic Impact Assessment Report (BAR) has been compiled in support of the proposed demolition and re-construction of the Illovu Railway Bridge. Severe floods were experienced in the KwaZulu Natal Province of South Africa in April 2022. The flood event resulted in the destruction of infrastructure, including the Illovo Railway Bridge, a steel bridge, located in the Southern eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. A complete collapse of the northern embankment on the Durban end of the bridge occurred. This led to the closure of the railway line and subsequent rail operations. Illovo Bridge is at the mouth of the Lovu River in Winklespruit, east of Illovo South in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality of the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Bridge is under the mandate of PRASA, an Organ of State, to ensure safe and reliable public infrastructure services within South Africa. The proposal includes the demolition of the existing steel truss bridge deck including the removal and safeguarding of existing perway (that is, rail, sleepers, clips and pads). A new deck for the railway bridge including the construction and reinstatement of associated perway is proposed.

PROJECT PROPOSAL

The existing steel rail bridge deck will be demolished, and a new bridge will be constructed. A new concrete rail bridge will replace the steel bridge and provide additional flood drainage capacity and additional spans on the northern side. The additional bridge will span the existing washed away section of the northern embankment. The existing steel bridge deck, 200m in length, will be demolished due to the current materials and design not being able to guarantee structural integrity for another 100 years. The new bridge will be 340m in length to ensure stability and endurance of the new line crossing the estuary environment.

ALTERNATIVES

The following two design alternatives have been formulated.

ALTERNATIVE 1 (PREFERRED)

The Alternative 1 (Preferred) proposed layout is shown on the Preliminary General Arrangement Drawings appended to the Basic Assessment Report (see Appendix B). This design consist of prestressed, precast concrete M10 beams and in-situ concrete deck slab. A closed cantilever abutment with return walls founded on auger piles socketed into rock for the new northern abutment has been proposed. The existing piers including the northern abutment will not be utilised in view of the Geotechnical investigation findings, instead new piers will be introduced. Precast Beam design will replace the four existing concrete piers with 13 new piers. While there is an increase in the number of piers, the hydrological modeling shows reduced flow around the bridge under the 200 year flood maximum velocities, which will reduce the risk of flooding in these conditions and of the bridge washing away in future. The bridge accommodates a single railway track and comprises two simply supported 21.5m and 24.0m long deck spans carried on reinforced concrete solid wall type piers and closed cantilever type abutments. The 328m long bridge caters for a 3,7m ballast width between kerbs and 1,15m wide raised sidewalks on both sides resulting in an overall bridge width of 6,0m between parapets.

ALTERNATIVE 2

The proposed structure considered for Alternative 2 is shown on the Preliminary General Arrangement Drawings appended to this report (see Appendix B). This design consists of an in-situ post-tensioned prestressed concrete box girder deck erected by the staged construction method and the deck supported on new non-integral (i.e. with bearings) coffin shaped wall type piers and non-integral closed cantilever abutment (i.e. with bearings/expansion joints) with return walls. A closed cantilever abutment with return walls founded on auger piles socketed into rock is proposed for the new northern abutment with this design. The existing piers including the northern abutment will not be utilised in view of the Geotechnical investigation findings, instead new piers will be introduced. The Prestressed Girder involves Deck construction period, which has a longer construction timeframe compared to the preferred Alternative Post-tensioned Box Girder Deck.

LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

The 2014 National Environmental Management Act [NEMA] Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations of 2014, as amended, apply to the proposed development, and necessitate a Basic Assessment Process. The proposed development includes activities listed in GN983 of the 2014 EIA Regulations, as amended. These are:

Listing Notice 1 (GNR 983 of 2014, as amended)

Activity 19A: The infilling or depositing of any material of more than 5 cubic metres into, or the dredging, excavation, removal or moving of soil, sand, shells, shell grit, pebbles or rock of more than 5 cubic metres from- (ii) the littoral active zone, an estuary. The embankments of the iLovu Estuary and Lovu River will be require the removal of more than 5 cubic metres to establish the new railway bridge
Activity 54: The expansion of facilities— (ii) in an estuary. This Activity is applicable as the proposed works involve the expansion of existing footprint within the estuary.

Listing Notice 3 (GNR 983 of 2014, as amended)

Activity 23: The expansion of – (xii) infrastructure or structures where the physical footprint is expanded by 10 square meters or more; where such expansion occurs – (a) within a watercourse.This Activity is applicable as the proposed works involve the expansion of structures within an existing footprint within the estuary.

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the impact assessment, Alternative 1 – Precast Beams has been identified as the preferred alternative. This is largely because construction period is shorter compared to Alternative 2, the costs higher are more feasible to the client compared to Alternative 1 and coffer dams are not required for Alternative 1 Precast Beams bridge design. Although high negative impacts have been identified in this Basic Assessment Report, the recommendation to not use the Caustic Chemical Demolition method reduces this identified impact as insignificant if the client advises the contractor to not use this method during the demolition phase of the project. The entry of plastic waste into the estuary can be mitigated with measures placed in the EMPr. Refer to Appendix G. All mitigation measures recommended by the estuary specialist should be implemented to ensure that impacts to the estuary and other features of the environment are avoided and, where they cannot be avoided, they are minimised to acceptable levels.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Public participation is a key component of the environmental assessment process as it introduces the proposed activity to the public and provides an opportunity for comments and concerns to be raised. Public participation will be undertaken in terms of Section 41 of the 2014 NEMA: EIA Regulations, as amended.

The draft Basic Assessment Report will be made available to the broader public, identified Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) and Organs of State for their perusal and comment from
27 August 2024 until 30 September 2024 by the following means:

The draft BAR will be distributed to the relevant Organs of State for comment via email (with a link for larger files, if necessary).
The Information Sheet (summary of the BAR) will be distributed to via email or hand-delivered to the following identified I&APs: occupiers of the site, directly adjacent landowners/occupiers and key I&APs such as the Ward Councillor and any Community Organisations in the area such as a Ratepayers Association.
An electronic copy of the draft BAR and Information Sheet will be placed on The Environmental Partnership’s website (enviropart.co.za).
A media notice will be published in the South Coast Sun local newspaper.
Site notices will be placed in conspicuous locations around the site.
A hard copy of the draft Basic Assessment Report will be placed at the Kingsburgh Public Library for the duration of the commenting period.
Where written comments cannot be provided, provision will be made for telephonic communication.

WAY FORWARD

This draft Basic Assessment Report is being made available for a 30-day commenting period for the period 27 August 2024 until 08 October 2024.

The BAR and all appendices are available for perusal at www.enviropart.co.za. Furthermore, a hard copy of the BAR, as well as several copies of the Information Sheet, have been placed at the Kingsburgh Public Library and will be available for the perusal of members of the public for the duration of the commenting period.

All comments and concerns raised by I&APs in this commenting period will be addressed by the EAP and project team. Upon completion of the 30-day period, a PPP Report will be compiled and appended to the next revision of the BAR. The revised BAR will then be made available to the registered public for a further 30-day commenting period.

Comments on this report may be submitted on or before 08 October 2024 to:

The Environmental Partnership

P O Box 945, Cape Town, 8000

Tel: 021 422 0999

Email: comments@enviropart.co.za