Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s water and sanitation directorate has spent more than R10 million on cleaning the Black River along the N2 highway and have removed about 5 000m3 of material during its current dredging operation.
Dredging is the mechanical removal of accumulated sediments/silt deposits, including invasive water plants, litter and solid waste using excavators.
The work conducted is part of an ongoing river maintenance and other programmes to improve inland water quality.
Among the items removed from the Black River were mattresses, couches, trolleys, tyres, trees, a television, car parts and construction waste materials.
The City of Cape Town said the amount of waste disposed of, equated to 650 truckloads of dried out materials that were transported to disposal sites.
“This includes removing silt, litter, alien vegetation such as invasive water hyacinth, which clogs up the river in this section, as well as solid waste such as mattresses, couches, a television, trolleys, tyres, trees, construction waste and car parts,” mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, councillor Zahid Badroodien said.
The dredging is alongside the N2 highway between the M52 Raapenberg Road bridge and the M17 Jan Smuts Drive.
Badroodien said a section of the Black River upstream from Jan Smuts Drive had already been dredged.
It had been silted up and become concentrated with pollution and alien invasive vegetation.
The polluted top layer of sediment is being removed, leaving cleaner sand underneath.
Badroodien said excavators inside the river excavate the sediments and move the dredged material towards the banks of the river.
He said the material would be lifted by means of a long boom excavator to stockpile it 10 metres away from the banks to allow for dewatering for three weeks or more, before the material could be moved to the relevant disposal site.
“Improving the water quality of our inland waterways such as rivers is a priority for the City. For this reason, I am very pleased to know the Water and Sanitation team is on track and 70% of the 2km stretch of Black River has already been cleaned.
“Water quality here has also improved. This operation is also making the river deeper to reduce the local flooding risk, going forward.
“The river banks have also been re-established to prevent erosion and sloped very well for better appearance of the river.
“Thank you to the Catchment, Stormwater and River Management Branch (CSRM) within Water and Sanitation for their tireless efforts to ensure dredging is taking place.
“Thank you also to the City’s Invasive Species Unit and the LitterBoom Projects for their assistance with removing heavy solid waste objects that could not be removed by the LitterBoom team,” Badroodien said.
He said this maintenance meant it was working towards becoming a water sensitive city.
Badroodien has urged residents to not use waterways as a dumping ground for unwanted furniture, car parts and other waste items.
It all goes as planned, dredging will continue until April.