HHO Headlines · HHO Headlines Innovating Infrastructure For Life 2009 DECEMBER ISSUE [email protected] Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build

HHO HeadlinesInnovating Infrastructure For Life 2

009

DECEMBER

ISSUE

www.hho.co.za [email protected] and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build their own monuments

with public consent, public approval and often public money.John Prebble (1915 - 2001) : English/Canadian journalist, novelist, documentarian & historian

Eastern CapePrisonsUpgrade

11

12

HabitatForHumanity

HHOCompanyNews

LiberiaAssessmentof TransportInfrastructure

9

IRT - PaintingThe Town Red

DinalediEducational&SAICECompetition

2ZithuleleSchool

1DenholmLow CostHousing

Cengane Dam

3

4

5

A F R I C AH H O

From

Directors & Staff

of

Wishing you peace, hope & all the joys of the seasonfor the holidays& throughout the coming year

Season'sGreetingsSeason's

GreetingsSeason's

GreetingsSeason's

Greetings

KoebergInterchange& Table BayBoulevard

76&

8

Gansbaai&Port St John's

10

byVaughan Palmer

Currently, our Rational Design is being examined by NHBRC and we hope tohave approval shortly. This will allow Denholm to roll out their system both withinSouth Africa and elsewhere on the continent where interest in the system hasbeen great.

A completed house

Ta

ble

of C

onte

nts

HHO Africa's Johannesburg Office is acting as engineering consultants toDenholm Developments who are developing a new type of Low Cost HousingSystem (LCHS). The LCHS consists of pouring a specially designed fibrereinforced concrete into a patented steel shutter system for the external walls ofthe house. A small house can be completed in less than 1 week once productionrates get established on site. Our activities have included:

Preparation of the drawings required for submission to Patent Attorneys inconnection with Denholm Developments' patent application(s) for the LCHS.

Assistance in obtaining NHBRC approval for the LCHS by ensuring that itcomplies with the National Building regulations and requirements. In thisregard, we have :

Carried out a Rational Design of the LCHS according to NHBRC requirements.

Advised Denholm of any amendments to the LCHS required in order to ensurethat the system complies with the National Building Regulations.

Assisted Denholm Developments in submitting the Rational Design to NHBRC.

DENHOLM LOW COST HOUSING

The patentedLCHS shutter

system -ready for fibre

reinforcedconcrete

Yours sincerelyRoger Crook

Back in May 2006, HHOAfrica became ISO 9001 compliant, so as acompany we have had 3 years of having a company wide (alloffices) with a quality management system in place and working.This period gives us a useful perspective to reflect on how our QMSsystem has matured and some of the benefits that have and arebeing realised:

M

Better client service and design deliverables.

Ability to manage more effectively large and complexinfrastructure projects.

Improved risk management.

Made us more competitive.

Financial benefits : getting it right first time (well some of thetime!!)

*

DECEMBER 2009

The SABS recently undertook their recertification audit of thecompany and I am pleased to report that our quality managementsystem (QMS) has been recertified for the next three years to June2012 – subject to the normal regular surveillance audits.

My thanks to all the Directors and Staff for making improved qualityin the company a continuous priority. As we are aware each one ofus has to uphold our quality standards – we are as strong as ourweakest link. Special acknowledgement however, must go to LesThomson (Director with special responsibility for QMS in thecompany), Graham Demmer (QMS Manager) and Nadia Lipsitz(QMS Admin.) for driving our quality management system and itscontinual improvement.

As we look back over 2009, I am pleased to report that it has been agood and productive year for HHO Africa. Many of our high profileprojects have moved from the design to the construction phase, likeGautrain, Koeberg Interchange, IRT Busway and CTIA airsideexpansions. Thank you for making this a successful year for thecompany.

And so what does 2010 hold for HHO Africa? We cannot pretendthe world economic crisis will not affect us – it will. However, thehighlight of next year will obviously be the hosting of the FIFASoccerWorld Cup, which I think will showcase brilliantly the capability of theSA construction industry and the event itself will provide a strongeconomic boost to our economy. That Bafana Bafana will gobeyond the first round? Miracles do happen! Central governmenthave committed and budgeted to spend in excess of R700 billion forthe provision of new and upgraded infrastructure, over the nextthree financial years, which is good news. This spend together withthe anticipated recovery of private sector lead developments shouldenable HHOAfrica to continue “innovating infrastructure for life”.

