Gautrain set to suffer disruptions due to water leaks

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The Gautrain is set to suffer from disruptions in its service due to the additional work needed on two sections of tunnel that are leaking water. The Gautrain is set to suffer from disruptions in its service due to the additional work needed on two sections of tunnel that are leaking water.

The Gautrain is set to suffer from disruptions in its service due to the additional work needed on two sections of tunnel that are leaking water, it emerged last week on Wednesday following a ruling by the Arbitration Federation of South Africa.

The 15-month fight between the Gautrain Management Agency, which manages the train on behalf of Gauteng, and Bombela, the concession company, ended last week with the federation agreeing with the province that water seeping into the train’s tunnel does not meet the contract specifications.

The problem of "water ingress" has dogged the project ever since the tunnels were completed four years ago. The news will come as a blow to Murray & Roberts which has been struggling for years to deal with mega projects that have soured on the company.

These include Medupi power station and work done at Dubai International Airport.

The leaky tunnels delayed commencement of the Gautrain’s full service from Park Station in Johannesburg to Hatfield Station in Pretoria by a year.

Last year Bombela, eager to commission the link between Rosebank and Park stations, undertook additional work on the tunnel to slow the rate at which water entered the tunnel.

This required the injection of liquid cement into holes that were drilled around the shell of the tunnel. After Bombela completed this work, at a cost of about R200m, the agency allowed it to begin operating the link. However, the water was still seeping into the tunnel faster than allowed in the contract.

The commercial dispute remained unresolved and so the matter went before arbitration in September 2012 and a decision had been anticipated for the past year.

Murray & Roberts said the arbitration had been long and complex and "the tribunal supported the province’s interpretation of the water ingress specification".

"The tribunal ruled that, in certain parts of the Gautrain tunnel, the noncompliance with specifications could be settled through financial compensation and in other parts … additional works (as yet unspecified) will be required in order to meet this specification."

Murray & Roberts spokesman Ed Jardim said efforts would now be made to discuss with the province on how to best solve the issues of water leaking in the tunnel between Park Station and E2, the emergency exit near the Wilds that is between the Park and Rosebank stations.

The problem also affects the tunnel between Marlboro and Rosebank.

Errol Braithwaite, spokesman for Bombela, was not able to comment when contacted.

Gautrain spokeswoman Barbara Jensen said the arbitration federation’s ruling was confidential and it was too soon to say how it could affect the train services, if at all.

"What is important is that the fixing of the tunnel will be at the risk and the cost of Bombela, no taxpayers’ money will be used for this," she said.


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