PROFILE OF FANA MARUTLA - SAICE

Sivili Enjiniereng

January/February 2020 Vol 28 No 1

PROFILE OF FANA MARUTLA:SAICE 2020 PRESIDENT, AN EXPERIENCED RAILWAY ENGINEER

SAICE GOLD MEDALLIST HONORARY FELLOW PRESIDENT’S AWARD NEW SAICE FELLOWS

CIVILTRONICS:FUSING CIVIL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING IN THE 4IR ERA

The most prestigious civil engineering projects will be unveiled on 23 October 2020 at the SAICE National Awards ceremony set to take place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. The event, which gathers the elite of the industry, aims to celebrate and award the most outstanding

innovations and contributions made by civil engineering practitioners in 2019/2020.

SAICE looks forward to receiving project entries from across the country to compete in the following categories:International ProjectsTechnical ExcellenceCommunity-BasedEngineer of the Year

Young Engineer of the YearTechnician of the Year

Young Technician of the YearTechnologist of the Year

Young Technologist of the Year

SUBMISSION PROCEDUREBranches are required to send out their own calls for submissions and host their own independent regional

awards events for all categories. The top three finalists/winners from the branch regional awards for each of the award categories should be forwarded to National Office, to then be entered into the

National Awards for 2020.

Please get hold of your closest branch and submit your entry.

For more information contact Nadeena Le’Tang – [email protected] | +27 71 008 2052

I am an engineering practitioner and in my profession I take deep pride. To it I owe solemn obligation.

Since the origins of humanity, human progress has been spurred by engineering genius.

The engineering profession has made nature’s vast resources of material and energy usable for humanity’s benefit.

Engineering practitioners have vitalised, and turned to practical use,

the principles of science and the means of technology. Were it not for this heritage of accumulated experience,

my efforts would be feeble.

I pledge to practise integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect,

and to uphold devotion to the standards and the dignity of my profession,

conscious always that my skill carries with it the obligation to serve humanity by making

the most sustainable use of Earth’s precious resources.

I shall participate in none but honest enterprises. When needed,

my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation. In the performance of duty and in fidelity to my profession,

I shall give the utmost.

(Introduced to SAICE members by our 2011 president, Seetella Makhetha)

Credo of the African Engineer

Civil Engineering January/February 2020 1

The most prestigious civil engineering projects will be unveiled on 23 October 2020 at the SAICE National Awards ceremony set to take place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. The event, which gathers the elite of the industry, aims to celebrate and award the most outstanding

innovations and contributions made by civil engineering practitioners in 2019/2020.

SAICE looks forward to receiving project entries from across the country to compete in the following categories:International ProjectsTechnical ExcellenceCommunity-BasedEngineer of the Year

Young Engineer of the YearTechnician of the Year

Young Technician of the YearTechnologist of the Year

Young Technologist of the Year

SUBMISSION PROCEDUREBranches are required to send out their own calls for submissions and host their own independent regional

awards events for all categories. The top three finalists/winners from the branch regional awards for each of the award categories should be forwarded to National Office, to then be entered into the

National Awards for 2020.

Please get hold of your closest branch and submit your entry.

For more information contact Nadeena Le’Tang – [email protected] | +27 71 008 2052

South African Institution of Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering January/February 2020

Sivili Enjiniereng


ON THE COVERFana Marutla, SAICE’s 117th president, became a civil engineer because he wanted a career that was solution-oriented and would address infrastructure challenges, particularly in rural communities similar to the one where he hails from (Thabampshe Village in Limpopo). Turn to pages 4 and 10 respectively for his profile and presidential address.

CREDOCredo of the African Engineer � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 1

PROFILE OF SAICE 2020 PRESIDENTFana Marutla – contributing to the development and transformation of our country � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4The SAICE 2020 Presidential Team � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSThe South Africa we all want: Getting education, youth entrepreneurship and procurement right through ethical leadership� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10

INTERNATIONAL SAICE attends world engineering meetings in Australia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16An interview with Telmo Andres Sanchez � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19

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Sivili Enjiniereng


PROFILE OF FANA MARUTLA:SAICE 2020 PRESIDENT, AN EXPERIENCED RAILWAY ENGINEER

SAICE GOLD MEDALLIST HONORARY FELLOW PRESIDENT’S AWARD NEW SAICE FELLOWS

CIVILTRONICS:FUSING CIVIL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING IN THE 4IR ERA

Sivili Enjiniereng = Sepedi

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editOrVerelene de [email protected] Tel +27 11 805 5947/8 | Cell +27 83 378 3996

editOriAl PAnelMarco van Dijk (chairman), Irvin Luker (vice‑chairman), Fana Marutla (president), Steven Kaplan (acting CEO), Andile Gqaji, Jeffrey Mahachi, Avi Menon, Prisca Mhlongo, Jones Moloisane, Beate Scharfetter, Verelene de Koker (editor), Sharon Mugeri (editor’s assistant), Barbara Spence (advertising)

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The South African Institution of Civil Engineering accepts no responsibility for any statements made or opinions expressed in this publication, and all information is provided without prejudice. Consequently nobody connected with the publication of the magazine, in particular the proprietors, the publishers and the editors, will be liable for any loss or damage sustained by any reader as a result of his or her action upon any statement or opinion published in this magazine.

ISSN 1021‑2000

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TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURECiviltronics: Fusing Civil and elecTronics Engineering in the 4IR Era � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 24Impact of blackout on water supply � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29

IN BRIEFUpgraded Main Road 118 in Namibia wins coveted award � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 34DoseTech customises complete fire protection system for Cape Town’s Foreshore � � � � � � � � � � 35An innovative walling solution to refurbishment needs � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 36

DISPUTE BOARDSDispute Boards – Ethics in Today’s World of DRBs (article 11)� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 38

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTRACTA concurrent affair – concurrent delays in GCC 2015� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 41

SAICE AND PROFESSIONAL NEWSSAICE Gold Medal, Honorary Fellowship and President’s Award� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 44New SAICE Fellows � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 47Keeping SAICE’s smaller Branches in the fold � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 52SAICE Training Calendar 2020 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 53

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4 January/February 2020 Civil Engineering

Fana Marutla – contributing to the development and transformation of our country

PR O FI L E O F SA I CE 2020 PR E SI D EN T

SAICE inaugurated its 117th president, Fana Marutla, on 29 November last year at La Toscana in Montecasino, Johannesburg� Fana became a civil engineer because he wanted a career that was solution-oriented towards the needs of communities, particularly the rural ones where he hails from�

EARLY DAYS AND UPBRINGINGFana was born and bred in Thabampshe Village, Ga-Masemola, in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo. The Pedi name Thabampshe literally means “ostrich mountain”. Legend has it that many ostriches lived in the valley of this moun-tain centuries ago – hence the name. Being passionate about rural development, Fana was active in student politics and, together with other learners from schools in the Sekhukhune area, marched several times to the then Lebowa Government (led by the homeland leader Nelson Ramodike), registering their displeasure at the poor state of education and facilities at their rural schools. The student move-ment was guided by the district leadership

of the now Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, who was practising as a medical doctor then.

Being the brightest maths and science student from his poor rural high school, Fana received a special Education, Science and Technology Award (sponsored by ISCOR, Pretoria) in 1989 while he was in Standard 8 (Grade 10) under the guidance of his science teacher, Mrs Mashemane Mapheto. Her contribution to Fana’s career is very close to his heart (she is now the principal of his former primary school).

Like the majority of South African black children of his generation, Fana grew up in a village that did not have electricity, running water, tarred roads, libraries or science laboratories. Paraffin and candle light was the order of the day. Though he excelled in school and was the top student in maths and science, career guidance was lacking at his high school, so he had to rely on career guidance mate-rial that his late cousin, Romeo Sefoka who was working in Johannesburg at the time, brought back with him from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) when he visited home. Mrs Mapheto, recognising Fana’s natural proficiency in science subjects, advised him to pursue a career in the sciences. Presented with various options in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and health sciences fields, Fana chose

engineering. “I chose engineering, as I wanted a career that was more solution-oriented and that would tackle infrastructure challenges and needs in communities.”

TIME AT THE UNIVERSITYAfter completing matric in 1991, he was accepted to study civil engineering at Wits. But there was a snag – no funding, as his parents could not afford to pay for his university fees. Due to the lack of funds he had to delay going to university and spent his first after-school year (1992) in Gauteng, living in Mamelodi and doing casual jobs while awaiting news regarding his numerous bursary applications. “It was my first time living in a big city. My dad had lived in Pretoria for a long while, working as a gardener and caretaker of flats, returning home monthly, while my mother worked at Habakuk Furniture Shop in Lebowakgomo, Limpopo.”

The following year Fana was awarded a bursary by Transnet Freight Rail (then Spoornet), and he commenced his studies in civil engineering at Wits, graduating with a BSc Civil Engineering degree in 1997. He topped that up with an MSc Civil Engineering degree from Wits in 2002, and a Master of Business Leadership (MBL) from UNISA in 2010, both also with a Transnet bursary. He is currently studying towards a PhD in Rail Transportation at the University of Pretoria, and says that the

Fana Marutla, SAICE President 2020

support he had received from Transnet will be “eternally appreciated”.

Many university students who were involved in student politics took longer to complete their degrees. Fana, however, had to focus on finishing his studies to avoid dropping out or being constrained by lack of funding again – his bursary conditions determined that failure was not an option, hence he had limited time to support student politics at the time.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH CIVIL ENGINEERINGFana in fact initially registered to study electrical engineering, but changed his mind after researching more on civil engineering. “In a developing country like ours, the role of civil engineering is enormous,” he says. “The planning, design and delivery of economic infrastructure is hugely satisfying.” With 22 years of experience under his belt, he is today serving as the Technical Executive/Head of Business Development in the Transportation Department at GIBB. This role entails developing strategic relationships with clients, understanding their priority needs and responding to these needs with appropriate world-class solutions.

A specialist in railway engineering, Fana speaks of the passion he developed for the railways while working at Transnet Freight Rail (then Spoornet)

after graduating from Wits. “Working at Transnet I got involved in investigating, developing, designing, planning and implementing railway solutions to railway problems at various levels of engineering practice – as a Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Senior Manager (Infrastructure Maintenance) and Principal Engineer (Perway).”

Current projectsHe is currently leading a team of consult-ants on the Gautrain network expansion project covering the new sections starting from Marlboro through to Sandton,

Randburg, Cosmo City and Little Falls. The project is still at a route-determina-tion stage, which is guided by the Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act (GTIA).

High-speed trainsIn support of President Ramaphosa’s vision of an integrated transport system, Fana is passionate about high-speed trains (250–350 km/h travelling speed) connecting major cities and making transportation of people between cities far more efficient, as he had experienced first-hand while visiting countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Fana the Wits student in the early nineties (left), and today as professional engineer in front of the

memory‑filled Hillman Building on the Wits campus


Fana is passionate about high‑speed trains and their potential; he took this photo while visiting Japan


“Although this may be regarded by many as a pipe dream, developed and developing countries all started their economic infrastructure roll-out with dreams,” he says.

Professional registrationIt took Fana six years to register as a professional engineer. He considers registering an important milestone in his career. “Getting through the registra-tion process is like graduating with another degree. Professional registration provides the client or employer with confidence that competent engineers are in charge of providing sound and excellent solutions to their business and infrastructure needs.”

ON LEADERS AND LEADERSHIPAs someone who occupies various leadership positions – having extensive strategic, leadership and management skills – Fana believes that leadership is best displayed when one practises what one preaches. “A typical example,” he says, “is displayed by the biblical Daniel (6:4) where it is recorded that ‘he was found with no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt or negligent’ in his conduct of govern-ment affairs. Leadership is not about self-enrichment; it’s about serving others. I believe firmly in ethical leadership.”

For someone who lists the world-celebrated former president and freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela, as someone who he grew up looking up to, his take on lead-ership comes as no surprise. A highlight of his life was when he saw Mr Mandela in the flesh in 1990 for the first time while still in Grade 11 (Standard 9 then) and heard him speak when he made a stopover at the Turfloop Campus of the University of Limpopo while on his nationwide tour soon after his release. Fana and other young people from his village and the Sekhukhune area boarded a bus in the wee hours of the morning to go and listen to their then freed freedom fighter at the university.

A PASSION FOR MENTORING AND TEACHINGFana says, “Mentoring is the most fulfilling thing I get to do.” And indeed, SAICE’s new president spends a lot of his time mentoring young engineers and technicians towards professional registration. In addition he spends time

Fana at his old school, the Thabampshe Primary School, where he contributes to career guidance

Fana and his wife Irene on vacation in America


serving as a committee member of the Thabampshe Development Forum, a rural community initiative based in his home village which seeks to identify op-portunities for development (e.g. health, roads, water and sanitation, safety and security, sport and recreation, education and economic activities, as well as social services). Since 2010 Fana has also been lecturing the courses Introduction to Multi-Disciplinary Concepts in Railway Engineering: Track Loading (forces and distribution), Track Superstructure (stresses, strains and geometry) and Track Terminology (components and functions)

at the University of Pretoria’s Chair in Railway Engineering.

A FAMILY MAN HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTUREThe father of four girls, Fana is happily married to his wife, Irene, who works for the SABC as General Manager (Strategic Sourcing and now acting as the Head of Procurement), and they have three daugh-ters – Mogau, Shalom and Lesedi, aged 18, 15 and 8 respectively. His fourth daughter, Mahlatse (24), from a previous relationship, is currently finishing her studies in Human Resources, while Mogau is in matric this

year. “I’m a Christian, committed to raising my kids in a godly way. I value relationships and Ubuntu – Motho ke Motho ka Batho (a person is a person because of other people).”

