The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) says it is investigating the installation of wind barriers at the Hugo River Bridge on the N1 near the Huguenot Tunnel in Paarl, where a caravan and the trailer of a truck were recently blown off the bridge by strong winds.
In a letter addressed to AfriForum, who initially lodged road safety concerned with Sanral following these incidents, the agency’s manager in the western region, Randall Cable, said the impact of the wind on vehicles on the viaduct is directly related to the wind gusts as well as the size, centre of gravity-weight and speed of vehicles..
“Although the average wind speeds are being monitored, it is more the unpredictability of wind gusts that impact vehicles that have large surface areas exposed to high winds, and are light weighted or unloaded,” he said. “These vehicle characteristics are at highest risk to wind gusts.
“Notwithstanding the wind speed, Sanral needs to manage the function of mobility through the tunnel as the alternative of closing the tunnel and diverting all traffic over the Du Toit’s Kloof mountain pass could create other risks with devastating road safety impact. The correct decision is one where the risk to human life is smallest.”
Cable said the provision of the wind barriers on the bridge structure is being investigated and to be implemented in the short to medium term.
“Wind barriers with the variable height of 2 to 3 metres can minimise wind effect on high sided vehicles, thus improving the safety and serviceability of the crossing.
“Wind barriers can equally reduce overturning moments on the bridge by 40-60% and certainly reduce the risk specific vehicles blowing off the viaduct.
“As matters stand now, in order to significantly mitigate a recurrence of vehicles blowing over and off the viaduct, the first option is prevention of allowing vehicles through during high winds by closing the tunnel (and viaduct) for all heavy vehicles and light vehicles (class 1), which are towing large light trailers such as caravans and cargo trailers”.
“Protocols have already been set in place for these operations. We would require the assistance of Provincial Traffic in this regard and have already reached out to them.”
Following the events on the weekend of 6-7 April, when several vehicles were affected by strong winds on the viaduct, AfriForum sent an urgent letter to Sanral regarding the safety risks on the bridge.
“Given the seriousness of the situation and the potential danger it poses, AfriForum believes it is of the utmost importance to confront the issue immediately in order to ensure the safety of all motorists,” said Deon de Jager, the group’s head of community structures for the southern region in a statement.
De Jager told Paarl Post AfriForum welcomed Sanral’s speedy response to this urgent matter.
“We are grateful that Sanral views the situation with the seriousness that it deserves and intends to contact them soon regarding dates for a possible meeting.”
