Little sign of a solution to Bayhead Road potholes

Potholes continue to pose serious risk to trucks on the newly laid surface of Bayhead Road – the only access to the Port of Durban’s container terminals. Despite partial fill-andpatch repairs to damaged sections of the road, said David Wilkinson, MD of Elcon Crane Hire – whose own mobile units are at risk on the road – these potholes are still lurking, waiting to cause costly damage to the tyres, suspension and axles of heavy tractors/trailers and other road-going vehicles. And the danger areas were increased at the end of last year, when Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) conducted what he called “defective” repairs to a section of the road across which it had laid a rail line. “Dangerously deep holes” between the road surface and the railway tracks on both the inbound and outbound lanes of the road were another truck trap, he added. Wilkinson did acknowledge that the eThekwini municipal roads department – which is contracted by Bayhead Road owners, Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA), to maintain and repair the road – has just done some repairs to the sections of the road crossing the approximately 100-metrewide bridge across the Umhlatazana Canal and four approximately 10m culverts. “However,” he told FTW, “it’s far short of what’s required. They did about 80% and should be encouraged to come back and finish the job.” But the TNPA hasn’t given the roads department enough cash to do more, according to Adrian Peters, head of engineering for the eThekwini Municipality. The agreement only allowed for “reactive maintenance” – a fill-and-patch job for the problem areas. However, the long-term solution is a complete relay of the blacktop, he added.