On behalf of the Directors of HHO Africa may we wish you and yourfamily peace and much joy over the Christmas season andthroughout the coming year. Enjoy your well earned break andcome back ready to meet the new challenges of a new year.

*

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by Simon Mqamelo

ZITHULELE SCHOOLESSAGE FROM THEANAGING DIRECTOR

HHO Africa's Mthatha office were

appointed by the Eastern Cape

Department of Education and the

Vodacom Foundation to undertake the

civil and structural engineering

components of Zithulele School. The

school is located on the outskirts of

M t h a t h a a n d i s d e s i g n e d t o

accommodate over 300 learners.

It is good to report that the contractor

Sizisa Ukhayo's, quality of work was

good and the contract was completed on

time! Our professional fee account has

also been paid!! A double plus. The

school was officially opened by the

National Minister of Education, Ms.

Angie Motshekga on 22 September

2009.

DECEMBER 2006DECEMBER 2009

HHO Africa is investing in aninnovative programme toimprove the quality of Mathsand Science education intownship schools.

The Dinaledi

Educational

Programme

The Dinaledi

Educational

Programme

by Jeremy Clampett

Roger Crook, CEO of HHO Africa, talkswith Mr Geoff Figaji, Chief CurriculumAdviser in the Western Cape Dept ofEducation at the launch of the 2010Dinaledi Educat ional Coachingprogramme

A group of Science & Maths educatorsfrom schools in Crossroads and Delftwho will experience coaching in 2010 aspart of the Dinaledi EducationalCoaching programme pose with MrDonald Grant, MEC for Education at thelaunch of the 2010 programme recently

Dinaledi Educational Coaching is aSection 21 company which workshand-in-hand with the Department ofEducation, with trained and qualifiedcoaches with private sector funding indifficult schools in difficult areas. Theemphasis is on coaching educatorswho teach maths and science.

HHO Africa gave seed funding twoyears ago which was used to recruitand orient the team of coaches. Twoschools – in Elsies River andBonteheuwel – were selected for thepilot programme. The year-longintervention provided weekly coachingfor the first six months, then monthlycoaching for the following six months tothe principal, the deputy principal andthe Maths and Science teachers.

The programme was assessedindependently by the Cape Universityof Technology and reported positivechange in the following areas:personal growth, goal-setting; learnersmore self-directed; improved academicresults; positive mind-set; new ways ofthinking; accountability and overallenhanced performance.

In 2010 four schools in Delft andCrossroads will benefit from theprogramme, forty educators in all whowork in some of the most difficult andchallenged areas of Cape Town.HHO's financial contribution will beused to select and train the coachesand to provide materials used in theprogramme.

At a recent function, hosted by DinalediEducational Coaching at which DonaldGrant, MEC for Education, was theguest speaker, Roger Crook, CEO ofHHO Africa was invited and recognizedas one of the coaching programme'skey financial partners, together with theDG Murray Trust and the AngloChairman's Fund.

Over recent years, coaching hasachieved a proven record of results inthe business arena. Companies whichinvest in coaching usually find a six-foldincrease on their investment in terms ofemployee confidence, businesspurpose and profitability.

The Dinaledi Educational Programmewas launched with the intention ofachieving the same results in theeducational area, particularly in ourmost impoverished and difficultcommunities.

Editor's Note: Geoffrey Figaji is BrianFigaji's brother

SAICE BRIDGE BUILDING COMPETITIONEvery year SAICE run a bridge building competition for schools as a way ofencouraging students to study engineering after school. This year, for WesternCape schools, the competition was held at Cavendish Square, Claremont.

byChretienle Keur

Winning school - BrackenfellApplying load

Herschel Girls HighBridge construction

School

Brackenfell

Glendale

Bellville HTS

Points

145

94

87.5

Load(kg)

BridgeMass (g)

190

120

90 275

330

290

Runners up - GlendaleBridge under construction

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10 schools entered, 2 of them being all girls schools

The winning bridge carried the heaviest load before experiencing "failure"

The score is calculated as a function of aesthetics, mass and final load at failure

The top 3 scores were as follows :

DECEMBER 2009

byAndré Frieslaar

In previous newsletters you have read about the Integrated

Rapid Transit (IRT) System that is being rolled out in Cape

Town, predominantly along the corridor between the Cape

Town CBD and Atlantis. HHO is the lead consultant for this

Atlantis Corridor section of Phase 1Aof the IRT.