He also regards himself as a ‘positivist’ who is not easily distracted. Having par-tially abandoned life as an activist for life as a civil engineer instead, he sees himself and his fellow engineering professionals contributing towards steering the country in the direction it should be headed. “I have had the privilege of travelling to many countries around the world – United States of America, Israel, England, Northern Ireland, Canada, France, Spain, Austria,

Fana’s wife with their daughters Shalom, left, Mogau, right, and Lesedi in front

Fana with his two eldest daughters – Mahlatse (left) and Mogau

Fana with his only sibling – his younger sister Winnie Fana’s beloved mom Pheladi


Luxembourg, Qatar, China, Japan, Rwanda and Burundi, and most of the SADC countries – and I am convinced that our country, South Africa, has an amazing un-tapped potential, with a labour endowment that is trained, relatively inexpensive and well positioned to compete globally. This country has all the right natural resources to meet all our needs and become a truly great country for all who live in it. But we have to start managing our resources well; we are misusing them. We also have to allow engineers to do engineering work, the work they are trained for. There is

currently too much interference from non-engineering and non-technical people in engineering projects, and this affects the quality of work and the finished product. The example of a 3 km dirt road costing R84 million comes to mind (City Press, June 2016).” Fana adds that compliance to regulations and sound corporate gover-nance practices are the starting points to address these problems.

“When I was growing up, my entire life revolved around community. As kids we’d gather around to eat from the same basin, and we spent our days playing together,

only returning home when we were tired. We’ve become too individualistic now. I grew up in a time when community and caring about others were important. The value of community is something that is slowly being eroded.”

When asked what he would like to be remembered for, Fana said, “I would prefer to be remembered by how many lives I have changed, and not by how many assets I owned. I want to be remembered as someone who contributed to the transformation and the development of South Africa.”

SAICE’s 117th president being ‘put in chains’

Fana and Irene Marutla – SAICE’s 2020 presidential couple

Taking wine with the president – a longstanding tradition where SAICE past‑presidents welcome the incoming president



THE SAICE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL TEAMfana Marutla

Presidenthead of business development:

transportationgibb engineering and Architecture

[email protected]

Andrew Clothiervice-Presidentexecutive AssociateJg Afrika (Pty) [email protected]

Josh Padayacheevice-President

director: bridges and buildingsnaidu Consulting

[email protected]

Prof Marianne vanderschurenvice-President

Civil engineering departmentuniversity of Cape town

[email protected]

vishal Krishandutt President-electAssociate and KZn Office Managernyeleti Consulting (Pty) [email protected]

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A FEW WORDS OF APPRECIATIONIt is with great pleasure that I accept to serve as the 117th president of this prestigious institution in 2020. My journey with SAICE began in 1998, a few months after graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand in December 1997. Being the eighth black president since 1994 and the second (in recent years) to come from SAICE’s Railway and Harbour Engineering Division (after Johan de Koker in 2008), I commit myself to upholding the values and the Code of Conduct of our institution during my tenure.

Firstly I would like to thank my em-ployer, GIBB Engineering and Architecture, for not only sponsoring the inauguration event, but for also allowing me to take some time off during 2020 to serve SAICE.

I also need to thank many friends and relatives for their encouragement, but par-ticularly my wife and daughters for being the most wonderful support structure any man could need, as well as my sister, and my mother and late father (who would have been the happiest father had he lived to see this day). The support from SAICE staff, and from the Pretoria, Johannesburg and Witwatersrand universities, as well as from CESA (Consulting Engineers South Africa) is highly appreciated. Most impor-tantly, I thank our creator, Almighty God, for giving me the opportunity to serve as SAICE’s president this year.

INTRODUCTIONOn 3 September 2017 the International Heavy Haul Association (IHHA), in collab-oration with the South African Heavy Haul Association (SAHHA), held a conference at

the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The conference was attended by many of the heavy haul railway nations of the world – among others South Africa, Japan, China, Canada, United States, India, Russia and Norway. During the opening ceremony the keynote speaker, Dr Cheryl Martin (Executive Director of the World Economic Forum), stated that one of the challenges the world faces today is that “… we have 21st century technologies being managed with 20th century thinking by 19th century institutions”. Her words supported what Sir Isaac Newton once said, namely that “… what we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean”. As we embark upon reshaping our country it is imperative that we modernise our institutions to keep

PR E SI D EN T IA L A D D R E SS

The South Africa we all want: Getting education, youth entrepreneurship and procurement right through ethical leadership

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ip

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Figure 1 Advocacy work on education, youth entrepreneurship, procurement and ethical leadership

Fana Marutla, SAICE President 2020, [email protected]


up with the pace of technological changes the world is facing today.

Our country is going through a difficult phase of reconfiguring itself under the new leadership of President Ramaphosa. Some of the key challenges and weaknesses of the South African economy currently include declining incomes, declining investments, rising un-employment and high levels of inequality. The social unrest observed in the recent past, strikes, a high unemployment rate of 29.1% (Stats SA, Q3-2019), high levels of inequality (Gini-coefficient: 0.63, 2015) and extreme poverty levels call on all of us to raise our hands and say, “Please send me: Roma Nna – Thuma Mina”, as the president stated in his 2018 State of the Nation Address. By way of comparison, Sweden, Germany, Britain and the USA have Gini-coefficients of between 0.25 and 0.4. In South Africa as stated, the figure stands at a very high rate of 0.63, indicating that nowhere else in the world are so many people privileged and rela-tively comfortable while others live close to or below the poverty line. It cannot be business as usual.

In 1980, when Zimbabwe became independent, I started schooling (Sub A then, Grade 1 now) under a marula tree at Thabampshe Village, Ga-Masemola in Limpopo. My first two years of schooling (Sub A and B) were done under two marula trees. Unlike a former SAICE President, Seetella Makhetha (2011) whose tree under which he attended schooling was cut, my two umbrella-shaped marula trees are still there, and are at least now providing shade for the learners and no longer serving as classrooms. That’s where we come from. My view of the world was shaped during the formative years I spent at this rural village in Limpopo with no electricity, no running water and no science laboratories, playing football on dusty streets and soccer grounds. We were taught humility and how to respect others, especially the elders. This upbringing, and my professional experi-ence in both the public and private sectors led me to select the themes education, youth entrepreneurship, procurement and ethical leadership for my presidential address. My plans for 2020 will centre on advocacy work in these four focus areas, unpacked below in more detail, in addi-tion to other Growing Forward Together (SAICE’s new strategy) objectives.

QUALITY EDUCATIONTwo of the last three SAICE presidents, Sundran Naicker and Brian Downie, focused their presidential tenures on educa-tion – an indication of the importance of this foundational pillar to the development of our country. Focus on this important societal pillar will continue into my presi-dential tenure. The quality of education has been seen by many researchers to be dete-riorating, particularly since the introduction of the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) curriculum in 2005, the year in which it was meant to be fully operational and further intended to signal a clean break from apart-heid education. The OBE system was seen by others to be more suitable for middle-class schools where both parents and teachers are better equipped to assist and support the learners. It required learners to read extensively and become more aware of social, economic, moral and ethical issues in their nation and the world at large. OBE was seen to work well in countries like the United Kingdom where the learner-teacher ratio was small. However, 15 years into the new system some progress has been made, as reflected by the annual matric results shown in Figure 2.

As engineers we should actively encourage learners to develop a passion for mathematics, science and technology, as these are at the core of knowledge-driven economies. In her book Laying Ghosts to Rest, Dr Mamphele Ramphele reminds us that in 2001, 27% of African learners were taught mathematics by teachers with no mathematics qualifications, and 38% were taught science by teachers with no science qualifications. Many high schools

at the time did not offer maths and science simply because they lacked even unquali-fied or under-qualified maths and science teachers. Fast-forward to 2019, anecdotal evidence suggests that the 2001 gap has been reduced by expat teachers from other African countries, but just marginally. Therefore the overall gap still exists. This obviously stresses the importance of at-tracting, recruiting and selecting learners with the potential to excel in maths and science to become future teachers. My 8-year old daughter, Lesedi, wants to be a teacher. That’s the way to go.

Dr Ramphele further alluded to the fact that, since 1994, resistance by unionised teachers to skills audits to assess the match between teaching assignments and skills, has not helped the situation. An audit would have laid a better foundation for focused training to fill individuals’ skills gaps, but resistance has perpetuated the mismatch between skills and teaching as-signments, which undermines the future of learners who go through the system.

Challenges in education

Supply of maths and science teachersOne of the causal factors which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency is the lack of maths and science teachers in rural schools. It is widely acknowledged that the mathematics ability of primary school teachers is a problem experienced in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. However, this is particularly the case in South Africa, as indicated above. Teachers who have specialised in mathematics are appointed

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Figure 2 Matric results and maths passes (>30% and 50%) (Source: DBE)


in high schools, while primary school teachers are trained as generalists. This is part of the challenge, as it is in primary schools where the learning foundations should be established.

The second challenge is the market-ability and mobility of mathematics and science teachers. It is easier for these teachers to leave poorer schools with dissatisfying working conditions, and relocate to better schools in other parts of the country or transfer to other sectors of the economy with better working condi-tions. Primary schools thus struggle to provide the crucial foundations for maths, while secondary schools on the other hand struggle to retain their specialist maths and science teachers.

Staff shortage at higher educationThe challenges of education are not only limited to basic education. During a recent (September 2019) Advisory Board meeting of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria, the head of the department confirmed that the university, and in particular his department, is in a transformational drive. They are, however, battling to find suit-able candidates to fill their staffing gap of black academics in the department – a scenario likely to be a mirror-image of other engineering and science faculties at this university. A similar picture was shared at the University of Johannesburg, at the annual stakeholder address delivered by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tshilidzi Marwala, in August 2019. All of this supports the clarion call to black people in our country to consider a career in academia in order to fill these gaps in the medium to long term.

Another challenge faced by universities is high levels of university drop-outs. The biggest drivers of university drop-outs are the socio-economic and material condi-tions that some students face on a daily basis. Lack of accommodation (resulting in room-sharing or ‘squatting’), and lack of food and financial means lead to some students opting out of the academic space and seeking job opportunities in the public and private sectors without qualifications, and as a result face the risk of an uncertain future. The Stats SA Q3 data shows that the unemployment rate is highest (34.4%) for individuals with less than a matric qualification, compared to graduates with the lowest unemployment rate of 8.2%.

Lack of job opportunitiesOn the other hand it is also crucial to have enough job opportunities for our gradu-ates. It is discouraging to hear graduate engineers complaining of unemployment or of retrenchment. In a recent radio interview on Power FM (17 September 2019), a graduate electrical engineer shared his frustration about being unemployed. He graduated in 2016 as an Eskom bursary student and was immediately employed by Eskom. But his employment did not last long – within a year Eskom offered him and other graduates to be released from their bursary contractual obligations, citing insufficient work opportunities and Eskom’s strategy to cut costs. Since then he has secured short assignments from var-ious companies, but was seen by others as having insufficient experience for certain roles, while other potential employers saw him as being overqualified for the positions they have. What needs to be learnt from this is that Eskom, Transnet, PRASA and many other SOEs should ensure that they have sufficient projects (capital and main-tenance) which should be unleashed to the industry to support the country’s initiatives of reducing unemployment. However, because of organisational politics, poor leadership and lack of political will we find ourselves where we are today, where young aspirant and hungry-for-success engineers and other professionals are looking for work, after so many years of sweat to obtain their degrees. Massive pullback in infrastructure spending by government and SOEs is mainly to blame, while not

underestimating the fiscal constraints others find themselves in.

Lack of representation of women in STEM fieldsAnother challenge we have in our country, and worldwide, is the low level of women representation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. My Grade 12 daughter, Mogau, who is aspiring to become an architect, is aver-aging 90% in her Engineering & Graphics Design (EGD) subject. Both maths and EGD are her best subjects. Being a father of girls I encourage them to consider careers in these fields.

According to ECSA’s (Engineering Council of South Africa) 2015 Annual Report there were approximately 46 000 registered persons on their database, of which about 16 500 and 5 200 were professional engineers and technologists respectively. The current reports show that registered persons have reduced to 34 000, of which about 14 800 are registered professional engineers. The reduction from 2015 to 2019 can be attributed to a variety of factors, but a concerning factor is that less than 10% are women (Internal Enquirer, Sept/Oct 2019). The October 2019 SAICE database records about 16 000 members, of which 18% are women.

Not meeting NDP targetsAccording to the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the government envis-aged that by 2019 there should have been 270 000 Bachelor study NSC (National

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Senior Certificate) passes per year, with this number rising to 435 000 by 2030. The NDP (National Development Plan) envis-ages that by 2030 there should be 425 000 university graduates produced annually, essentially candidates obtaining Bachelor degrees. While the 4.3% annual increase in the number of Bachelor-level NSCs seen in Figure 3 helps to take the country closer to these targets, the increase needs to roughly double between 2019 and 2030 if the 2030 targets are to be reached.

According to the DBE, given the spe-cial importance of building skills needed for mathematically oriented and scientific

professions, the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) sets targets for the number of learners achieving a 50% mark in mathematics and physical science. The aim was to track performance in the years following 2008 (the year when the National Senior Certificate replaced the Senior Certificate).

The pillars of an economy that work, include, among others, quality education, availability of funds for projects, investments in economic infrastructure, production of exportable goods (to bring home the dollars) and good health of the working class. As a reminder, in his

policy discussion document released in August 2019, the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, reiterated that network industries such as energy (read Eskom, etc), transport (read Transnet, PRASA, etc) and telecommunications (read Telkom, SABC, etc) provide essential services that underpin the growth, productivity and competitive-ness of the economy. These network industries are facing challenges of poor infrastructure maintenance and delayed capital investment to support the devel-opmental nature of our economy. Many professionals in the STEM environment have already raised their hands and are simply waiting for government to provide policy certainty to drive this developmental agenda. Our country has a huge potential which is currently seriously underutilised.

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIPThe economy of South Africa performed relatively well (annual growth > 3%) during the period 2000–2008. With the economy having grown at a rate of 5.6% in 2006 it is understandable that the NDP aspires for annual economic growth levels of 5.4%. The author’s imaginary “what if path” in Figure 5 depicts the trajectory the economy could possibly have followed since then, which would have assisted the country in making a dent in the high unemployment levels, especially for young people.

Figure 6 bears testament to the current economic challenges faced by the con-struction and consulting engineering in-dustries, particularly over the last three to four years. Revenues have declined, leading to instabilities in these two infrastructure delivery industries. Solutions and interven-tions are required by relevant sectors of the economy to turn this tide. The consulting engineering industry showed some positive signs of improvement in 2019, as shown in Figure 6, but the situation is still grave.

