The re-opening of the Kaudamu junction in Kinoya to motorists has been deferred to the end of February.

Fiji Roads Authority chief executive officer John Hutchinson said they had completed the site assessments together with the designs and the contractors would be mobilised to the site.

“The road was initially scheduled to re-open on January 28; however, there has been a delay due to the underground water and other utility services that requires careful control of the earthworks and reinstatement,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“The reopening of the road is subjected to weather conditions.

“The motorists are advised to use Vesivesi Road as an alternative route in the interim.”

In an earlier statement, FRA general manager network operations and maintenance Aram Goes said that this was a difficult repair to carry out because of the continuous flow of water through the culvert that was required for upstream property drainage.

“The distance between the culvert and the road is about 2.5 metres and the soil washout has compromised the structural make-up of the road resulting in the closure. A 900 millimetre diameter storm water culvert pipe runs beneath the road and it appears the pipes may have separated at a joint resulting in the washout of soil between the culvert and the road.”

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

ashna.kumar@fijisun.com.fj