At present we have seven civil contracts and one building

contract on the go. The seven civil contracts are busy

constructing the busway lanes and station substructures

between the Civic Centre and Bayside Shopping Centre. The

building contract is following the civil contracts and

constructing the station superstructures. The civil contracts

and the majority of the building contract will be completed by

May 2010, just in time for kick off of the Soccer World Cup.

Based on the City's past experience of the difficulty of

enforcing bus lanes and BMT (bus minibus taxi lanes), it was

decided that self enforcing strategies be incorporated into

future bus lane construction. You need only look at the bus

lanes in London and other major cities of the world were

dedicated bus infrastructure has a different colour i.e. in

London the bus lanes are red. This communicates to the

general public that these lanes are for the exclusive use of the

designated vehicles namely, buses. The colouring of the bus

lanes alone will not carry the day, and to this end electronic

enforcement and physical measures will be used to deter

illegal usage of the lanes by someone in a hurry!

The majority of the bus lanes being constructed as part of the

IRT project are concrete (continuously reinforced concrete to

be precise). The concrete busways have been designed to

provide 30 years of maintenance free IRT operation - just

imagine trying to maintain or reconstruct a bus lane with

buses scheduled every 5 minutes!

To get the concrete red, a small percentage of red oxide has

been added to the concrete. In intersection areas, where it is

desirable to discourage traffic from blocking bus paths

through the intersection, and where concrete cannot be

utilised, a high friction surfacing will be applied to the asphalt

surface to get the desired red colour.

So, what is black and white and read all over - well I know it is a

newspaper, but it could also be theAtlantis corridor IRT route!

Red ConcreteBeing Placed

Finished ConcreteBusway : R27

Woodstock Bus StationUnder Construction

IRT Busway UnderConstruction ThroughPaarden Eiland

DECEMBER 2009

The Upper Culunca Regional Water Supply Scheme is located in the

Eastern Cape, to the east of the town of Qumbu and falls within the OR

Tambo District Municipality.

The scheme comprises an offtake from the Cengane Stream, a water

treatment works with a capacity of 2,5 Ml/day, and a distribution system of

pipelines and reservoirs which distributes potable water to 48 rural

villages. Presently the water supply is “run of river”, no storage is provided

other than short term storage within the service reservoirs. In order to

comply with DWAE's approval requirements, it is necessary to provide a

future storage capacity of 300 000 cubic metres.

Several dam sites on the Cengane Stream were considered before

choosing the current one. This site lies within an extensive dolerite area

and comprises an open valley with gently sloping sides (photo 1). The

preliminary investigations started five years ago. Photo 1View along centerline of proposed dam

Note treatment works in left distance

Photo 2Open jointed dolerite on left flank of valley

by Terence Bergmann,Peter Buyskes & Lydia Holze

C DENGANE AM

The dam will consist of an earthfill embankment, 17 metres in height A

bywash channel spillway will be located on the left flank of the valley. This

spillway will comprise of a 20 metre wide lined section to accommodate

the 1 in 100 year design flood of approximately 120 cumecs plus a 40

metre wide unlined emergency spillway for the regional maximum flood of

just over 400 cumecs. The catchment area for the site is about 18 square

kilometers. The dam classifies as Category 2 in terms of dam safety

legislation.

A reinforced concrete outlet shaft will house a dual level intake system

and the control valves. A 38 metre span steel lattice structure footbridge

will provide access to the outlet shaft.

Although not a particularly large dam, the design has presented some interesting challenges. The size of the design and

maximum floods, relatively low wall height, the slope of the valley sides and the erosive nature of the completely weathered

dolerite make the spillway very expensive relative to the cost of the dam. Several alternative spillway configurations and

various linings have been considered in an attempt to optimize the spillway design.

Another challenge is the open jointed and highly pervious dolerite rock which occurs on the left flank of the wall (photo 2). This

will require careful excavation and cleaning during construction, followed by surface grouting and deep curtain grouting to

ensure a watertight structure.

