Nelson Mandela Bridge Citichat 20 July 2001

CITICHAT 29/2001 - 20 JULY 2001


Nelson Mandela Bridge

Tuesday 17th July was a big day for Newtown and for the Inner City when Madiba himself unveiled the model of the winning design for the bridge which will carry his name and which will span the railway yards linking Braamfontein and Newtown. The Nelson Mandela Bridge at 294 metres long will be the country's largest cable-stayed bridge and is an important key in the plans for Newtown. Together with a pair of on-and-off ramps that will link the M1 South and the M1 North to Carr Street, known as the M1 Carr Street interchange, the bridge will provide easy access to Newtown and to the CBD itself for those driving to and from the north and west of the city.

The on-and-off ramps of the MI Carr Street interchange are going to be built in structural steel and will pose an interesting construction challenge given the height of the double decker motorway. Nazir Alli, the CEO of the SA National Roads Agency described this aspect at the launch on Tuesday as "an exceptional engineering achievement providing ramp bridges some 15 metres above ground level to the elevated M1 Freeway from Carr Street below." The two ramp bridges will be 280 and 230 metres long. The tender for this work has been awarded to Siawela Joint Venture (a J/V between Wilson Bailey Ovcon and Rainbow Construction), has already started and is scheduled for completion in September 2002. Costs are approximately R38 million.

For the technical-minded the Nelson Mandela Bridge is: "A three span unsymmetrical cable stayed bridge approximately 294 metres in length. The pylons will be of unequal length, 53 and 38 metres respectively with the northern pylons being higher and supporting a greater length of bridge. The pylons will be braced H-frame structures with vertical members constructed of circular steel sections and the bracing of circular hollow steel sections. The vertical members terminate with illuminated circular glass finial sections 3 metres high." The actual deck of the bridge is of steel box girder and concrete composite construction, with pre-stressed concrete side spans. Walkways for pedestrians are then bolted on to the side of the deck and have laminated glass balustrades. The design also provides a dedicated cycle 'path'.

The design-construct tender was awarded to the LBA Consortium comprising Grinaker-LTA and Bafokeng Joint Venture responsible for consstruction. Design is by BKS, ARQ Associates, PD Naaidoo and Associates, COWI, a Danish firm that specialises in the design of long span bridges and Dissing + Weitling (Danish Bridge architects).

The Bridge on which work has also already started, is scheduled to be opened by Nelson Mandela (GW) on July 18, his 85th birthday. R85 million has been allocated for the bridge and associated roadworks. It will certainly change the Joburg skyline. The pylons at the Braamfontein end will be the equivalent height to a twenty storey building and when illuminated at night, together with the striking lighting planned for Mary Fitzgerald Square and the elevated M1, will provide exciting city night tableaus.

The R120 million plus for the two projects is being substantially provided through Blue IQ (the R1,7 billion initiative of the Gauteng Provincial Government in 10-mega projects in the areas of information technology, transport, tourism and high value -added manufacturing). The other funders are the JDA, the SA National Road Agency and the National Department of Transport.

Gives a warm feeling to be able to say "and work has started on site" when referring to projects that have been reflected on these pages for some time now! But one also gets a warm feeling from listening to Madiba, his sense of humour and his passion for the country and support for the city are, as always, inspiring. With his wonderful insight and empathy he also caused the embarrassment of the morning. Looking at the model that he had just unveiled, he reflected that it is always the offices of President or Premier or Mayor who get the accolades for great projects and, usually, the person who had the idea in the first place is totally overlooked. "Whose concept was this bridge?" he asked. The Premier neatly tried to deflect the question to one of his staff, he in turn said that he certainly couldn't take any credit and the moment passed in some confusion. So for the record, the idea originally came out of the "Newtown Urban Design Proposals and Development Framework for an Historic Precinct" prepared by GAPP Architects and Urban Planners way back in 1988. At that stage the suggestion was a bridge linking Braamfontein to Newtown as an extension of Yale Street. Subsequently, Yale Street was absorbed into the Wits University campus. Some years later, I think in 1994/95, an urban development framework for the CBD was prepared by Steve Thorne who had just completed his urban design studies in the UK. Working with another professional from the UK, Gordon Gibson, , they suggested that the Braamfontein/Newtown linkage was essential and that it could come off Bertha Street as Yale was no longer possible. I'm almost sure that they also made the suggestion that such a bridge should carry the Nelson Mandela name. Gordon Gibson has a practice in Cardiff. Steve Thorne is now the principle architect and urban designer for the City of Melbourne and actually founded the architectural and urban design practice of Urban Solutions before he left South Africa. Urban Solutions won both the Mary Fitzgerald and Constitution Hill design competitions as well as being involved in a number of other prestigious projects in the City. So the kudos should really be shared by the two practices of Gapp and Urban Solutions!

I did mention the planned Cities 2001 conference last week. The conference is going to be one with a difference as we will be breaking away from the rigid structures of paper after paper followed by ten minutes for questions (if there is time!).

We have assembled a unique group of “hands-on” urban practitioners, both local and international, who will share their experiences on a range of critical urban issues including best practice in urban management; urban development; sprawl and ‘smart growth’; city branding and marketing and social issues. Each issue will be presented by an individual or a panel and a ‘conversation’ will be facilitated between the presenters and all participants to maximise the sharing/learning experience. The presenters include, amongst others:

• Rich Bradley, the ‘doyen’ of US Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) –Executive Director of the Downtown BID Corporation in Washington DC

• Kate Joncas – President of the Downtown Seattle Association and currently Chairperson of the International Downtown Association

• Michael Farr – Chief Executive of The Cape Town Partnership

• Graeme Reid - Chief Executive of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA)

• Bob Eury – President of Central Houston, Inc. a private non-profit corporation formed to lead the planning and implementation of the redevelopment of Houston's central city area

• Ellen Bradley – Deputy Director of Planning for Washington DC

• Bill Best - Executive Director, New Jersey Redevelopment Authority

21 and 22 August at the SAB Museum and Conference facility in Newtown, Johannesburg. Full details will be e-mailed to all Citichat subscribers early next week together with registration forms. Limited to 150 participants and cost will be R2 000 per delegate. .Great value when compared to commercial conferences