It is in the same spirit that we also condemn the practice of construction mafias. Our law enforcement agencies should assist the industry by rooting out this emerging phenomenon. To promote the quality of workmanship on the infra-structure delivered the associated projects should be built by qualified professionals who are trained in their respective fields.

The African continent’s sustainable development is enshrined within its Agenda 2063 plan, which is a strategic framework promoting socio-economic transformation for the African continent

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up to the year 2063. Agenda 2063 envi-sions: “… a prosperous continent where the citizens have a high standard of living, are well educated with a skilled labour force, transformed economies, productive agriculture and healthy ecosystems, with a well-preserved environment and a conti-nent resilient to climate change” (African Union Commission, 2015).

The NDP on the other hand, recog-nised that South Africa needed to move away from the unsustainable use of resources. Being a key national policy, the NDP had a targeted time frame similar to that of the United Nations’ SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), which is 2030 (this 2030 time frame of the NDP is reflected within other influential policy time frames). In the plan the country would be aspiring to the following devel-opmental plans for the period up to 2030:

Q The number of jobs in South Africa to increase from 13 million in 2011 to 24 million in 2030 (i.e. creation of an additional 11 million jobs).

Q Reduction of the unemployment rate from 25% in 2011 to just 6% in 2030.

Q These achievements were to be based on sustained high levels of economic growth, i.e. 5.4% a year under the base case scenario and 3.3% under the worst case scenario.

From 2011 to 2019, however, the economy has not performed as expected, and as a result the unemployment rate has worsened from 25% to 29.1% in the third quarter of 2019, the highest in 11 years (Stats SA). The government is reviewing its economic policies in order to hopefully arrest this decline. In the meantime many people in South Africa are languishing in poverty.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) also recognises the importance of sustainable development, especially in the fight against poverty and food insecurity. A significant realisation is that economic development is interlinked with the concerns of the people, as well as the environment that people depend on. To address sustainable development, the SADC has thus identified three main goals (SADC 2012):

Q Support regional economic develop-ment on an equitable and sustainable basis for the benefit of present and future generations.

Q Protect and improve the health, envi-ronment and livelihoods of the people

of southern Africa with priority to the poor majority.

Q Reserve the natural heritage, biodiver-sity and life-supporting ecosystems in southern Africa.

Unemployment is very high among the youth, and the patterns of employment are changing. It is becoming increasingly uncommon to find people working for one organisation their entire career life, contrary to theory Z as postulated by Dr William Ouchi. His theory states that in the 1980s Japanese were offered life-time jobs in companies, which increased pro-ductivity and loyalty to organisations, and further led to high employee satisfaction and morale. In modern day economies, however, employers can now save the 20, 25, 30 and 40-year awards and spend the money on other priority areas. Loyalty is no longer a priority for the majority of prospective employees. The phenomenon of entrepreneurship is the buzzword.

With structural reforms required for the South African economy, entrepreneur-ship can contribute significantly to job creation and the resultant reduction in the high unemployment rate. In his book The Stellebosch Mafia, Pieter du Toit states well-known facts on important business principles, namely resilience and patience. He reminds us that when running a busi-ness, success and profits are not generally realised in the first three to five years. According to Johann Rupert in the book, his mother only got a new car after 30 years of his family being in business. A long wait indeed. This should serve as encour-agement to aspirant entrepreneurs that it may take five to ten years or longer to start seeing the results of their hard work.

Quality education and youth entre-preneurship will remain the backbone that will ensure that South Africa and the SADC achieve the NDP and Agenda 2063 goals which the country and the region so desperately deserve.

PROCUREMENT PRACTICES AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIPA well-known impediment to develop-ment of infrastructure is the scourge of corruption. It robs the country of a well-deserved economic and social infrastruc-ture it needs for the benefit of its people.

Economies grow by the development of infrastructure, which is one among many economic indicators. Poor quality construction of infrastructure is becoming commonplace in our country in the modern era. Quality can be defined by the “zero defects” principle (Philip Crosby) and “fitness-for-use” premise (Joseph Juran). According to Crosby, projects must be executed right the first time, while Juran’s fitness-for-use principle asserts that stakeholders’ and customers’ requirements and expectations must be met or exceeded. Based on these definitions of quality, a 7 km rural road (approximately R35 mil-lion budget) built in 2016 and commis-sioned in 2017 has not achieved the level of quality required (refer to Figure 7 – picture taken in February 2019). Roads are gener-ally designed for a service life of 20–30 years, but this rural road is failing in its second year of existence. There are many of these examples across the country.

Another challenge the country faces is lack of compliance to established procure-ment norms and regulations. Proximity to political leaders has become a new

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criterion of where contracts are awarded. This unfortunately not only compromises the quality of projects, as can be seen from the example in Figure 7, but the quantum of investments gets significantly reduced, thereby eroding the originally intended return on investments. If for example, 1 km of road costs R5 million to build, it cannot cost R15 million or R25 million at another location with the same site conditions. In addition, the phenomenon of construction mafias has also gained ground on con-struction sites across the country. Not only does it affect project quality, but the lives of project teams are also at risk. The civil engineering industry supports the govern-ment’s localisation and supplier develop-ment initiatives, but this should be done in compliance with the law and established procurement norms and regulations.

In their book Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (2013, p 368) reminds us that “… the most common reason why nations fail today is because they have extractive institutions.” In these nations the extractive economic and political institutions, though their de-tails vary under different circumstances, are always at the root of this failure. In such nations the state eventually collapses and starts failing to provide basic public services. Our country has not reached such devastating levels yet, and it is our collective responsibility to support the government in eradicating the extractive tendencies of some leaders.

One of the solutions to our problems is to entrench ethical leadership in every institution, i.e. leadership that is not self-serving, but puts the interests of the nation ahead of their own selfish and narrow in-terests. Ethics (integrity and responsibility) is defined by the Institute of Directors (IoDSA, King IV Report) in the context of

organisations, as referring to ethical values applied to decision-making, conduct and the relationship between the organisation, its stakeholders and the broader society. It talks to what is good and right for the self and the other, and is often expressed in terms of the golden rule (i.e. to treat others as you would like to be treated). CS Lewis says, “… integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching”. A typical role model for such leadership is displayed by the biblical Daniel (6:4) who was found to be incorruptible, trustworthy and dili-gent with government affairs. Our country needs men and women who are willing to raise their hands and say, “Please send me.”

CONCLUSIONSAs we build our institutions to align with modern technological developments in the world, we should do so based on ethical models of leadership. We need a nation that abides by its laws. It cannot be busi-ness as usual; something has got to give.

Q The standard of education must continuously be reviewed if we are to become the knowledge-driven economy we aspire to. There should be more learners passing mathematics and physical science in matric at percentages greater than 50. This will support the desired 2030 government targets of 435 000 Bachelor passes per year and 425 000 university graduates.

Q We also need to have more young people employed and others managing their own small businesses. This will assist the country in reducing the un-sustainably high unemployment rates.

Q We should also encourage clean gov-ernance as we rebuild our institutions for a better country.

Q We need to find solutions for the domestic infrastructure challenges

such as overburdened road and rail networks. These considerations must be done in the midst of a constrained fiscus, burdened by government debt, with limited room to fund significant infrastructure projects.

We must all avail ourselves to be “sent”.

BIBLIOGRAPHYAcegoglu, D & Robinson, J A 2013. Why

Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. Crown Publishers.

Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. November 2019. African Union.

CESA (Consulting Engineers South Africa) 2019. Bi-Annual Economic and Capacity Survey (January–June 2019).

Department of Basic Education 2016. National Senior Certificate Report.

Department of Basic Education 2018. National Senior Certificate Report.

Du Toit, P 2019. The Stellenbosch Mafia: Inside the Billionaires’ Club. Jonathan Ball Publishers.

ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa) 2015. Annual Report.

Lawless, A (Dr) 2005. Numbers & Needs: Addressing imbalances in the civil engineering profession. SAICE.

Marwala, T (Prof) 2019. University of Johannesburg: Annual Stakeholder Address (August).

Mbeki, M 2009. Architects of Poverty: Why African capitalism needs changing. Picador Africa.

Mboweni, T 2019. Policy document: Economic transformation, inclusive growth, and competitiveness: towards an economic strategy for South Africa.

National Development Plan – Vision 2030. South African Government.

NIV Bible: Books of Isaiah and Daniel.Ramphele, M (Dr) 2009. Laying ghosts to rest:

Dilemmas of the transformation in South Africa. NB Publishers.

SADC (Southern African Development Community) 2012. Annual Report.

State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2018.Steyn, W (Prof) 2019. University of Pretoria:

Department of Civil Engineering Annual Advisory Board Meeting (September).

Struggling Mathematics Teachers (fin24.com). Q https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/

NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=ZA-IN-CN&name_desc=false

Q https://www.fin24.com/BizNews/revealed-scary-truths-about-maths-marks-at-sa-schools-insider-expert-20161215

Figure 7 Part of a 7 km rural road (with a budget of approximately R35 million), built in 2016 and commissioned in 2017; the road has not achieved the level of quality required (picture taken in February 2019)

https://www.fin24.com/

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD%3Flocations%3DZA-IN-CN%26name_desc%3Dfalse



https://www.fin24.com/BizNews/revealed-scary-truths-about-maths-marks-at-sa-schools-insider-expert-20161215




INTRODUCTIONThe World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) held its annual Executive Council Meeting and biannual General Assembly in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 24 November 2019. These two meetings were preceded by meetings of the various committees, task groups and Standing Technical Committees (STCs) – 40 meetings in total, a large number of which ran concurrently. All these meetings were in turn held in conjunction with the World Engineers Convention (WEC), which was organised and presented by Engineers Australia.

SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATIONThe South African delegation consisted of two groups, namely four persons from SAICE and six persons from ECSA.

The SAICE group comprised Brian Downie (SAICE 2019 President), Errol Kerst (SAICE 2018 President), Dr Martin van Veelen (SAICE 2012 President and Chairperson of the WFEO Global

Infrastructure Report Working Group) and Steven Kaplan (SAICE Acting CEO).

The ECSA delegation comprised Yashin Brijmohan, Cyril Gumede and four Council members.

Another South African who also at-tended was Hema Vallabh from WomEng.

TRAVELGetting to Melbourne was not without its measure of unexpected challenges. SAICE’s Martin and Steven had both been booked on the SAA flight to Perth that was cancelled due to the industrial action of SAA staff at the time, resulting in them having to travel to Melbourne via Hong Kong, which added many tiring hours of travel time.

ACTIVITIESThe intense schedule of meetings was also by no means a ‘holiday down south’ for the SAICE delegation. The following are some of the meetings that the group attended:

Q Monday 18 November: Q Meeting of the Committee on

Engineering and the Environment Q Meeting of the STC on Capacity

Building Q Meeting of the Commonwealth Engi-

neering Council, and the Reception Q Tuesday 19 November:

Q Meeting of the Committee on Women in Engineering

Q Meeting of the Working Group on the Global Infrastructure Report (also see the article on pp 66 and 67 in the November 2019 edition of Civil Engineering – Going Global with the SAICE Infrastructure Report Card Guide)

Q Meeting of the Working Group on Water

Q WEC International Participants Event

Q Wednesday 20 November: Q WEC Opening Session Q Dr Van Veelen presented a paper

on Infrastructure Report Cards

I N T ER NAT I O NA L

SAICE attends world engineering meetings in Australia

The SAICE delegation outside Government House, the residence of the Governor (Linda Dessau) of Victoria Province who welcomed the international delegates to the World Engineers

Convention; from left are Steven Kaplan, Dr Martin van Veelen, Brian Downie and Errol Kerst



Q WEC Welcoming Function Q Thursday 21 November:

Q World Engineers Convention (WEC) Q WEC Signature Event

Q Friday 22 November: Q WFEO Executive Council Meeting Q Reception for 100th Anniversary of

Engineers Australia Q Saturday 23 November:

Q WFEO General Assembly and Elections

Q WFEO Gala Dinner Q Sunday 24 November:

Q WFEO General Assembly.SAICE’s Dr Van Veelen, who is a non-voting member of the WFEO Executive Council, is also a member of the following WFEO committees:

Q Working Group on the Global Infrastructure Report (chairperson)

Q The STC Support and Review Committee

Q The WFEO/UN Relations Committee Q The Engineering and the Environment

STC.

WFEO EXECUTIVE GENERAL ASSEMBLYBelow is a brief report on the proceedings of the WFEO General Assembly that distills the Executive Council Meeting and the STC meetings.

WelcomeThe WFEO President, Madame Marlene Kanga, welcomed all.

ElectionsThere were 80 votes that could be cast – 11 by International Members and 69 by National Members. The results were as follows:

Q President-Elect: José Viera (Portugal) who narrowly beat Crtomir Remec from Slovenia.

Q Executive Vice-President: Mustafa Shehu (Nigeria) who was elected with a good margin.

Q National Members: Q Nataniel Matalanga (Kenya) (who

received the most votes) Q Ruomei Li (China) Q A Lopez (Italy) Q N Vasoya (India) Q Thomas Sancho (Spain) Q O Sanchez (Costa Rica) Q K Chehab (Lebanon)

For the International Members six valid nominations, representing their engi-neering institutions as listed below, were received, so no election was required:

Q P Jowitt (CEC) (Commonwealth Engineers Council)

Q A Al-Hadithi (FAE) (Federation of Arab Engineers)

Q M Manuhwa (FAEO) (Federation of African Engineering Organisations)

Q H Wei (FEIAP) (Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and Pacific)

Q J Vieira (FEANI) (European Federation of National Engineering Associations)

Q MT Pino (UPADI) (Pan American Federation of Engineering Societies)

FinanceSince it was an election year and members who wished to vote had to be in good standing, most members were up to date re-garding membership fees, hence WFEO cur-rently has a reserve of about €500 000. There are now 13 new members who generate an additional income of €20 000 per year.