The design of the dam is being carried out by the Geotechnical Division of the Cape Town Office, with input from Bob Blyth.

Planned completion of the design is early 2010.Application will then be made to DWAE for approval to construct the dam.

Construction is planned to commence in mid 2010. The estimated construction cost of the dam, including VAT and

Contingencies, is R20 000 000.

DECEMBER 2006DECEMBER 2009

Koeberg Interchange, one of

our flagship contracts with a

total investment value of

R 7 5 0 m , i s p r o g r e s s i n g

incredibly well, thanks to the

team effort of contractors

making up the Paarden Eiland

Joint Venture formed by Group

Five and Power Construction

and our resident engineering

team headed by Leon Bester

and assisted by HHO staff

Gavin Pike, Andrew Rowan,

Safiyyah Aboo and James

Hendricks. They have all been

putting in long hours including

night and weekend work to

keep this prestige project on

schedule.

Delivery of Ramp A (3rd level

ramp providing free flow access

from N1 to M5 south bound) is

scheduled to be on time and

open to traffic before June 2010

and Ramp B (3rd level

providing free flow between M5

and N1 Northbound) is ahead

of its scheduled opening date of

October 2011.

The contracting team have

intelligently invested time and

effort in pioneering the use of as

many precast elements as

possible, having developed

sophisticated transporting and

launch techniques for the

enormous u beams being

placed at a rate of up to 5 per

night, as well as a durable

linkage system allowing them

to precast and structurally

attach the majority of the nearly

3 km of balustrading, ensuring

a superior alignment and finish.

The quality of a bridge is often

judged on the look of the

balustrade and if the first few

hundred metres are anything to

judge by it will be superb!

KOEBERG INTERCHANGE & TABLE BAY BOULEVARD TAKE SHAPEby Brian Dreyer

Nighttime launch of the 40m beams, belies the

complexity & meticulous preparation behind this

apparently simple operation.

The 70 m insitu box deck span over the railway

line shown in clear relief in the aerial photograph.

The adjacent contract for the upgrading of is advancing very well too

and will be complete in time for the World Cup in 2010. The contracting consortium of

Martin and East and Exeo Khokela are progressing well on this R150m contract.

Attendance at site meetings by Anton Nell of the PGWC and Dave Buerger of the City of

Cape Town has been invaluable in ensuring that hitches (technical or procedural) are

quickly resolved. They certainly both appreciate that engineering has enough natural

challenges and have helped in minimising the man made ones!

Table Bay Boulevard

DECEMBER 2009

The sheer size of the 70m single span box deck over the 8 rail

tracks can be seen in relation to the men standing inside the box.

Cables have been threaded through the webs of the first section

which is due for casting shortly. Enormous girders support the

soffit of the deck, an engineering feat in its own right.

The typical heavy daily flow of traffic which has been well &

virtually faultlessly deviated through the works.

A new footbridge will be brought into use shortly to replace the

old structure which has substandard height clearance & will also

not cope with the future volume of pedestrians crossing from the

rail station & the IRT stop to Paarden Eiland. The timing of the

commissioning of this bridge & the demolition of the old one has

to fit in with Soccer World Cup draw in Cape Town in early

December & Leon is keeping all parties informed & on their toes

to ensure a smooth transition.

The nearly 40m long precast u beams forming spans 12 & 13

were launched recently. Because of the length of the spans a

second stage prestressing has to be applied once the top deck

has been cast. Careful calculations ensure that the effect of

prestress hogging & elastic deformation due to dead load of the

added deck result in a level deck- seemingly obvious but

requiring careful monitoring to achieve this. Well done to site &

design staff who constantly liaise to make sure this happens.

U Beams

Railspan Reinforcing

Inbound Deviation

Footbridge Ramp & Stairs

DECEMBER 2006DECEMBER 2009

Liberia is still recovering andemerging from nearly 20 years ofdevastating civil war. A combinationof the effects of the war, neglect andlooting has resulted in large swathesof infrastructure being derelict oro t h e r w i s e u n s e r v i c e a b l e ,particularly outside the capital,Monrovia. Nowadays, whi ls toutwardly things are calm the peaceis kept by 15,000 UN troops who arevery much in evidence at all strategiclocations.

