SA: Bayhead Road Extension and Khangela Bridge
Ethekwini Municipality’s in-house team designed the road works, while the bridge was designed by Transnet Capital Projects (TCP). Jointly funded by the eThekwini Municipality and Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), the project was implemented due to the rapid increase in imports and exports at the Port of Durban, which necessitated action as frequent congestion in the area had to be swiftly dealt with.
Spanning 270 metres long, the new bridge comprises three separate sections, which cross the busy Metro / Spoornet rail lines and the M4 highway.
The first section is a 130 metre incrementally launched concrete box section over the Metro rail lines and the highway. The following section is a cast in-situ transition section, with the final section being a common beam and cast in-situ Deck Bridge over the Spoornet rail lines. Sectioning the bridge was necessary in order to achieve the higher clearances required by Spoornet for their loaded trains.
Traffic congestion in South Coast Road at the intersection of Solomon Mahlangu and South Coast roads is a thing of the past as the new R200 million(26 million USD) Khangela Bridge was completed and opened on schedule in November 2009.
Prior to the construction of the bridge, heavy congestion was a daily occurrence on Bayhead Road and South Coast Road due to the frequent presence of heavy utility vehicles using these roads to get in and out of the port area.
The new bridge will link into the intersection of South Coast and Bayhead roads, running over the M4 highway to Sydney Road and Glastonbury Place. The crossing will provide four traffic lanes and will have dedicated turning lanes to assist with the turning movements of heavy vehicles.
The bridge’s layout is designed to cater for in-bound traffic from Umbilo Road into Glastonbury Place and over the bridge into Bayhead Road. The out-bound traffic will crossover the new bridge and turn left into Sydney Road, from there onto Solomon Mahlangu Drive.
Project Entities & Responsibilities
| Ethekwini Municipality Roads Provision Department | Design of all road works & Contract Supervision |
| Transnet Capital Projects (TCP) | Design of Bridge & Contract Supervision/Administration |
| Stefanutti Stocks / Basil Read Joint Venture | Construction of road works and bridge |