Standing Technical Committees (STCs)It was decided that the following four STCs would continue their tenure:

Q Committee on Engineering and the Environment (Institution of Civil Engineers UK)

Q Women in Engineering (Nigeria) Q Innovation and Technology (China

Association for Science and Technology) Q Information and Communication

(India).Five new STCs were recommended (some were already existing STCs, but were now given a new eight-year tenure):

Q Committee Against Corruption (Rwanda)

Q Energy (France) Q Young Engineers Future Leaders

(Lebanon) Q Disaster Risk Management (new chair) Q Committee on Engineering Education

and Capacity Building (Myanmar).The last-listed STC is an amalgamation of two previous STCs. There was strong pro-test against the amalgamation, and also the allocation to Myanmar. The meeting voted to separate the proposed STC into two again. Applications will be awaited and adjudicated at the Executive Board

Meeting of the Committee on Women in Engineering; Namibia’s Dr Smita Francis and SAICE’s Dr Martin van Veelen can be seen in the foreground on the right‑hand side

SAICE Acting CEO, Steven Kaplan, with Dr Smita Francis, the President of the Engineering Council of Namibia and founder/chair of Namibian Women in Engineering, at the WFEO gala dinner


Meeting in Paris in March 2020. Valid applications had already been received for Capacity Building

The WFEO/UN Relations Committee (USA) will now become a Special Board Committee.

WEC ProgrammeThe following is the schedule for World Engineers Convention events over the next few years:

Q 2020: Rwanda

Q 2021: Costa Rica Q 2022: India (Chenna) Q 2023: Prague (Chechia)

CONCLUSIONThe visit to Melbourne proved again that SAICE is a valued and respected member of WFEO. This is good for SAICE in the long term, as WFEO is a growing organi-sation and, through its interaction with the United Nations, achieves much to improve the visibility of the engineering

profession on a global scale. The declara-tion of 4 March as World Engineering Day by UNESCO is also a significant step in creating such awareness. It is now up to the different member organisations to utilise these opportunities for their own benefit.

report prepared with assistance from:

dr Martin van veelenmartin@mdte�co�za

Outgoing President of WFEO, Madame Marlene Kanga, presented Steven Kaplan with a medal to acknowledge SAICE’s admission as an Associate Member of WFEO

From left: Hema Vallabh, founder member of WomEng, Shilpi Jain, previously a member of SAICE’s Young Members Panel who now works in Australia, and SAICE’s Acting CEO Steven Kaplan

http://www.technocad.co.za/


Adstren is a structural engineering firm specialising in steel bridge and building construction in Quito, Ecuador. Their CEO, Telmo Andres Sanchez, answered my email and agreed to answer some questions over a cup of coffee while I was in Quito. With him, and listening in on our talk, was Stephanie, a journalist working at Adstren looking at the social impact of their projects and the human side of engineering. We covered percep-tions of our respective countries, touched on the technical, education, architects, the future of structural engineering and more.

Telmo greeted me enthusiastically when we spotted each other at a coffee shop in La Mariscal: “Welcome to South America! Hopefully Ecuador is treating you well?” So started our interesting ques-tion and answer session.

I love Ecuador, it’s small but you have a lot going on here! Just for the record, your name is Telmo Andres Sanchez? I heard you normally have four names?So, we have a first name, a middle name that we use quite a bit and two last names. Our first last name is our father’s and the second one is our mother’s. My second last name is Grunauer, but that’s not used very commonly.

We have some long names in South Africa, too. So, you work for a company called Adstren where you are the CEO, that’s right?Yes, I’m the founder and CEO. Structural engineering branches out in two ways here. In our case we are a company that is fully dedicated to structural engi-neering; we do design and construction,

specifically steel structures being our expertise. But we also have one-person companies or freelancers, often uni-versity professors, who are hired for specific projects. I also worked on that basis, but by the time I realised that we’d hired enough people and were paying enough salaries I had to make the deci-sion between continuing in academia and freelancing, or moving out into the industry. I decided to do the latter and founded Adstren in 2016.

You said you do construction?We design all the structural elements, and fabricate and erect the steel structure.

The concrete works are given to the client to build under our supervision. When we have the baseplate it’s our job to go ahead and erect the steelwork; many companies work this way. We subcontract the fabrication, but we have equipment and employ people who are specialised in steel erection, even though we were born first and foremost as, and still are, a consulting engineering firm.

Ben van WykStructural Engineer / Writer

[email protected]

An interview with Telmo Andres SanchezYoung engineer Ben van Wyk, while on a working holiday in South America last year, was fascinated by construction practices on that continent� He shared some of his observations in an article which appeared in the October 2019 edition of Civil Engineering (pp 46–48)� He subsequently arranged an interview with a structural engineer in Ecuador and kindly made this available to our readers�

Telmo (left) and Ben at a coffee shop in La Mariscal, Quito, Ecuador


That’s novel for me. Something more general: When you think of South Africa, what are some of the things that spring to mind?My father-in-law lived in South Africa in the sixties and seventies. He was a urologist working on organ transplants in the time of Chris Barnard who he actually worked with. That period really influenced the rest of his life, which you could see in their family home in Belgium, so we have that connection. In general, Table Mountain is the first element that comes to my mind, and we have a couple of South African bottles of wine at home that we’re waiting for the right occasion to open!

And what do you think are some important things about Ecuador that people reading this interview abroad should know?Firstly, I believe that Ecuador is a country of opportunities, given that we are a third-world country with a lot of necessities, and certainly resources. I can relate to that because I have found opportunities in my country. Also, for travel you find everything here – beautiful beaches, interesting cities in the highlands, and then the Amazon. I believe the part of the Amazon in Ecuador is very well taken care of and protected, and the same with the Galapagos Islands. So, Ecuador is a great place to come visit and explore nature. We have a lot of problems of course – we have poverty, and corruption is a very big issue here, but if you learn to live off the good, rather than focusing on the bad, I think that you can get by really well here in Ecuador.

Back to Adstren. Can you tell me a little bit more about the makeup of the company?We’re a small company – ten people in the office and a permanent crew of ten people in the field. What we try to do is to train people to be able to do everything. So, for example, we don’t have engineers and draughtspeople. Either we have work to do in the office, design or draughting, or we have work in the field, managing and carrying out the physical construction. We don’t work on

many projects, but we try to do as much as we can on those projects. So we do the design, the draughting, the construction, the construction engineering, and the quality control of the activities related to steel construction like welding, bolting, all of that. That’s the way it works for us.

You don’t distinguish between your engineers and your draughtspeople?When I say draughting, I am refer-ring specifically to the use of Tekla Structures. We have managed to inte-grate the design with the draughting in such a way that we can use RISA 3D for the design and export all that informa-tion to Tekla. Between the design phase and the draughting phase that integra-tion reduces our work by about 50%, so the benefit of integrating the entire team and having them being capable of doing everything has helped us quite a bit. We also use the CSI products, specifically ETABS and SAP 2000, Larsa, and a freeware program called Mastan which is one of the most specialised programs that a structural engineer can deal with for checking structural stability. In RISA we have ways that we have developed ourselves to check the outcome of the product, and the same with ETABS and Larsa. So at this point we don’t need any other package to conduct our designs.

You’ve mentioned bridges and steelwork. What other projects are you involved in?I worked for a steel fabricator after I graduated from college, and I recognised that one of the weakest points back then was the designs. I then went abroad to study a Master’s and PhD in structural engineering, so in my case steel con-struction has always been in my mind. When I returned to Ecuador, I started

working with steel fabricators, because they would go after the bridge and building projects. Thus, Adstren started developing itself in projects where steel expertise was required. In this regard, we have designed and constructed office buildings, apartment complexes and hospitals, but within our expertise in steel construction and steel design I would say that bridge construction is our core business.

Often when people ask me what I do and I say I’m a structural engineer and we design buildings, they say, “Oh, like an architect?” What is the quickest way to explain to people what a structural engineer does, and how it’s different from architecture?The way I always answer that question is, “I’m a structural engineer, and I construct bridges and buildings.” I put the word bridges first, because then you don’t relate that to an architect. So, that’s the shortest way of saying it. And I don’t get that re-sponse anymore, because when they hear bridges, they relate that to an engineer, to a civil engineer.

I’ll try it like that! From some reading on your website it looks like Adstren is also passionate about sharing knowledge?I still consider myself an academic working in the industry, so one of the things that we keep as part of our philos-ophy is our relationship with academia, in both teaching and research. We have a classroom in our office where we teach courses related to steel construction, connection design, frame stability and that kind of thing, even to our competi-tors and architects interested in the field. Through this, Adstren has become something of a regional reference, so we’re asked to do courses and presenta-tions in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and other countries in Latin America. In general, I want to bring to Adstren a level of humanity both in our academics and in the impact of the things that we do. That is also one of the reasons why Stephanie is working with us.

Without knowing much about South Africa I would believe that we share many of the same social problems. Social inequality here, in fact in Latin America, is enormous. The result is that when the government doesn’t have funds to invest in public projects, the private sector keeps on building higher buildings, and that’s what we are seeing now.

I worked for a steel fabricator after I graduated from college, and I recognised that one of the weakest points back then was the

designs. I then went abroad to study a Master’s and PhD in structural engineering, so in my case steel construction has always been in my mind.


Can you give me a brief overview of the state of the construction industry here in Ecuador?Without knowing much about South Africa I would believe that we share many of the same social problems. Social inequality here, in fact in Latin America, is enormous. The result is that when the government doesn’t have funds to invest in public projects, the private sector keeps on building higher buildings, and that’s what we are seeing now. We haven’t run out of work, because we are getting involved with private projects in apart-ment and office buildings, but what we were experiencing in 2014 with a lot of bridges, that’s not happening anymore. So, I would say that this happens in all fields, not just in construction, but you definitely see how the economy fluctuates between public work and private work, and how the private sector is always pumping out, and finding its way out.

In terms of structural design, what are some of the challenges you face over here that are specific to your location?We are in a seismic-prone region on the ring of fire, and certainly here people get trained very well on seismic design. For example, we had a 7.8 Mw earthquake in 2016 that caused major damage throughout the cities located at the coast. In general, we have faults of all sorts that cause the large magnitude events that we see at the coast, and the intense super-ficial events in the highlands. Certainly, codes and knowledge in other parts of the world have developed many good things in terms of how to design for these events, but my perspective is that we still have to learn a lot as a profession in this regard, especially in terms of the approach to storey-drift limits. There are many aspects that we’re still missing regarding drift control, and we’re maybe not doing the right checks. One of the things that we are trying to do within Adstren is to move more into the concept of performance-based design. On a case-by-case basis we try to understand what the behaviour of the building is, and, for example, what the drift limits need to be.

The educational process to become an engineer in Ecuador, how does that work?In general, courses are five years for your college degree, which includes

everything related to civil engineering. If we look back ten years, I would say about 95% of engineers working in structural engineering would have only a college degree. Nowadays, because the govern-ment invests a lot of funds for people to go and study abroad, you find many people with Master’s degrees here in Ecuador. At Adstren we try to hire people with Master’s degrees, unless they come right out of college to train with us.

And do you think the system of doing a five-year general degree and specialising afterwards makes sense?That’s one of the points that are being discussed nowadays, trying to reduce those courses to four-year programmes with three years of general topics and then one year of specialisation. If someone wants to learn more, he or she would pursue a Master’s degree. I definitely agree with that, which in a way is the American system.

Is studying towards an engineering degree here free?There are some excellent government schools where education is free, but there aren’t enough spots for everyone. There are good private universities as well, where prices can be anywhere between modest and more than what you would pay to study in Europe. But an individual that has the right qualifications can easily find a spot in a public university and get their degree from there and have an excellent career. So, Ecuador does, with limitations, offer opportunities for people that can’t pay for private institutions.

Do you have a governing body that regulates professional registration, and who can sign off on designs?Once you’ve done your graduate degree, you can register with the civil engineering association here and already get your licence to sign off on any civil engineering work. That’s a problem, but you won’t ac-tually find a 23-year old signing the design

of a big bridge, because the industry has organised itself in a way that we have cer-tifications that our clients require for us to do any given work. But it always looks good to have one of the internationally recognised professional registrations!

Can you give me an idea of how project teams are set up here, and how the different professionals interact?Clients here are normally the developers, who for mid- and high-rises generally act as project managers, and in many cases have their own architectural depart-ments. They buy the land, they do the architectural design, and with that they go and pursue the rest of the engineering team. An aspect that we work hard at with our clients is to let us work with them at early stages, so we decide together, as a team, where to lay out columns and the seismic force resistant system. The training that we have in Adstren isn’t just for engineers, but also for architects. We try teaching them how to configure the structure, where to place columns, where to place shear walls, and how to lay out the structure.

And what are some of the mistakes that you see young engineers making that repeat themselves the most?It happens everywhere that nowadays people have access to software packages that will solve everything, right? In our office, however, engineers are not allowed to use computer programs until they demonstrate that they are able to draw a decent free-body diagram and calculate forces in a simple frame by hand methods. We did a study a couple of years ago taking ETABS and seeing all the input that you need to give the pro-gram, so it can deliver the right answers, versus just using default settings in the program. We concluded that you can be completely off if you just put in the loads and element sizes and run the model. So that, from my perspective, is the main problem that we see with the young generation of engineers.

It happens everywhere that nowadays people have access to software packages that will solve everything, right? In our office, however, engineers are not allowed to use computer programs until they demonstrate that they are able to draw a decent free-body diagram and calculate forces in a simple frame by hand methods.

And how do you think structural engineering is going to be different for the next generation, with the same technology that you’re talking about now?I don’t believe that the essence of the profession is going to change that much. As structural engineers have always been doing, future engineers will continue dealing with beams and columns, and

moment diagrams will keep on being moment diagrams. I believe that future generations will have to deal with other factors, such as not using traditional materials, specifically not working with Portland cement, which is one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions in the world. Also, how to make things more resilient, especially in terms of

earthquakes. I perceive that our profes-sion is going to move more into damage limitation and continuous functionality philosophies rather than just preventing collapse, as we do with current design codes. Certainly, the 2016 earthquake taught us quite a bit in terms of that. For example, in the case of hospitals it has become pretty much the standard that

The Los Pajaros Bridge in Quito, Ecuador – one of the bridges built by Telmo’s company

The Puente Villorita Bridge in Ecuador, which Telmo considers to be the most difficult structure that his company has designed and built so far


http://www.technicrete.co.za/


designing and constructing structures to accomplish code requirements is not enough. We need to ensure that a hospital is going to be fully functional after this type of event. In general, I believe that future engineers will have to deal with these two concepts: environment and earthquake resilience.