Liberia has a paved road network,including city streets in Monrovia, ofless than 500 kilometres. The rest ofthe network, such as it is, is made upof laterite soil roads. Many of thecountry's roads were destroyed or, atbest, neglected during the civil war,and, every year, heavy rains (up to4000 mm of rain falls annually)damage them further. The poorstate of the road network leavesmany routes impassable and makesmany areas inaccessible for longperiods of each year - a situationexacerbated by the almost non-existent maintenance capacity of theroad authorities.

The photograph below shows atypical MAIN road during the rainyseason.

by Vaughan Palmer

This is where the concept ofDevelopment Corridors comes intoplay. A Development Corridor isanchored at either end by a majordevelopment (in this case an iron oremine and a port). Bidders for miningconcessions are obliged to not onlyprovide the infrastructure that theythemselves require but to “overdimension” their infrastructurerequirements. For example, to allowthird party access to their rail linksand ports. In this way, other sectorscan “piggy back” on the miningconcessions and consequently canthemselves develop and bestrengthened.

HHO Africa were appointed by IBIInternational, an American companyworking with USAID to identifypotential Development Corridors inLiberia, to provide an infrastructureexpert to join their multi disciplinaryteam in Monrovia. The team, whichalso included mining, forestry andagriculture experts, was tasked withcarrying out a study to identifypotential Development Corridorsand determine ways to maximizetheir economic impact.

HHO Africa's input focused oni d e n t i f y i n g a n d p r i o r i t i z i n ginfrastructure and transport links thatwill have the maximum impact onst rengthening the proposeddevelopment corridors, promotinginternal, cross border and regionaltrade and facilitating generaleconomic and social upliftment.

One of the recommendations is thatall road rehabilitation measuresshould be based on the provision ofproperly engineered all weatherroads with appropriate horizontaland vertical geometry and withadequate drainage systems. Thusbridges and drainage structuresshould be designed to provide fullaccess and transit throughout theyear. This implies that the paving ofall major roads in the network shouldbe considered a priority.

The initial report will be submitted inDecember 2009 and at the momentthat is where HHO Africa's input willend. It is hoped however, that wecan become involved in subsequentphases of the project, subject tofunding of such phases by USAID.

ASSESSMENT OFTRANSPORT

INFRASTRUCTURE

LIBERIALIBERIA

Prior to the civil war the Mount Coffeehydroelectric plant close to Monroviahad a generating capacity of 64 MWand formed the backbone of theLiberian electricity supply grid. Most ofthe major towns in Liberia also haddiesel generating plants. However,both the Mount Coffee plant and thediesel generators were looted anddestroyed during the civil war. There isconsequently now no public powergeneration in Liberia other than by newdiesel generators located at sub-s ta t ions at severa l locat ionsthroughout Monrovia. These areconnected to the partly refurbishedmedium voltage system for distributionto selected areas throughout the city.

All rail links were also put out of actionduring the civil war as the lines weredug up and sold for scrap by thewarring factions.

The situation is therefore dire and,bearing in mind that the Government ofLiberia's TOTALannual budget is someUS$250 million, the majority of whichgoes to pay the salaries of civilservants, there is little chance of anymajor improvements soon, even withthe assistance of international donorsand agencies.

What is required is an impetus to kicks t a r t a n d s u s t a i n e c o n o m i cdevelopment and the provision ofinfrastructure.

Liberia has a possible trump card toplay in this regard as it is endowed withvast mineral resources, mostly in theform of iron ore, and huge agriculturaland forestry potential. If thesepotentials could be unlocked in asustainable way, then Liberia has achance to emerge from its current sorrystate.

DECEMBER 2009

EASTERN CAPE PRISONS UPGRADE

HHO Africa Mthatha office was

appo in ted by the Na t i ona l

Department of Public Works in 2008

to provide the civil and structural

engineering services for their Repair

and Maintenance Programme

(RAMP) projects at three Eastern

Cape Prisons, these being Lady

Frere, Dordrecht and Cofimvaba, all

three of which are relatively small.

