The Sand River Bridge to and from St Francis is still open but only to light vehicles at 1 pm today, 16 July 2012. A statement from Kouga Municpality said the water level has subsided and so the bridge is open with restrictions and only one lane at this stage.
“No heavy vehicles will be allowed to cross the bridge until further notice. the municipality said. ”
The bridge is still being monitored and the situation can change at any time. The bridge will be closed if unsafe.
According to vice charman of the St Francis Bay Residents’ Association. Nigel Aitken, water flowed over the road of the bridge for three hours last night. The water has damaged the bank on the Humansdorp side of the bridge. He also says the water build up on the Links’ side of the bridge subsided earlier today, but is now building up again.
Aitken also recounts that only three inflow pipes under the bridge out of a total of seven are working. The other four have become filled with debris and attempts are being made to clear these blocked pipes.