Are there one or two projects in your career that stand out for you?We’re proud of our bridges. One of them is the Los Pajaros Bridge here in Quito, and the other one is Puente Villorita which is by far the most difficult struc-ture that we have designed and built. It is a two-span steel tub-girder bridge with a total length of 145 m. It weighs 1 200 tons, and we erected it using the incre-mental launching method; essentially, we

did the engineering for moving that mass over a complicated obstacle. If you go and stand on the bridge you’re just going to see steel girders, nothing that will catch your attention, but the way it was con-structed is something that we’re proud of (see www.adstren.com/es/proyectos for photos, videos and more of Adstren’s portfolio).

We often joke about our relationships with other professionals, especially architects. It seems you’ve found a way around that, but do you still sometimes have like a little bit of back and forth?I would say it is much better to work out with an architect what the structural system should be beforehand, rather than trying to change the architectural design too much after they have everything

designed. So, the most efficient way of working with architects is teaching them fundamental principles like we do in the classes I mentioned, and to become their structural engineer, so they count on you from the very beginning.

Alright, food in Ecuador! The ceviche and the hornado are my favourites. Is there anything else you can recommend that I try?In terms of beverages, there is one that is called Morocho that is made of corn with milk, and they serve it with sweet dump-lings. That’s really delicious. There’s also a restaurant close by called Zavalita. There, you’re going to find fish and many other seafood and different dishes, all of them local, and I don’t think you can go wrong.

Thanks, and lastly, I’ve been practising a little bit of Spanish, so just want to end by saying: Muchisimas gracias por tomarse el tiempo de hablar conmigo, y compartir sus conocimientos.Mucho gusto, y para mí ha sido tambien un verdadero placer. Thanks!

We’re proud of our bridges. One of them is the Los Pajaros Bridge here in Quito, and the other one is Puente Villorita which is by far

the most difficult structure that we have designed and built. It is a two-span steel tub-girder bridge with a total length of 145 m.

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Technicrete is a subsidiary of ISG, a leading supplier of innovative infrastructure products to the construction and mining markets in Southern Africa.

www.adstren.com/es/proyectos

http://www.technicrete.co.za/


THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONThe 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is transforming the civil engineering industry, which has traditionally been occupying the physical environment. 4IR technologies are allowing the physical world to integrate with digital and intel-ligent (biological) engineering (Muhuri et al 2019; World Economic Forum 2019). This fusion of reality and virtual environ-ments spans across disruptive transporta-tion systems (Uber, Taxify, Lime, Bird), smart and intelligent infrastructure (IoT, BIM, manufactured construction, additive manufacturing) and education (augmented, virtual and mixed reality). These cyber-physical systems continu-ously generate quantities of data (referred to as Big Data) that were previously unimaginable, and are characterised by the five Vs (Núñez et al 2014) – velocity, variety, veracity, value and volume.

In order to train a civil engineering student to be prepared for and be active in the 4IR, additional training from other engineering disciplines is required. It is said that, in a future work environment, numerous repetitive tasks which can be automated and conducted through Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems will mostly be performed by machines. Also, it is sometimes stated that the two aspects that will differentiate work to be done by humans from that which may be done by machines are the concepts of compassion and context. These are often (specifically

in a discipline such as civil engineering where society’s basic needs are served) the two concepts that will distinguish between a design that may be optimal in many technical ways but lacking that sense of compassion and context, thus ending up not serving the basic needs of a specific community in a specific area with their specific cultural and social needs.

EDUCATION AND TRAININGThe world as we know it has been evolving constantly, and still is, requiring appropriate responses from those who make organised (civilised) life possible. To enable civil engineers to remain agile and equipped to conduct their work efficiently, continuous reflection on training, educa-tion needs and content is required. ABET (Adult Basic Education and Training), an organisation similar to ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa), defines engineering as “… the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences gained by study, experience and practice is applied with judgement to develop ways to utilise economically the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind”.

Education and training of engineers constitute two different aspects. Training typically implies the act of imparting a special skill as required at an operational level, while education is the process of systematic learning of fundamentals that develop a sense of judgement and reasoning. Engineers require both education and training, with an initial focus on education (fun-damental concepts) followed by lifelong training as technologies evolve and the BOK (Body of Knowledge) in the specific field of engineering develops through continuous research. Fundamental knowledge in the BOK of engineering education contains all the basic sciences that engineers have traditionally been exposed to, as this forms the generalised

solution case for any engineering problem that needs to be solved. This is followed by education in the engineering sciences. The emphasis on traditional engineering science concepts such as basic chemistry, thermodynamics, strength of materials, statics, etc, remains important in the 4IR, as all new knowledge is founded on the fundamental laws of science. Engineers need resilient training within the required knowledge base to enable adaptation of skills in a changing environment and continuous value-addition to the analysis of any engineering problem.

Four types of knowledge need to be covered in the education process of engineers. These are fundamental (basic mathematical principles and laws of physics), intrinsic (internalisation of effective and efficient work in the field), searchable (readably available in a digital, connected format that does not require commitment to memory by the engineer) and applied (distributed knowledge is incorporated into a directed solution for a specific problem) knowledge. Employers require T-shaped engineers that can combine both deep technical knowledge and a breadth of other career skills. The following skills are deemed vital for any engineer:

Q Problem solving – ability to break down an issue and frame it in a way to create a solution.

Q Listening and communication – listen entirely to the problem presented, and then communicate to the customer a thorough understanding of the issue, and potential solutions.

Q Creativity – application of principles to create a unique solution.

Q Determination, diligence and dedication.

The T-shaped model reinforces the traditional concept of educating engineers in the broad sciences first, followed by specialist training in specific fields. The education and training of an engineer are

T ECH N O LO G Y A N D I N FR A S T R U C T U R E

Prof Wynand Steyn Pr Eng, FSAICEHead of DepartmentDepartment of Civil EngineeringUniversity of [email protected]

André BroekmanPhD CandidateDepartment of Civil EngineeringUniversity of [email protected]

Civiltronics: Fusing Civil and elecTronics Engineering in the 4IR Era


thus built up through exposure to basic sciences, followed by general engineering sciences, broad discipline-specific engi-neering sciences (e.g. civil, mechanical, chemical, etc), and completed with sub-discipline engineering specialisation (e.g. transportation, water, structural, etc).

CIVILTRONICSIn the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Pretoria, some of the 4IR challenges are being addressed through the incorporation of what has been termed Civiltronics into the under-graduate civil engineering curriculum. For many years, students have been exposed to measurement techniques with a pri-mary focus on traditional measurement systems, instrumentation and sensors, e.g. strain gauges. Rapid advancements during the preceding decade have propelled the miniaturisation and standardisation of a wide variety of sensors, in conjunction with the establishment and availability of smart infrastructure networks and standards, the Internet of Things (IoT) architectures and Big Data analysis systems. These changes have led the Department to re-evaluate and adapt the curriculum of this module accordingly since 2016, with a renewed emphasis placed on the understanding of meas-urement concepts involved with these sensors and systems, and crucially, their application in the civil engineering field. These measurement concepts include fundamental ADC (analog-to-digital con-verter) theory, circuit wiring of load cells for the purpose of strain measurement, real-time data visualisation and analysis using the open source Arduino microcon-troller development platform (Figure 1). New surveying methods involving the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

(Figure 2), photogrammetry and LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) in the construction and transportation industry (Ravitharan et al 2019) are also covered, where students are exposed to cloud-based project integration and processing capabilities.

Civiltronics incorporates the develop-ment of sensor nodes and platforms using commercially available hardware and software architectures such as the Arduino and Raspberry Pi line of microcontrollers, processors and accom-panying sensor breakout boards, DJI UAV solutions and additive manufacturing in the form of low-cost 3D printers in col-laboration with the University of Pretoria’s MakerSpace (De Beer et al 2017). These solutions are thoroughly researched, developed and deployed in an environ-ment that supports basic civil engineering principles, providing an enhanced understanding of the performance of these secondary, interconnected systems and infrastructure. Examples of these projects include:

Q Intelligent railroad ballast, known as Kli-Pi (Figure 3), which was developed as part of a Master’s research project in collaboration with the Chair in Railway Engineering headed by Prof Hannes Gräbe (Broekman & Gräbe 2018; 2019). Kli-Pi is designed to measure high-frequency, three-dimensional accelerations, deflections and rotations associated with the passage of heavy-haul freight trains along the track. The enclosure of these state-of-the-art devices was modelled and 3D-printed at the University of Pretoria with a yield strength (in compression) in excess of five tons. Kli-Pi provided valuable insights into the dissipation of kinetic energy in granular materials and measured the magnitude of lateral and longitudinal forces with depth.

Q The use of mobile, high-resolution photogrammetry as a quantitative, rapid alternative to the sand patch test method for the measurement of pavement surfacings (Figure 4).

Figure 1 Development kits for practical tutorials as part of the module in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Pretoria

Figure 2 A DJI Matrice 210 UAV platform with integrated LIDAR capabilities forms part of the UP Civil Engineering Department’s UAV fleet

Figure 3 Kli‑Pi family on display at the International Heavy Haul Conference in Cape Town

A commercial scanner provides a scanning accuracy of 50 μm, generating a high-density mesh. This provides the opportunity to evaluate the pavement surfacing characteristics using (open source) point cloud software with statistical tools (Steyn et al 2019).

Q Post-harvest transportation chain optimisation for agricultural produce working together with commercial partners. This initiative has led to the development of stand-alone, intelligent pseudo-fruits termed smAvo (Figure 5) and smaTo (Figure 6), for measuring the environmental parameters of avocadoes and tomatoes respectively. These devices record high-frequency acceleration, GPS, temperature, relative humidity, barometric air pressure and light intensity throughout each phase of the transportation chain, starting from the tree, through the sorting, packing and handling facilities, and freight transportation by road and rail, to the end consumer. Analysis of this Big Data application ultimately serves to reduce wastage in the transportation pipeline whilst improving the quality of the produce provided to consumers.

Q Environmental monitoring of airborne chemical compounds and pollutants in urban and agricultural environments using SNOET (Sensor Network for Environmental Tracking). SNOET combines multi-spectral sensors to monitor and detect spore outbreaks for agricultural produce and to track vehicle emissions along major traffic arterials in and around the Hatfield area in Pretoria. By 2020 this platform will be fused with UAVs (navigating along automated flightpaths) to provide spatial-temporal data regarding the presence, duration and movement of pollutants in and around the first phase of the new Engineering 4.0 campus (Figure 7) located on the University of Pretoria’s Hillcrest campus. This project will be augmented with duplicated SNOET (IoT-capable) devices permanently po-sitioned in the vicinity of the campus for remote monitoring and centralised data aggregation.

Q A closed-loop actuator controller based on the Raspberry Pi platform (Figure 8) for use in a geotechnical centrifuge (Jacobsz et al 2014). This allows for

Figure 4 3D scanning of a pavement surface near Meyerton, Johannesburg (August 2018)

Figure 5 smAvo field trials on an avocado farm in partnership with ZZ2 (March 2019)

Figure 6 smaTos measuring real‑time performance data at the Vreedsaam packhouse (October 2019)


the automatic control of the speed and direction of the actuator that applies a load to piled foundations. Control is accomplished using a Python script that can be reprogrammed while the centrifuge is in flight in excess of 30 G. To date the control system has successfully been integrated with both the international WindAfrica and cave mining research projects.

Q The integration of synthetic data generation applications in deep learning applications. This forms part of a collaborative PhD project between the Chair in Railway Engineering and 4Tel Australia. Initial exploratory work has produced a mobile application for classifying different rail components (Figure 9) incorporating elements of digital design, photogrammetry, vir-tual reality modelling, rendering and machine learning (TensorFlow).

The module is viewed as a principal component in the education of future civil engineers, exposing students to the concept of interconnected, digitised infrastructure that serves as a catalyst for improved infrastructure maintenance and real-time structural health monitoring. As a precursor to the module, students are exposed to a Python-based programming course, in line with the rise in popularity of the language in research and engi-neering firms. Furthermore, the module serves as a stepping stone for the final-year Civil Research module, where these new skills and hardware capabilities are increasingly required and used for meas-urements, data acquisition and analysis for laboratory and field work conducted by students, such as the optimisation of surveying methods for geotechnical structures using a UAV (Figure 10).

Civiltronics is actively supporting the preparation of a new generation of stu-dents, lecturers and researchers, capable of managing transformative 4th Industrial Revolution developments in society. It is expected that the knowledge capacity of the fundamental sciences will be larger than in the past, as inter-disciplinary collaboration is one of the defining characteristics of 4IR. Considering ever-changing environmental conditions, technological advancements, increased urbanisation, population densities and demand for infrastructure and services, it is the belief of the Department that engi-neers-in-training will face these unknown

Figure 8 Geotechnical centrifuge experiment using a closed‑loop Raspberry

Pi controller for the load actuator

Figure 7 Engineering 4.0 campus under construction, located on the University of Pretoria’s Hillcrest campus


challenges and exploit opportunities for advancing the discipline and the positive impact of their engineering endeavours both locally and internationally.

REFERENCESBroekman, A & Gräbe, P J 2019. Analysis,

Interpretation, and Testing of Mesoscale Ballast Dynamics Using Kli-Pi. Proceedings, International Heavy Haul STS Conference (IHHA2019), Narvik, Norway, pp 151–157.

Broekman, A & Gräbe, P J 2018. Development and Calibration of a Wireless, Inertial Measurement Unit (Kli-Pi) for Railway and Transportation Applications. Proceedings, 37th Annual South African Transportation Conference (SATC2018), pp 521–531.

De Beer, J, Armstrong, C, Ellis, M & Kraemer-Mbula E 2017. A Scan of South Africa’s Maker Movement. Available at: www.wits.ac.za/linkcentre/publications/research-reports/de-beer-et-al-2017-a-scan-of-south-africas-maker-movement/

Jacobsz, S, Kearsley, E & Kock, J 2014. The Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility at the University of Pretoria. Proceedings, 8th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, Perth, Australia, pp169–174. Available at: doi:10.1201/b16200-16.