The RAMP process commences

with the preparation of a Status Quo

Report from which the bill of

quantities and tender documents are

prepared. The contracts awarded

are structured to provide a six month

repair phase followed by a further 30

months maintenance phase i.e. total

contract period of 3 years.

by Peter Buyskes

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Building Structural which includes painting, repair of structural defects,

repair of flooring and even the replacement of panes of glass and repair

of broken locker doors;

Building Wet Services which is essentially plumbing and sanitary ware:

Electrical;

Mechanical; and

Civil which includes driveways and parking areas, bulk water supply,

sewerage, drains etc.

The work is grouped into five different activities being:

The preparation of the Status Quo Report involves a

comprehensive survey of the whole prison facility noting all

and every item requiring repair or replacement. (This

includes electrical/mechanical elements but these are

managed by electrical/mechanical engineers.)

The maintenance phase is intended to keep the facility in

the required condition and operating effectively over the

contract period. It is required of the contractor that he

responds to “call outs”, routed via a call-centre, to effect

whatever repairs that may become necessary within a

prescribed time-frame for 3 categories of calls, depending

on the urgency of the repairs. On the “lighter” side of things

one of the contractors has had to send a technician 160km

to change a light bulb.

The work involved is not high-tech but the challenge lies in

the enormous variety of bill items. The contract

documentation is based on the SABS 1200 standards and

the General Conditions of Contract and all items are thus

remeasureable, making for easier management. The

Department has over the years developed a

comprehensive and extensive set of specifications,

covering all aspects of the work, which leads to rather bulky

documents but the requirements are well defined. All of

these factors making the management of these projects a

major administrative exercise rather than an exercise in

engineering.

Our involvement has been very interesting, if only for the

fact that it is different to our usual work, but also to

experience, for as short a time as possible, being “inside”!

DordrechtCorrectional

Services

Snowfall inJuly

CofimvabaCorrectional

Centre

Port St John's is one of the major towns

on the Wi ld Coas t , s i t ua ted

approximately 100 km east of Mthatha.

The existing roads are in a poor

condition having been constructed over

30 years ago with little or no

maintenance. Over the past 15 years

the town's re-development as a tourist

attraction has been hampered by a lack

o f f und ing fo r i n f r as t ruc tu re

development.

Funding for the upgrading of the CBD

streets was allocated from World Cup

2010 development funds.

DECEMBER 2006DECEMBER 2009

Subbase placing & compactionat km 3,8

Brooming surface of basecourse

Slurry seal training Cutting through Soppieshoogteat km 5,3 with slope erosion protection

Brooming of surfacing chips

The labour intensive work has been very much alearning curve for all concerned and initiallyrideability and compaction proved to be thegreatest challenges. Regular training andmentoring are having a positive effect on thesechallenges and quality continues to improvedaily.

The method of construction is some 60% moreexpensive on layer works and 30% moreexpensive on surfacing, when compared with aconventional machine dominated contract.Overall, however, the additional cost is less than15%.

The Gansbaai LIC Project is currently 50% complete and is running approximately 1 month behind schedule due to weatherdelays. Also conditions on site have been unfavourable for labour intensive work due to gale force winds and excessive rain.Despite this, the contract is making good overall progress.

GANSBAAI L BOUR IN ENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONGANSBAAI L BOUR IN ENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONby Brian Dreyer

Technical considerations during the

design were:

Existing grade line could not be

altered

Low lying level of existing streets

generally below 3m above MSL

Tidal influence - constant wetting

and drying cycle of insitu materials

Lack of suitable materials in close

proximity to the town centre

Heavy rainfall area giving rise to

stormwater drainage problems

Location of existing services within

the road reserve

Construction is expected to commence

in January 2010.

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PORT ST JOHN'S

ROAD

UPGRADINGby Rey Farrugia & Randall Dirks

A decision was made to use concrete

brick pavers in the CBD as these are

easier to maintain and increase the

labour component during construction.

80mm pavers are to be used for the

streets with 60mm pavers for the

sidewalks. The road cross section is

7m wide with 1.5m sidewalks and

parallel parking on both sides of the

road in the business areas.

DECEMBER 2009

While some people were 'getting onwith it' (front), others planned andheld little management meetings(top right-hand corner)… it is up tothe individual to interpret the actionsof the people in-between.

The roof experts, Chretien &Randall, brought the project aheadof schedule.

