City Power works on connecting remaining six joints on M1 bridge

The City Power team has managed to reroute some of the underground cable network and is working on connecting the remaining six joints after they were able to connect four joints on Tuesday night.

The destruction of the network that runs through tunnels follows the fire that resulted from vandalism last week. This caused power supply interruptions in Parktown, Newtown, Braamfontein, the Johannesburg CBD and surrounding areas.

City Power said testing would begin after the outstanding joints had been connected.

“If the outcomes of the tests are positive, the team will start restoring supply in a gradual and staggered manner to avoid triggering a trip. This is part of the efforts parallel to the work of replacing the burnt and stolen cables,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.

Installation of new cables on the M1 bridge will take time because of extensive damage and technical problems.

“A separate team from the one working on replacing destroyed cables on the highway has been working on interconnector cables between Braamfontein, Fort and Ridge substations, to try to expedite the restoration of power. That team has made significant strides.”

The team has so far managed to bring back Braamfontein, Braampark, Liberty Life, Thuso House, Metro Centre and other buildings through back-feeding efforts.

“The entity’s plan of using interconnectors to restore supply will continue throughout the day. That plan will be attached to the implementation of load-rotation to ensure as many customers as possible can share in the access to power after a prolonged period in the dark.

“A notice to inform customers of the load-rotation plan will be issued. The estimated time of restoration will be communicated. Customers are encouraged to unplug appliances during the outage to avoid a trip when supply is restored.”

TimesLIVE