Muhuri, P K, Shukla, A K, Abraham, A 2019. Industry 4.0: A Bibliometric Analysis and Detailed Overview. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Vol 78: pp 218–235. Available at: doi:10.1016/j.engappai.2018.11.007.

Núñez, A, Hendriks, J, Li, Z, De Schutter, B & Dollevoet, R 2014. Facilitating Maintenance Decisions on the Dutch Railways Using Big Data: The ABA Case Study. Proceedings, IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Washington, DC, USA, pp 48–53. Avavailable at: doi:10.1109/BigData.2014.7004431.

Ravitharan, R, Chevin, J, Chung, H, Vong, C H & Zhang, D 2019. The Implementation of Unmanned Autonomous Systems (UAS) for Railway Inspection. Proceedings, International Heavy Haul STS Conference (IHHA2019), Narvik, Norway, pp 26–33.

Steyn, WJvdM, Jordaan, G J, Broekman, A, Marais, A 2019. Evaluation of Novel Chip Seals Applications During Periods of Low Temperatures. 12th Conference on Asphalt Pavements for Southern Africa, Sun City, South Africa.

World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/focus/fourth-industrial-revolution [accessed November 2019].

rail 98.49%

sleeper 0.84%

rockEmitter 0.29%

eclip 99.57%

rail 0.35%

rockEmitter 0.07%

rockEmitter 86.66%

rail 5.51%

sleeper 4.21%

sleeper 96.71%

rail 1.50%

rockEmitter 1.36%

uP railway uP railway

uP railwayuP railway

Figure 10 Data acquisition for a final‑year project using a Mavic Air UAV

Figure 9 TensorFlow deployment in the form of a mobile application


https://www.wits.ac.za/linkcentre/publications/research-reports/de-beer-et-al-2017---a-scan-of-south-africas-maker-movement/




https://www.weforum.org/focus/fourth-industrial-revolution




INTRODUCTIONThe supply of water to the 14 million inhabitants of Gauteng is extremely vulnerable to prolonged electricity supply disruptions. Water has to be purified and pumped from the Vaal River over 50 km through a 320 m pumping head to reach the Witwatersrand continental divide before it can be distributed to consumers. Reservoir storage bridges short-term disruptions, but cannot suffice for longer-term blackouts.

The severe economic consequences of a blackout on water supply would be eclipsed by the socio-political risk, which could easily precipitate violent regime change.

TSHWANE CASE STUDYA recent study, involving the Water Research Commission (WRC), quantified the risks of 1-, 7- and 30-day electricity supply disruptions to the water supply to three areas, ranging in size from a small elevated area to the entire Tshwane metro (Potgieter et al 2019). These nine scenarios are described in Figure 1.

Remediation costs aimed at ensuring a basic minimum water supply to domestic consumers, and to maintain water supply

to economically productive sectors, were quantified and compared with the economic benefit so derived. Guidelines outlining essential actions for key role players have been prepared.

Key elements of risk are the conse-quences and their probability of occurrence.

CONSEQUENCESThe impact of a blackout on water supply is almost too ghastly to contemplate. But contemplate it we must.

Tshwane’s 2017 GDP was R202 billion, indicating a potential economic loss of R4 to R17 billion for a 7- or 30-day blackout. On a national scale it magnifies to between 2% and 8% of the national GDP. This is more than enough to plunge our nation’s economy into junk status. But this pales into insignificance in the light of the potential socio-political consequences. Without water people die. Consuming polluted water will kill many more. But violent regime change could result in hundreds of thousands of deaths due to direct conflict and the total collapse of the economy and social services. The economic collapse could then extend for several months or years.

Depending on the cause of the blackout and how it is handled, restoration of electricity supply to key areas could take anywhere from two days to several months. Rapid restoration would be promoted by the success achieved in ‘islanding’ some power stations, which requires their isolation from the outside world and rapid reduction of generation load to do little more than keep its coal handling and water circulation systems going.

Dr Chris Herold Pr Eng, FSAICEWater Resources/Quality Specialist

Umfula Wempilo [email protected]

Marco van Dijk Pr EngDepartment of Civil Engineering

University of [email protected]

Christo Potgieter Pr EngWater Services

Bigen [email protected]

Impact of blackout on water supply

scenario 1: 1-day outage



description: Constantia Park supplied from water tower

Population affected: 140 households (± 490 people)




description: Tshwane bulk water supply to Region 6

Population affected: 173 000 households (± 600 000 people)




description: The entire City of Tshwane

Population affected: 911 550 households (± 3�1 million people)

Figure 1 Description of electricity disruption scenarios (Potgieter et al 2019)


Failing that, a Cold Start of all thermal power stations is required, which needs an external power source to run each power station’s coal handling and water circula-tion requirements for a little under a day before it can raise enough steam to supply its own needs. Starting the first unit of the nearest coal-fired power station requires the availability of at least one of the two distant Cold Start power stations that do not need an external electricity supply. However, if both of these vital Cold Start stations, or the transformers or transmis-sion lines leading from them, are dam-aged, a restart will not be possible. Unlike North America or Europe, we do not have any adjacent power grids upon which to draw for this purpose. Such an outage could linger on for many months.

PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCEThere are many possible causes of a blackout, ranging from sudden loss of gen-erating capacity through to sudden loss of load. The driving forces could include:

Human errorHuman error is considered one of the leading causes of blackouts. In this regard Eskom has the advantage of over a decade of practice dealing with predictable load shedding and precipitous loss of neglected generating capacity. Being a single utility also shields them from what happened in the US when one utility’s system went unstable and neighbouring ones went the same way in a chain reaction, because none of them wanted to be the first to shed load for fear of losing customers to their rivals!

However, unpredictable losses of portions of Eskom’s power supply are becoming more frequent, thereby increasing the likelihood of something going wrong. Effective maintenance is jeopardised by their massive debt crisis. Their single biggest risk arises from being beholden to a single shareholder, who at any time can issue a politically motivated executive order preventing load shedding. A strike by Eskom’s control staff lasting

more than 18 hours could have the same effect. The same, or worse due to damage and/or loss of key personnel, could ensue from a determined attack by even a small disaffected terrorist group on Eskom’s control centre. Likewise, such staff could be incapacitated by biological, chemical or conventional attack at home, on their way to work or via threats to their families. This could also leave Eskom bereft of replacement personnel.

Extreme load sheddingAccording to control room experts, load shedding beyond Stage 8 will result in a blackout. It is disturbing that in December 2019 load shedding escalated from Stage 2 to Stage 6 in little over a day – during summer conditions when power demands are at their lowest. This highlights the gravity of the maintenance backlog, compounded by Eskom’s massive debt burden and the spectre of the coming elevated winter power demands. The danger here is that attempts to restart the system would be thwarted until enough of the events that caused the extreme loss of generating capacity have been repaired. This might take some time to do under blackout conditions.

Natural disastersThese include a meteor strike or earth-quake in the ‘right’ area (or of sufficient magnitude for the area not to matter), and/or an epidemic affecting critical control centre staff.

WarSince South Africa does not possess nu-clear weapons and does not pose a threat to distant nuclear-armed belligerents, the probability of direct nuclear strike is re-mote. But the risk remains that some may not want anyone to have a military capa-bility after their own has been wiped out; especially a nation that once had nuclear weapons and could develop them again.

Between 1958 and 1962 the US and USSR vied with each other to find the right height above the ionosphere to

detonate a hydrogen bomb to maximise the ground level damage of an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). To their dismay, in 1962 both nations succeeded beyond their expectations. First prize for own goals goes to the USSR who, in a single 300 kt detonation, managed to fuse 570 km of telegraph cable, with recorded currents of at least 2 500 amps along the entire line; damaged 1 000 km of buried armoured electrical cable and set fire to the Karaganda Power Station at the other end. There were no more tests. Effective as they may be, EMPs appear to pose a low risk to South Africa.

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)Solar flares vary from benign to very intense X-ray emissions, accompanied by a cloud of charged particles. The most intense solar flare orientated towards the earth and scientifically recorded, the Carrington event of 1859, is classified as an X28 event, i.e. 28 000 times more intense than the lowest class A1 event. This resulted in the northern lights being visible in the tropics as far south as Cuba and Hawaii. This global phenomenon was clearly visible in the US and Australia and was scientifically recorded by Carrington in London. For people alive at the time it was little more than a spectacular display for two nights, since ionisation of the ionosphere protects life on earth by cap-turing the flux of charged solar particles and conveying them towards the earth’s magnetic poles. This also induces direct currents in conductors such as cables, railway lines and even strong earth cur-rents. The induced current is proportional to the length of the conductor. Unlike the nanoseconds of the EMP that took out the Karaganda Power Station, the entire upper atmosphere would remain energised for a couple of days, and everywhere on earth would effectively be subjected to continual induced currents from directly overhead, rather than the transient focal point of a tiny hydrogen bomb 1 000 km away.

The telegraph had only been invented 20 years before 1859, so damage was confined to the odd fire in telegraph offices and a telegraph operator being shocked unconscious after standing on a wire. It was estimated a decade ago that a similar occurrence in modern times would have cost up to $2 trillion in the US alone (The National Academy of Sciences

There are many possible causes of a blackout, ranging from sudden loss of generating capacity through to sudden loss of load … Human error is

considered one of the leading causes of blackouts. In this regard Eskom has the advantage of over a decade of practice dealing with predictable

load shedding and precipitous loss of neglected generating capacity.


2009). Furthermore, any event from X24 and upwards is estimated to cause similar damage. Two X24 events were recorded (1882 and 1921), both during periods when electrical networks were still very small, so that damage was limited, although a railway signalling tower was burned down during the 1921 event due to currents induced in railway lines. Back then fish-plate connectors were not that efficient at transmitting currents, whereas nowadays rails are continuously welded, forming much more efficient and very long conductors. Overhead power lines supplying electric locomotives could also cause serious problems to rolling stock. Three X24+ events in 160 years place the recurrence interval (RI) for a blackout induced by a high magnitude solar flare, which we cannot stop, at an uncomfort-able 53 years.

Eskom receives data derived from US satellites monitoring the sun to detect the magnitude of solar flares. This data can provide about 18 hours’ advance warning before the slower-moving CME reaches the earth. The initial thinking when interviewing Eskom’s control room managers for the WRC project was that this warning window of time could be used to isolate sensitive installations. This would not have prevented a blackout, since Eskom’s power stations and network would have to be shut down for a couple of days to minimise damage. The concern was that switchgear designed to break alternating currents (AC) might not be as effective at stopping direct currents from jumping the gap or plunging past via ground currents and damaging vital large transformers or even power generators. Large transformers are not kept in stock and require up to a year to fill orders. Since this would be a global event, the first priority of overseas suppliers would be to cater for their own nations’ needs. Hence a Cold Start of many, if not all, thermal power stations would be required.

However, Eskom’s latest thinking, based on some testing, is that they could keep the system running through a major solar flare without excessive danger to their installations, other than possible damage to some large transformers that are vulnerable to direct currents induced in long power lines. One such transformer is connected to every generating unit. The dilemma is that, if too many such transformers are damaged, a blackout

could ensue. One possibility being con-sidered would be to switch out (say) half of the transformers. However, this would then expose the others to higher induced loads, thereby increasing the risk that these would suffer damage. Damage could range between burning out the windings, which could be repaired locally, to cata-strophic fire, which would entail having to order replacements with a normal time lag of about a year. The key unknown impacting on the possibility of a blackout is how many transformers would be damaged and how badly. Eskom used the Carrington event (X28) as the benchmark for their case study. However, in 2002 an X45 event took place on the other side of the sun, indicating the feasibility of a solar flare exceeding the intensity of the Carrington event reaching earth.

Municipal infrastructure may also be vulnerable. Protecting Eskom’s infra-structure alone would not help if there is nowhere to send the power. However, in this regard most municipal transformers are not connected to long power lines and may not be exposed to as high a risk.

The assumption was made that a CME causing serious infrastructure damage (i.e. a 30-day blackout) only has a 300-year RI, with a corresponding 64-year RI for other CME’s causing a 7-day blackout.

As with hydrological drought records, the estimated RI will gradually be revised upwards with every year that passes without such an event taking place, and will suddenly drop if another X24+ event occurs before 2071. With a sample size of only three, we don’t know if we were unfortunate to experience three rare events in the last 160 years or if we were fortunate that we didn’t have more.

Combined probability of blackout occurrenceThe probabilities of all blackout-causing events were combined to obtain prob-abilities for different durations of outage, giving RIs for 7-day and 30-day outages as 30 and 155 years respectively. Combining the two gives a RI of 25 years, which implies an unnerving 4% probability this

year of losing 1.9% of the nation’s GDP (over R100 billion) and the entire nation’s potable water supply for 7 or more days, with the attendant risk of precipitating violent social upheaval. Put another way, it represents a 20% probability of occur-rence within the normal 5-year outlook period of a South African politician, or an RI of less than half of the national life expectancy.

MITIGATION MEASURES FOR TSHWANE CASE STUDYPotable water supply is by far the most crucial emergency requirement. Rand Water (RW) supplies some 80% of Tshwane’s potable water, the rest being derived from own sources and Magalies Water (MW). Numerous mitigation measures were considered, including additional reservoir storage, water tankers and portable generators.

Fixed diesel generators were found to be by far the most economical and practical solution to purify and pump potable water to satisfy Tshwane’s emer-gency needs. The first slice of the supply can be met from Tshwane’s own Rietvlei, Roodeplaat, Temba and Bronkhorstspruit water treatment works and local well-fields, since these entail the least amount of pumping. The remainder was assumed to be pumped by RW over a head of 320 m to the top of the Witwatersrand, from where nearly all of Tshwane’s reservoirs can be filled by gravity. This is a conserva-tive estimate, since pumping from MW’s works to its existing lower-lying supply areas might be more cost-effective.

