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

Location
The bridges will be built over the Msikaba and 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 part of the N2WCTR project.

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 one of the highest bridges in the world makes the construction of the Mtentu bridge a technically 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 (SMME) 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, while more than R2.8-billion will flow to SMMEs, the bulk of which will be from the OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo district areas, in the Eastern Cape.

A further 29 000 permanent direct and indirect jobs might also be created during the service period of the road once it is opened, Transport  Minister Fikile Mbalula said on October 25, 2020.

Capital Expenditure
The Msikaba bridge project will cost an estimated R1.65-billion and the Mtentu bridge project R2.5-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The N2WCTR project started in 2011; however, the major greenfield portion of the route between Port St Johns and Port Edward started only in 2016.

Construction of the Mtentu bridge is expected to resume in early 2021, with construction expected to take 42 months, including a four-month ramp-up period. Completion of the bridge is expected to be in mid- to late 2024, depending on delays.

The Msikaba bridge project is in the early construction phase, following an extended initial ramp-up period. Construction started in January 2019 and the planned completion date is mid-2022.

Latest Developments
Sanral plans to install a temporary cableway between the north and south sites of the Msikaba bridge project on the N2 Wild Coast road.

This will drastically reduce the travelling time for staff around the construction site, which currently constitutes a three-hour drive by road, for the remainder of the project.

The cable car will enable site staff to cross the gorge in three to four minutes.

The cable car can accommodate up to six people, or 500 kg, and will transport site staff and sometimes material between the banks.

Sanral project manager Craig McLachlan has said that even though the two sides of the bridge are being built as two subprojects, each with its own staff, equipment and material, it is necessary for senior staff and specialists to easily be able to access both sites of the gorge.

Sanral has appointed a Swiss cableway company to undertake the installation, which should be complete before the end of July.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Suppliers
Concor Mota-Engil JV (Msikaba bridge contract); HVA Joint Venture (Msikaba and Mtentu bridge consultants comprising CH2M and SMEC); V3 Consulting Engineers (lead consultant – Ndwalane to Ntafufu and Kulumbe to Mtamvuna river); ERO Engineers (lead consultant – Ntafufu to Bambisana turn-off); Naidu Consulting (lead consultant – Bambisana turn-off to Lingeni); Aurecon Rohm consortium (lead consultants – Lingeni to Msikaba); Knight Piesold (lead consultant – Msikaba to Mtentu) and KBK Engineers (lead consultant – Mtentu to Kulumbe).

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.