Chapman's Peak Drive Open to Traffic | Western Cape Government

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Chapman's Peak Drive Open to Traffic

28 July 2011

Robin Carlisle, the Minister for Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape, announced that Chapman's Peak was re-opened to traffic as of 13:00 this afternoon.

"We have implemented a temporary safety precaution measure by erecting a 20-metre-long New Jersey Barrier along the section of the road where the rock fell yesterday morning."

"We have placed a number of the around-two-ton concrete blocks on the curb on the sea side of the road, below the Half Tunnel."

"Our intention with this temporary measure was to open the road as soon as possible. The New Jersey Barrier is there to prevent rocks from ricocheting from the drop zone onto the road, which is what happened yesterday."

"Our abseiling team is currently descending the slopes of Chapman's Peak in search of the origin point of the rock."

The extremely wet slopes prevented the abseiling team from launching their mission yesterday.

"The team will hand over the information they gather, which will include photographs, to our geotechnical engineers, who will do a full assessment to determine if there are any potential risks."

"The outcome of the results will then be given to us and the operator, Entilini."

The road was closed to traffic yesterday at 06:30 after a rock fell onto it in the early hours of the morning. The incident constituted a Level 4 rock fall, seen as a high-risk fall that requires an immediate road closure, followed by a detailed assessment to determine the origin point of the rock.

Media Enquiries: 

Steven Otter
Cell: 084 233 3811