Under such dire emergency conditions a basic minimum water supply of 25 ℓ/c/d for domestic use was adopted. However, it is recognised that, even with excellent management, more water would have to be supplied to reach all of Tshwane’s residents since, even unconsciously, upstream consumers would be able to over-draw their allocation. Accordingly the assumption was made that 50 ℓ/c/d would have to be supplied from reservoirs. Yet more water is needed to feed physical pipeline leaks, which was estimated

Municipal infrastructure may also be vulnerable. Protecting Eskom’s infrastructure alone would not help if there is nowhere to send the power. However, in this regard most municipal transformers are not connected to long power lines and may not be exposed to as high a risk.


at 129 Mℓ/d (23% of the city’s normal system input volume of 843 Mℓ/d). This quantum will not be reduced during blackouts. Conversely, losses might even increase since the reduced water demand is more likely to increase daytime pres-sure, tending towards full static pressure. This may be reversed if open-channel flow develops in some pipes or if water supply is entirely switched off for part of the day (which could cause increased leakage when the water supply is switched on again).

Extra water was allocated to support activities that contribute to Tshwane’s GDP, split between industries and ‘other’ economic activities. The assumption was made that 50% of industrial activity can be preserved by meeting the full industrial water demand. The full GDP cannot be achieved, since some industries cannot generate electricity on their own to keep plants operating, the supply of material stockpiles will decline and workers will find it increasingly difficult to get to work due to traffic congestion and as fuel supplies dry up. It was assumed that achieving this would require supplying the full needs of all industries, since definitive information on which industries can generate standby electricity and for how long is not yet available.

The ‘other’ category of water use is normally considered to be non-critical with respect to water supply. However, blackout conditions are not normal, and if a basic minimum water supply is not pro-vided, then these commercial and other uses that generate 92% of Tshwane’s GDP

will cease to operate. It was assumed that 75% of ‘other’ economic activities can be retained so long as a reduced water supply sufficient to meet basic needs is provided. The reasoning here is that their staff is better resourced, more professionalised and motivated than is the case for indus-trial labourers.

Tshwane’s total emergency require-ment comes to 429 Mℓ/d, of which 193 Mℓ/d is attributable to water losses. It is startling to reflect that, under such dire conditions of restriction when water is at a premium, for every 10 units of water actually used more than a further 8 units would be uselessly lost to seepage!

Although these transmission losses are staggering, the futility of attempting to bypass the pipe losses by using road tankers is illustrated by the fact that 14 750 road tanker round trips would be required each day to meet one day’s average emergency supply of 236 Mℓ/d.

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION FRAMEWORKMitigation of impacts requires meticulous prior planning, infrastructure provision and training. Excellent communication between the national electricity supplier, Water Service Providers (WSPs), Water Service Authorities (WSAs), the city’s electricity distributer, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the public is essential for early identification of the type of power disruption and its expected duration. Proper preparation for a disaster event is required to facilitate rapid enforcement of supply restrictions,

to eke out reservoir storage and to forestall civil unrest. To this end, a Risk Analysis and Mitigation Framework of Integrated Water and Electricity Systems (RAMFIWES) was developed (Herold et al 2018).

ECONOMIC EVALUATIONThe cost of mitigation has been compared with the benefit derived. Costs and benefits were expressed as Net Present Values (NPVs), Net Benefits (B-Cs), Benefit/Cost ratios (B/Cs), Unit Reference Values (URVs) and percentage increases in normal water billing. A 30-year life, and reduced annual maintenance costs, have been assumed for large standby genera-tors, since they will be used infrequently and then only for relatively short periods of time.

A high social Net Discount Rate (NDR) is commonly used to compare schemes to favour labour-intensive op-tions. However, this is a fallacy for most water schemes, since a high NDR simply favours energy-intensive schemes, which is diametrically opposed to societal aims. Accordingly a lower NDR of 3% has been adopted to more realistically reflect the earnings that a municipality can expect on investment. Institutional arrangement costs have not been evaluated. The costs and benefits are shown in Table 1.

The very high overall benefit/cost ratio of over 15 is extremely attractive. The very low 5 c/kℓ (0.5%) increase over normal billing is a very low price to pay to obviate the dire consequences of cessation of water supply!

PREVENTION OF RAW WATER SPILLAGEAt the onset of a blackout, sewage would already be flowing through the sewage system and would continue to enter Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs) at its previous rate for some hours after effec-tive at-source water restrictions come into

Table 1 Costs and benefits of sustaining basic human requirements, 50% of industrial output and 75% of other sectors’ economic production

Water useCapital

Mainte-nance

Annual operation

Annual benefit

3% net discount rate

benefit Cost b-C b/C ∆ billing

million r million r ratio c/kℓ

Domestic 108�33 1�08 0�594 – – 7�29 – – 4�4

Industrial 28�30 0�28 0�147 13�21 13�21 2�38 10�93 5�6 16�7

Other 20�22 0�20 0�105 157�25 157�25 1�33 155�92 118�2 3�3

total 108.33 1.08 0.846 170.46 170.46 11.00 159.45 15.4 4.9

Tshwane’s total emergency requirement comes to 429 Mℓ/d, of which 193 Mℓ/d is attributable to water losses. It is startling to

reflect that, under such dire conditions of restriction when water is at a premium, for every 10 units of water actually used more

than a further 8 units would be uselessly lost to seepage!


force. Hence, the small amount of emer-gency raw sewage storage would soon be filled and untreated sewage would spill to the receiving rivers at close to the normal flow rate. Once water restrictions become effective the raw sewage flow rate would reduce. The conservative assumption was made that standby generators would be sized to treat the initial full average discharge. The economic evaluation for keeping WWTWs functioning is given in Table 2.

The conventional understanding that sanitation costs are about half those for water supply, implies that ameliorative measures would add about 0.8% to con-sumers’ municipal sanitation charges.

The high capital investment cost re-sults from handling the high sewage flow rate on the first day. This poses difficult prioritisation questions for cash-strapped municipalities. Is it right to invest more capital on amelioration at WWTWs than on water supply, when the latter poses by far the gravest and most costly threat? (Since the vast majority of users receive a purified potable water supply, in-stream processes decay the biological load and the frequency of blackouts is rare.) Can a one-day slug of untreated effluent be tolerated once every few decades, thereby allowing generating provision to be made rather for the reduced flow anticipated from day two? (Since sewer overflows are not unheard of, downstream river reaches are already impacted and the biota can be expected to recover to its present state.)

A much more attractive approach is to use sludge bio-generation to run sewage works at competitive costs, thereby eliminating the need for emergency power generation. It might be preferable to gradually introduce this technology as old works are decommissioned to obviate unnecessary debt by premature decom-missioning of existing works. The moral, health, environmental, hydrological, water quality and technical implications need to be addressed by municipal and other relevant experts.

CONCLUSIONSThe following broad conclusions are drawn:

Q The risk of a power blackout to water supply is high, holding very severe economic and socio-political implications.

Q Mitigation of the impacts on water supply holds a very high benefit/cost ratio of over 15 for Tshwane, and is expected to increase the billed cost of potable water by only 0.5%. Similar benefits and costs can be expected for other municipalities.

Q The increase in unit cost to fully treat sewage effluent is expected to increase billing by 0.8%.

Q Water losses greatly increase the cost of providing an emergency water supply.

Q A RAMFIWES framework has been developed to guide assessment of risk and implementation of mitigation measures.

RECOMMENDATIONS Q Every level of government needs to

be sensitised and should seriously consider the issues at stake.

Q DWS, Eskom, Local Authorities, WSAs and WSPs are urged to make use of the RAMFIWES guideline to develop effective mitigation programmes.

Q The risk of damage to South Africa’s electricity network that could arise from a high magnitude CME needs to be examined.

Q The effectiveness of measures pro-tecting against AC currents to protect against strong induced direct currents associated with a high magnitude CME needs to be examined.

Q The analyses provide another compel-ling reason to urgently curtail exces-sive water losses.

Q The best way to prioritise mitigation measures for WWTWs needs to be addressed.

Q Information on the minimum water requirement of industries and commercial entities and how much of this can be used productively during a power blackout needs to be investigated.

Q Emergency responses to mitigate the effect of blackouts on food and fuel supply and security need to be identi-fied, planned for, and prepared for.

Q Guidelines for the provision of potable water reservoir storage warrant revision.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis discussion is based on the findings of a recent Water Research Commission (WRC) study on the impact of electricity supply disruption on water supply, using the City of Tshwane as a case study, with the kind assistance of the City of Tshwane. The WRC’s support is acknowl-edged with gratitude.

REFERENCESHerold, C E, Van Dijk, M & Potgieter, J C

2018. Mitigating the impact of electricity disruption on water supply – Case study of the City of Tshwane. Water Research Commission Report No K5/2591. Pretoria.

Potgieter, J C, Herold, C E, Van Dijk, M & Bhagwan, J N 2019. Economic benefit of ensuring uninterrupted water supply during prolonged electricity disruptions – City of Tshwane case study. Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (ISSN 1021-2019), 61(4): 19–28.

The National Academy of Sciences 2009. Severe space weather events – understanding societal and economic impacts: A workshop Report: Extended Summary, Chapter: The impact of space weather. Available at: https://www.nap.edu/read/12643/chapter/4.

Table 2 Costs for preventing sewage overflow

scenarioCapital

Mainte-nance

Operation3% ndr

Annual cost ∆ billing

(mill r) (mill r) (mill r) (mill r) (c/kℓ)

Combined 119�150 1�192 44�116 8�088 3�792

At the onset of a blackout, sewage would already be flowing through the sewage system and would continue to enter Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs) at its previous rate for some hours after effective at-source water restrictions come into force. Hence, the small amount of emergency raw sewage storage would soon be filled and untreated sewage would spill to the receiving rivers at close to the normal flow rate.

https://www.nap.edu/read/12643/chapter/4

https://www.nap.edu/read/12643/chapter/4


UPGRADED MAIN ROAD 118 IN NAMIBIA WINS COVETED AWARDTowards the end of last year, VKE Namibia (part of the SMEC Group) was announced a winner in the Construction World Best Projects Awards in the Consulting Engineers category for the construction of Main Road 118 between Oranjemund and Rosh Pinah.

The 98 km of Main Road 118, con-necting the world’s largest alluvial dia-mond deposits at Oranjemund in southern Namibia and its eighth largest zinc mine near Rosh Pinah, had existed for nearly 100 years as a gravel road and was in urgent need of reconstruction. In 2013 SMEC, through its Namibian subsidiary VKE Namibia, was appointed by the Namibian Roads Authority to design and oversee the upgrading of the road to full bitumen standards. The upgrade of the ‘river route’

section of the road would also benefit the tourism potential of the extremely beau-tiful scenery along the Orange River.

The challenges to this project were both physical and administrative. The former included the geography of the area, which runs through the wind-swept Namib gravel plains, rough mountainous country and shifting sand dunes. The ad-ministrative challenge was the extremely short time allowed between appointment and the contract commencement date. Only three weeks were available for the preparation of full tender documents, which led to a ‘design-under-construction’ approach. Working with this strategy VKE Namibia found it quite a challenge to provide timely design information to the contractor, Raubex Namibia

Construction, who was in turn under pressure to comply with a programme that could not be planned properly in the absence of a completed design.

Construction in the sandy, windy environment came with its own set of challenges. During sandstorms, public traffic became stuck in thick sand deposits on the temporary route diver-sion, with visibility limited to only a few metres at times. The strong winds occurring in the area also added thick layers of sand over half-completed work, which at times delayed progress, since corrective measures were needed to address the damage caused by the sand. A temporary water storage dam ended up being partially filled with wind-blown sand, and had to be reconstructed. Buried PVC pipelines were exposed by wind and damaged, causing disruptions in the supply of pumped construction water to the work site. During construction, near-daily cleaning of each pavement layer and bitumen application was required prior to the contractor continuing before the wind speed picked up again in the after-noon. The contractor, not unexpectedly, reported endless frustration with sand removal over sections of the road.

Additional challenges included high-risk rock which had to be removed using extensive drilling and blasting, and by applying high-pressure water jetting on occasion to soften up the interlayers to reduce internal friction, followed by secondary blasting. The road height along the Orange River also had to be raised above the highest water level recorded in 1974 when both the Orange River and the Fish River came down in full flood.

I N B R I EF

Road works next to the Orange River, flanked by the

beautiful natural scenery of southern Namibia

A completed section of the road at the Orange River; the road height had to be raised above the highest water level recorded in 1974 when both the Orange River and the Fish River came down in full flood

The upgraded section of Main Road 118 in southern Namibia close to the Orange River


The southern part of the Namib Desert has become far more accessible now, thanks to the upgraded section of road between Oranjemund and Rosh Pinah, and has also significantly reduced time and travel costs for the residents of Oranjemund (who had previously rather crossed the border into South Africa to join an easier route into Namibia). The upgraded road has not only increased potential tourism growth, but has been designed to withstand sandstorms, flooding and other challenges. The completed road is of a very high geometric standard, with an excellent riding quality, and complements the beautiful natural scenery of southern Namibia.

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heiko KlinkVKE Namibia Consulting Engineers+264 61 237 642heiko�klink@vkenamibia�com

DOSETECH CUSTOMISES COMPLETE FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR CAPE TOWN’S FORESHOREOver the past few years, the Foreshore area of Cape Town has been a hub of de-velopment, with new buildings and major projects transforming the landscape of the city’s waterfront region. Nestled between the harbour and the city centre, the Foreshore area is a vital part of the city’s social and economic infrastructure.

As buildings spring up throughout the area, one of the most significant challenges is ensuring that the projects are protected from fire hazards and are in compliance with stringent local and international regulations. DoseTech, a leading South African supplier for fire protection equipment, has been responsible for two of the most signifi-cant fire protection projects for land-marks in the Foreshore area, namely the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital and the Cape Town Harbour.

Given the vital civic functions of the hospital and the harbour, robust fire protection was a key point of con-sideration. “When you are protecting

a hospital full of patients and harbours that are stocked with fuel and other highly flammable substances, you need to ensure that you have the best equipment engineered to handle the worst-case scenario,” says Mike Feldon, Managing Director of DoseTech.

