Name of the Project
N2 Wild Coast Toll Road (N2WCTR) megabridge projects.

Location
The bridges will be built over the Msikaba and the Mtentu river gorges, both near Lusikisiki, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.

Project Owner/s
South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

Project Description
The Msikaba and Mtentu bridges form the backbone of the greenfield portion of the N2WCTR project – one of government’s 18 Strategic Integrated Projects (Sips).

The N2WCTR together with the Umvimvubu dam are the two key components of Sips 3: the South Eastern Node and corridor development. Once completed the new shorter, flatter and faster N2WCTR will cut travelling time between Mthatha and Durban by between 1.5 and 3 hours, resulting in a time-cost saving of about R1.5-billion a year for road users. In addition to improving logistics and trade between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal the new route will also stimulate local economic development for the Pondoland area, particularly in tourism.

The 112 km greenfield section extends from Port Edward, in KwaZulu-Natal, through Lusikisiki, to Port St Johns, in the Eastern Cape and consists of nine primary construction packages.

This section is a new road and, without the bridges, will not be able to be completed.

The 1.13-km-long Mtentu bridge, which includes a 260-m-long main span, will be one of the longest main-span-balanced cantilever bridges in the world. Only ten prestressed concrete girder bridges worldwide have a main span of 260 m or longer.

Reaching heights of more than 220 m above the river valley, it will displace the Bloukraans bridge in the Western Cape, as the highest bridge in Africa and the southern hemisphere. The 141-m-tall Pier No 9 will also be the tallest bridge pier in Africa and the southern hemisphere.

Being one of the longest main-span-balanced cantilever bridges and highest bridges in the world makes the construction of the Mtentu bridge a technically and highly challenging project. The remote location and local social dynamics add to this complexity.

The 580-m-long Msikaba bridge will be the longest main span – constructed using the cable-stayed method – bridge in Africa, and the second-longest main bridge span in Africa after the Maputo-Catembe suspension bridge in Mozambique. With a deck height of 194 m above the river valley, Msikaba will become the third-highest bridge in Africa and the 133rd highest in the world. The Msikaba bridge cable-stay design will ensure that the construction of the bridge will have no direct impact on the pristine gorge environment almost 200 m below, which is one of the environmental requirements in building the bridge.

Potential Job Creation
Semiskilled and unskilled labour will be sourced locally. Local small, medium-sized and microenterprise contractors and suppliers of goods and services will be used to meet the required contractor participation goals on the two projects, creating much-needed jobs and local economic development. The two megabridge projects together with the seven adjacent roads packages are expected to create about 8 000 full time equivalent jobs during construction. At the same time about R2.8-billion will flow to small, medium and micro enterprises, the bulk of which will be from the OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo district areas in the Eastern Cape.

Capital Expenditure
The Msikaba bridge will cost an estimated R1.902-billion.

The contract for the Mtentu bridge was awarded in August 2017 for R1.634-billion, however, with the recent termination of the contract, a new award value must still be determined.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction of the Mtentu bridge started in January 2018 and was scheduled to take about 40 months. Owing to the termination of the construction contract by the Aveng-Strabag Joint Venture (ASJV) in February 2019, a new construction schedule will need to be established.

Construction of the Msikaba bridge started in January 2019. The project is expected to take 36 months to complete. This includes an initial three-month ramp-up period.

Latest Developments
Sanral has applied to the National Treasury for permission to negotiate with the previously prequalified but unsuccessful bidders to complete the Mtentu bridge contract. Failing this, the project will be retendered.

The Aveng Strabag joint venture (ASJV) decided in February to terminate the Mtentu bridge contract, in the Eastern Cape.

ASJV believes it was unable and unsafe to work on the project site, owing to continuing community unrest and protest action.

The joint venture (JV) is currently in dispute with Sanral, with the consortium appealing against a North Gauteng High Court ruling delivered in March that Sanral could institute damages claims for the contract.

Construction of the Mtentu bridge started in January 2018 and was scheduled to take about 40 months.

Owing to the termination of the construction contract, however, a new construction schedule will need to be established.

Six firms prequalified for the Mtentu bridge project, and they submitted bids for the contract.

“However, it is unlikely all of them would be willing, or are in a position to negotiate,” Sanral southern region manager Mbulelo Peterson has said.

The five unsuccessful firms are Murray & Roberts (now Concor) Mota-Engil JV; Steffanuti, CMC, Rizzani De Eccher & Axyx JV; WBHO, EGC (Eiffage Genie Civil); Daewoo Basil Read JV and the Vinci Group 5 JV.

Peterson says that should Sanral be given permission to negotiate with these five parties, it will take about six months to get a contractor on site – “12 months if we have to retender”.

“The timeframe for completion would have to be negotiated, but as ASJV had only effectively achieved two months progress on the 40-month programme, it is likely that any new contract would again be in the order of 40 months.”

The delay on the project is currently at about 11 months.

The question remains, however, whether it will be possible to complete the project at the same R1.65-billion price tag.

Peterson has said that this is doubtful, but all additional costs will be recovered from the ASJV.

“Sanral is currently holding several hundred-million rands in sureties, as well as plant and equipment held on site as additional security, to ensure the taxpayer does not end up paying more.”

Peterson says Sanral is working hard to prevent any future possible delays as a result of community action.

“Sanral has set up numerous avenues to raise and resolve these issues. These include project liaison committees, stakeholder forums, a local Sanral Flagstaff office and community feedback and engagement meetings by service providers,” Peterson has noted.

On the Msikaba bridge site, the contractor is still in the early stages of construction.

The first two adjacent road construction packages are planned to be tendered in November 2019.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Concor Mota-Engil Joint Venture (Msikaba bridge contract).

HVA Joint Venture (Msikaba and Mtentu bridge consultants consisting of CH2M and SMEC)

On Budget and on Time?
The Mtentu bridge contract end date has been severely affected by the termination, and the final end date and cost to the State will depend on a number of factors. These include the process of finding  a replacement contractor and the legal challenge by ASJV to try prevent Sanral from calling in the contract performance and retention sureties (currently on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal after an initial High Court ruling that there was not a force majeure in effect on site and that ASJV repudiated the contract by refusing to return to site after the lifting of the contract suspension).

Contact Details for Project Information
Sanral project manager Craig McLachlan, tel +27 41398 3200 or email MclachlanC@nra.co.za or for technical aspects Sanral bridge network manager Edwin Kruger, tel +27 12 844 8000 or email krugere@nra.co.za.