Team from 17 September who continued building theporch and put up the roof.

In September this year,HHO Africa was againinvolved in the Desmond TutuBuilding on Faith (DTBOF)Habitat for Humanity Build.

A large financial contributionwas made by HHO Africa andmany of the staff memberswere involved to build a housefor No-Amen ThembekaManka in Mfuleni.

Over two days, teams of 9 and11 volunteers respectively,gave themselves to hardlabour, had a lot of fun andgained new experiences.

Unfortunately not everybodycan be mentioned hereindividually but HHO thanksall the volunteers for makingthe days as special, enjoyableand unique as they were.

Giving back to society seeminglyentails more than carrying bricks orfitting roofs. Lihan was entertainingkids by carting them up and downthe street.

The volunteers were rewarded withtea and bread during tea-break andwere served a hot meal atlunchtime.

Team from 16 September who built inside walls, startedbuilding the porch, painted and plastered.

HABITAT FORHUMANITY

by Lydia Holze

DECEMBER 2009Offices:

Cape Town, Johannesburg, East London, Mthatha, Queenstown & Nelspruit

www.hho.co.za [email protected]

The race went very well and was supported by the local public encouraging the cyclists all the wayto the top of long climbs. Fortunately after every hard climb there is a descent and this is whereyou have to hold on to your handle bars and be brave reaching speeds of more than 70km/h, notthe time to show that you are capable of riding with no hands!

to

KA

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OO CO

AS

T

Ever wondered what the HHO Africa employees dofor fun over a weekend ………?

On 20 September 2009 (a freezing Karoo morning – 8 C)I decided to tackle the Karoo 2 Coast mountain bike cycle race.It's a 100km race on dirt roads from Uniondale to Knysna over acouple of mountain passes with some unbelievable views.

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ANDRIESMENTOOR

PROMOTIONS,

ACHIEVEMENTS

& CONGRATULATIONS

PROMOTIONS,

ACHIEVEMENTS

& CONGRATULATIONSGraduated

Long Service Awards

Students on SAICE Patrons

Engineering Bursary Scheme

HHO Bursary Students

Rirhandzu Voloyi

B. Tech - March 2009

Malcolm Thomson - 35 Years

Don Hugo - 20 Years

Chantelle Pieters - NDip, CPUT

Renisha Nikeyi - B.Sc, Univ. of Kwa-Zulu Natal

Siphokazi Booi - NDip, Walter Sisulu Univ

Lawrence Mokaeane - NDip, CPUT

As we drove into the SANRAL Imbizo venue in Paarl early on Friday 13th November, wethought “our luck has really run out” as the first drops of rain fell. This year's Imbizo themewas the "Recession & How to Beat it"!

HHO Africa was to pull off some major upsets and demonstrate that we live by ourcompany's mantra and war cry:

We practiced; got it right and belted it out like thevery best. Our ladies put their best foot forward with an exceptional 3 plates of food from thelimited selection of groceries for the cooking competition. Not forgetting the great braai weheld.

Sporting wise, we showed that a diverse group is a strong group, beating all the 'strong'contenders to reach the semi – finals of the tug of war. Our soccer was 'on point' as wereached the final and were runners up for the penalty shoot-out. The obstacle course wasjust that to the now tired out 12 persons (3 ladies / 9 men) squad…an obstacle. We didhowever participate!

The day was long, it was tiring but most of all it was enjoyable. We really did put our bestfoot/feet forward and hope that we made the rest of the company proud…. to beHHOAFRICA…. right back at ya!

"we're not afraid of the recession because with our work:."we plan it, do it, prove it & improve it

by Lihan van der Merwe

All went well and I had a great race. The highlight was sharing moments on the ride with fellow riders after the race whileenjoying a well deserved cold beer. Hope to see some of you at next year's event.

By Makotsene MakgalemeleSANRAL IMBIZO 2009

The mighty war cry stance

Ladies of H2O are cookers...that are good lookers

Roger Crook & John Gibberd bidding Andries Mentoor avery happy & fulfilling retirement at the recent EasternCape end of year function.

Andries was an empowerment shareholder of HHO Africa& retired after 43 years with the company. Not surprisingly,Andries plans to keep busy in his retirement running hisbrickfield business in his home town of Bedford.