An initial attempt to remove the water in 10,000-litre tankers was abandoned for reasons of cost and time.
After testing the contaminated water — a combination of firefighting water and groundwater — the City of Cape Town issued a permit for it to be pumped into its sewer system.
Beukes said pumping started on Tuesday and was being conducted between 6pm and 6am and at a rate which did not overwhelm the sewer system.
Public works acting director-general Imtiaz Fazel said the water level had already fallen by 1-metre and pumping should be completed by early next week. A groundwater-removal pump would then have to be reinstated.
Once the basement is accessible, Beukes said the smell of gas would be investigated and remedied, and debris would be removed from the destroyed roof. A 1.8-metre security hoarding is to be built around the National Assembly.
Coega's next job is to produce a detailed assessment of the damage, which will cover the residual strength of the structure of the uninsured buildings as well as proposals and cost estimates for repairs.
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Three months on, parliament full of mosquitoes, 'lethal' gas, melted metal and 30mm cracks
Image: Coega Development Corporation
“Nothing destroys like fire. That beautiful building, it's all gone.”
These were the shocked words of a senior ANC MP on Friday after engineers presented their initial assessment of damage caused by the fire at parliament in Cape Town that broke out on January 2.
Peace Mabe, co-chair of the joint standing committee on financial management of parliament was reacting to a presentation by Christo Beukes, the programme manager.
Beukes works for the Coega Development Corporation, which has been appointed by the public works and infrastructure department to assess the fire damage and develop a renovation plan.
Image: Coega Development Corporation
In his presentation Beukes revealed that:
Image: Coega Development Corporation
Public works minister Patricia de Lille said the Coega team, which started work on February 15, has operated in “difficult and dangerous circumstances”.
Beukes said damaged areas had been allocated green, amber and red designations, depending on how dangerous they were.
Red zones had been taped off in a way which allowed Hawks officers investigating the fire to enter with sniffer dogs on leashes, accompanied by Coega engineers.
With the damage assessment complete, apart from in the flooded basement, Beukes said the next priority was to make the building safe.
Image: Coega Development Corporation
In the Old Assembly, where damage was less severe, this would involve removing debris from the destroyed roof so it did not blow off, constructing a temporary roof covering and stabilising walls.
“Old Assembly unaffected lower floors may be reoccupied after addressing smoke and water damage and restoring the building services,” said Beukes.
In the New Assembly, which was handed over to the public works department on Tuesday after the Hawks completed their investigation, a pumping operation in the basement is making good progress.
Image: Coega Development Corporation
An initial attempt to remove the water in 10,000-litre tankers was abandoned for reasons of cost and time.
After testing the contaminated water — a combination of firefighting water and groundwater — the City of Cape Town issued a permit for it to be pumped into its sewer system.
Beukes said pumping started on Tuesday and was being conducted between 6pm and 6am and at a rate which did not overwhelm the sewer system.
Public works acting director-general Imtiaz Fazel said the water level had already fallen by 1-metre and pumping should be completed by early next week. A groundwater-removal pump would then have to be reinstated.
Once the basement is accessible, Beukes said the smell of gas would be investigated and remedied, and debris would be removed from the destroyed roof. A 1.8-metre security hoarding is to be built around the National Assembly.
Coega's next job is to produce a detailed assessment of the damage, which will cover the residual strength of the structure of the uninsured buildings as well as proposals and cost estimates for repairs.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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