A number of important projects in the port of Durban are underway or due to begin in the next few weeks.
The biggest of these is undoubtedly the widening and deepening of the entrance channel and subsequent deepening of channels within the port. This work commences in mid March and the first steps will be taken later today with the closure of the North breakwater to the public.
A Bollywood film crew has hired the pier for the next week to do a shoot but once they clear up on 28 February the NPA will take over the pier as a construction site, with the appointed contractors are due to come on site shortly thereafter. Tenders for the main works closed on 19 January and the contract is expected to be awarded shortly.
Although not official there is some reason to hope that once the new breakwater has been completed the public will again be given access to the pier, probably for pedestrian traffic only. One of the problems generally with public access to the harbour precincts in the past and present has been the behaviour of a significant number of fishermen who have littered the area and are suspected of having been involved in criminal activities. If access is permitted it shouldn’t come as a surprise if fishing from the breakwater is banned.
Together with the widening and deepening of the entrance channel, other navigational channels within the port will also undergo dredging to a greater depth of around 16 metres – already the three berths at the Pier 1 Container Terminal are being deepened alongside from the existing 11.8m draught to 15.5m which will enable the larger container ships entering the South African service to make sue of the facility.
Another long awaited project due to commence in March is the Khangela Bridge which will cross the Southern Freeway and railway lines opposite the dry dock. This bridge will provide a new outlet for the congested Bayhead Road, leading onto the Umbilo arterial road and then to Edwin Swales Drive and out of the city. Completion of this project is set for the end of December 2008, in time for the planned expansion of Toyota’s intended ramping up and for the completion of the new car terminal at Salisbury Island, all of which will add traffic to Bayhead Road.
Upgrades of the berths at Island View are progressing well with dredging alongside the berths almost complete. The NPA and its contractor Protekon are undertaking the upgrade of berths one at a time to enable the Island View tanker terminal to continue with the least disruption.
Meanwhile work on completing the rebuilding of Pier 1 as a new container terminal is also progressing well.
The biggest of these is undoubtedly the widening and deepening of the entrance channel and subsequent deepening of channels within the port. This work commences in mid March and the first steps will be taken later today with the closure of the North breakwater to the public.
A Bollywood film crew has hired the pier for the next week to do a shoot but once they clear up on 28 February the NPA will take over the pier as a construction site, with the appointed contractors are due to come on site shortly thereafter. Tenders for the main works closed on 19 January and the contract is expected to be awarded shortly.
Although not official there is some reason to hope that once the new breakwater has been completed the public will again be given access to the pier, probably for pedestrian traffic only. One of the problems generally with public access to the harbour precincts in the past and present has been the behaviour of a significant number of fishermen who have littered the area and are suspected of having been involved in criminal activities. If access is permitted it shouldn’t come as a surprise if fishing from the breakwater is banned.
Together with the widening and deepening of the entrance channel, other navigational channels within the port will also undergo dredging to a greater depth of around 16 metres – already the three berths at the Pier 1 Container Terminal are being deepened alongside from the existing 11.8m draught to 15.5m which will enable the larger container ships entering the South African service to make sue of the facility.
Another long awaited project due to commence in March is the Khangela Bridge which will cross the Southern Freeway and railway lines opposite the dry dock. This bridge will provide a new outlet for the congested Bayhead Road, leading onto the Umbilo arterial road and then to Edwin Swales Drive and out of the city. Completion of this project is set for the end of December 2008, in time for the planned expansion of Toyota’s intended ramping up and for the completion of the new car terminal at Salisbury Island, all of which will add traffic to Bayhead Road.
Upgrades of the berths at Island View are progressing well with dredging alongside the berths almost complete. The NPA and its contractor Protekon are undertaking the upgrade of berths one at a time to enable the Island View tanker terminal to continue with the least disruption.
Meanwhile work on completing the rebuilding of Pier 1 as a new container terminal is also progressing well.