Protecting important infrastruc-tural elements like the Cape Town harbour and one of the city’s most modern hospitals required compliance with strict standards from FM Global (FM) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). “It’s not uncommon for engineers to think that fire protection requires API (American Petroleum Institute) certification and connections, but this is not actually the case,” comments Feldon. To achieve UL listing and FM Global approval, Feldon worked closely with process design engineers from both the Cape Town harbour and the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital. In addition to employing some of DoseTech’s industry-leading foam-dosing products, the team selected the most effective and proven fire protection solutions from the internationally recognised company, Mueller Water Products, Inc.

Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial HospitalFor over three decades, Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital has provided healthcare – including several highly specialised medical disciplines – to South African residents from its original premises in the city centre. In late 2016, the hospital relocated

to new premises in the Foreshore area, occupying a purpose-built 16-storey building strategically located for access from major freeways. A key aspect of the hospital access is its helideck, enabling safe helicopter transportation of patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses. DoseTech was tasked with devising a fire protection system for the new helideck. This presented particularly complicated challenges, not only because of the varied fire protection technologies involved, but also because of the required coordination between Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service, DoseTech, and South Africa’s national aviation and hospital authorities.

The new hospital’s comprehensive fire protection design includes foam-dosing technology, foam concentrate, water cannons, and a combination of deluge and pressure-reducing valves. Manufactured by Mueller Water Products, Singer® deluge and pressure-reducing valves are able to be electronically controlled from the master control room. In the event of a fire on the helideck, the deluge valves automatically activate three separate foam-and-water-premix water cannons in addition to the foam-dosing system.

The new premises of the hospital now has a state-of-the-art fire protec-tion system to match its world-class cardiac operations facility.

Cape Town harbourThe Cape Town harbour is one of the busiest and most strategically important ports in South Africa due to its posi-tion at the crossroads of industrial and

Fire protection for the helipad on the roof of the Christiaan Barnard Memorial

Hospital on the Cape Town Foreshore


ocean-trading routes. In addition to serving tourists arriving to Cape Town on cruise ships, the harbour also plays a vital role in the region’s thriving fishing and oil industries. Given the equipment and fuel transported in and out of the harbour on a daily basis, a decent fire protection system is essential to ensure safe operations.

DoseTech was asked to address three different fire protection needs, each a complicated challenge relating to the harbour’s petroleum operations. The first was a fuel ship off-loading wharf, an intricate facility requiring a multifaceted fire protection system.

To ensure comprehensive protec-tion, DoseTech supplied equipment installed on the fire water ring main for the general fire protection systems, which includes fuel tanker loading bays and 5-inch flat hose water supply, for use on portable firefighting equipment.

The harbour’s second and third tasks were to protect a fuel storage fa-cility and a refinery, both of which re-quired a large number of fire hydrants to provide adequate response in case

of an emergency. To protect these key areas, DoseTech installed Jones® J4060 BR and J6200 fire hydrants, complete with 2½-inch British instantaneous couplers and 4- and 5-inch pumper connectors. The system was bolstered by Mueller® OS&Y gate valves, chosen because of their durability and ease of operation. The gate valves seal shut under high pressure and use a strong interior coating to provide years of reliable service.

By providing tailored, reliable solutions to each of the harbour’s needs, DoseTech’s team exceeded the demanding expectations of the Cape Town harbour project leadership. Each fire protection system combined multiple technologies to ensure an immediate and adequate response to any fire emergency, delivering safety and peace of mind to a facility re-sponsible not only for the handling of volatile materials, but also for the safe arrival of cruise ships carrying many tourists into the harbour.

DoseTech offered valuable ex-pertise at every step of the process,

working side-by-side with on-site contractors, conducting valve and hy-drant commissioning, and providing staff training to those responsible for overseeing proper operation of the fire protection system. “By combining our product experience with the location-specific expertise of harbour personnel, the Port of Cape Town now has a world-class fire protection system in place for years to come,” Feldon concludes.

info

Mike FeldonManaging Director: DoseTechmgf@dosetech�co�za+27 86 111 1544

AN INNOVATIVE WALLING SOLUTION TO REFURBISHMENT NEEDSThe refurbishment of office space into other income-generating assets is not new, but it’s not waning either. In fact, as many of South Africa’s big corporate tenants move to consolidate their operations into single facilities, the abundance of commercial space (particularly B Grade or lower) available to let is increasing month on month. Because significant earthworks are largely unnecessary for most refur-bishment projects, revitalising a property asset through repurposing provides a cost-effective solution to an otherwise stagnating asset.

It’s not that simple, though. “There’s a specific level of skill and foresight re-quired to transform, for example, an open call-centre space to apartments or student residences,” says Jonathan Peel, Director of SanteQ. “The retrofitting of large commercial spaces into smaller compart-mentalised spaces for residential use has to consider the potential structural risks from additional loading.”

It is for this reason that SANJO Fabtech Sterling created a unique solution to the local market along with national installers of the technology, Fufuka Investments. Their lightweight walling solution (SanteQ) mitigates structural risk by providing equal (and in some instances, superior) performance

Testing the remote water cannon for fire protection in the Cape Town harbour

Viewing station overlooking the fuel offloading area with three remote control water cannons

and the Mueller hydrants on the wharf


to brick and mortar and prefab, at less than 30% the weight of conventional masonry walling.

“Lightweight certainly does not trans-late to low-on-performance, as the system offers excellent acoustic, fire-resistant and thermal properties, and has been specifi-cally engineered to install more quickly, consistently and with a straight-to-paint finish,” says Jonathan.

“The lightweight walling system is filled with a specially designed composite of recycled polystyrene, cement and ad-mixtures. Together with the prefabricated cellulose fibre formwork and the high-impact moulded inserts that make up the entire system, the cured weight is between 550 and 700 kg per m3, including skim plaster and paint,” he adds.

“Compared to some other options, this patented system is lighter, has better thermal and energy savings, is better for the environment, is quick to install, and as a result is cost-effective. The system allows us to transform large open-plan spaces into living areas without additional loadbearing on the existing foundations – which represents a huge cost saving in terms of foundation reinforcement. The system can produce straight or curved walls, providing endless options, while all electrical and plumbing components can be housed within the structure.”

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Jonathan Peel / reg Bonomijonathan�peel@sanjo�co�zareg@fufukainvestments�co�zahttp://fufukainvestments.co.za/santeq/

SanteQ boards completed on site

Erection using the SanteQ technology

Clean assembly of the SanteQ technology on site

The end result


Anton van Langelaar Pr EngFAArb, MCIArb, PMPDispute Avoidance and Resolution PractitionerDRBF Country Representative for South [email protected]

D I SPU T E B OA R DS

INTRODUCTIONAn introductory article on Dispute Board ethics appeared in the July 2017 edition of Civil Engineering.2

It reminded the reader of a series of six articles on Dispute Boards (DBs) which had appeared in previous editions of Civil Engineering and advised that the next series of articles on DBs would be aimed at specifics, dealing with pertinent aspects of DBs in more depth. It also advised that interspersed with these would be a series of articles on DB ethics penned by Jim Phillips PhD, Chair of the Dispute Review Board Foundation (DRBF) Ethics Committee. These articles were first published under the general heading of “Ethics in Today’s World of DRBs” in the DRBF Forum3 and are republished by kind permission of the DRBF and the author Jim Phillips.

The article that follows is the eleventh of these articles on DB ethics that we will be reproducing (the first ten articles appeared in the August4 and September5 2017, and March6, May7, August8 and September9 2018, and January/February10, March11, June12 and July13 2019 editions of Civil Engineering, respectively).

The July 2017 article stated the DRBF Canons of Ethics. Included furthermore in the article were practice guidelines and further discussion on how Board members are expected to con-duct themselves, which were reproduced from Chapter 2.10 of the DRBF Practices and Procedures Manual. Accordingly, it serves as a handy reference guide when reading the articles on DB ethics.14

At the end of the July 2019 article the following question was posed, which forms the basis of this eleventh article by Dr Phillips:

“Assume that you are sitting on a DRB and that the project has been under way for some time. Assume also that the

contractor begins a practice of referring several disputes to the Board a week, requests that the Board schedules a separate hearing on each dispute and that the hearings be scheduled one at a time for over two months so as to not unduly interrupt the work on the project. Assume the owner objects to this request and asks that the DRB waits until all disputes have been referred by the contractor and then schedules one hearing over a period of several days. What should the Board do?”

WHAT SHOULD THE DB DO?15 (by Jim Phillips PhD, Chair of the DRBF Ethics Committee)

The ethics question raised in the previous edition of the Forum involved an owner who, in response to the contractor’s pattern of referring several disputes a week to the DRB and requesting that the Board holds a hearing on each one over several weeks, requested the DRB to hold the entirety of the disputes until the end of the project and then hold one long hearing. This phenomenon has apparently arisen on many projects due to the time-consuming nature of DRB hearings and the parties’ desire to

Dispute Boards – Ethics in Today’s World of DRBs1 (article 11)

The ethics question raised in the previous edition of the Forum involved an owner who, in response to the contractor’s pattern of referring several disputes a week to the DRB and requesting that the Board holds a hearing on each one over several weeks, requests the DRB to hold the entirety of the disputes until the end of the project and then hold one long hearing.


remain focused on proceeding with the construction project in a timely fashion, without becoming bogged down by the DRB hearing process.

This question raises a number of both contractual and ethical questions. As a general rule, most contract documents containing a DRB Specification also contain provisions that provide for a fixed time frame for either party to give notice to the other of a potential issue or a dispute. In addition, DRB Specifications also provide a fixed time frame for requesting the DRB to conduct a hearing after the owner and contractor have attempted to resolve the issues through a Potential Change Order (PCO) process or, if the issues involve a delay to the critical path, a Time Impact Analysis (TIA), or other process by which the parties may attempt to resolve a delay issue. Moreover, either or both of these processes are typically mandatory prior to a dispute being considered ripe for DRB consideration and hearing.

In the question posed, unless the parties agreed to waive those types of provisions as referred to above, both parties may be in breach of the contract. Even if the PCO and TIA process were followed under the contract, the DRB Specification would not have been complied with if the parties had waited until the end of the project to conduct a DRB hearing. Equally impor-tant, however, is that a major advantage for having informal efforts to resolve disputes through either an informal process between the parties or a DRB hearing, would have been lost. This advantage is the value of resolving disputes close in time to the events underlying them.

There is a distinct advantage to resolving disputes close in time to the events which are the basis of the disagreement. Chances are higher that the personnel involved will continue to be on the project and available for interviewing and ques-tioning. The site conditions will be more similar to the time of the events giving rise to the dispute, without other project con-struction overtaking the area. Documentation is more readily available and memories are fresher. In summary, disputes are much easier to resolve the closer in time to the underlying activities that resolution is attempted. Accordingly, in my opinion, the DRB process works best when the DRB holds its hearing in a short time frame after the events had occurred which give rise to the dispute.

The Foundation’s Code of Ethics also addresses this issue. Canon 4 provides that Board members shall conduct meetings and hearings in an “expeditious, diligent, orderly and impartial manner”. As indicated above, many contract documents provide for fixed time frames for bringing disputes to the DRB for a recommendation. Once those deadlines are missed, the parties

There is a distinct advantage to resolving disputes close in time to the events which are the basis of

the disagreement. Chances are higher that the personnel involved will continue to be on the project

and available for interviewing and questioning. The site conditions will be more similar to the time

of the events giving rise to the dispute, without other project construction overtaking the area.

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may be foreclosed from seeking DRB review. If one party does not agree to waive the notice requirements, the other party may rely on the contract’s penalties for the other’s contract breach.

In this case, if the contractor gave timely notice of the series of disputes under the contract, and if the owner refused to comply with the DRB Specification, the DRB should proceed with holding, perhaps, an ex parte hearing. The important point to be made here is that the DRB should stay in compliance with the terms of the contract at all times.

The more difficult case for the DRB is: What if both parties agree to the owner’s request to bundle all of the disputes into an extended hearing at the end of the project? What should the Board do in this case? Arguments can be made on each side of this question. Clearly, the parties may, by agreement, amend the terms of their contract to provide for an extended mega hearing at the end of the project. This could, however, result in a less than optimum DRB review for all of the reasons listed above.

Or, it may not make that much of a difference, depending on how close to project completion the disputes arise. If the DRB does wait to hold the hearings until closer to the project completion, many of the benefits to the DRB process, including open communications and the building of trust and cooperation, will have been lost. The DRB process is designed to foster better quality of communications and the building of trust during the life of the project, not just at its conclusion.

If the DRB apprises the parties that it can do its job easier and provide better quality of service if disputes are heard in real time, and the parties choose to postpone the hearings until the end, the DRB should comply with the contract and the parties’ wishes. After all, the DRB is constituted to assist the parties in resolving disputes in a fashion that does not interfere with the work on the project. As long as all of the parties understand the trade-offs involved, the DRB will have done its part to assist the parties in a way that makes sense to them.

FURTHER COMMENT (by Anton van Langelaar)

Further to the above, an emphasis (and significant advantage) of the DB process is to resolve matters in “real time”, i.e. as close as possible to the underlying event, for the reasons stated above. There is no better time than the present.

The promptness of the approach is reflected in the FIDIC forms of contract. They provide in the DB Procedural Rules, for example16, “… to achieve the expeditious, efficient and cost-effective resolution of any Dispute that arises between the Parties”.

Notwithstanding the reference to time-consuming DRB hearings in the article above, DB hearings do not (and should not) have to be lengthy at all. In the author’s experience even complex matters can be heard in a relatively short space of time – a day or two or maximum three. The hearing time can also be reduced further by sending at least a substantial portion of the DB hearing questions to the parties in advance, to ensure they are well

prepared to answer the DB queries at the hearing, and also have relevant documents, plans, analysis, etc, available. Furthermore and in any event, the DB should only schedule hearings if the matter cannot be resolved on documents only, often with the aid of Requests for Clarification, or if both parties insist on a hearing.

ETHICS: NEXT CHALLENGEAssume that you are sitting on a DRB on a project that has been ongoing for more than two years. Also assume that the DRB has regularly scheduled meetings on site to tour the progress and hear updates from the parties. At one such meeting, both par-ties advise the Board that there are no disputes on the horizon, and that there are no issues that could turn into disputes. This is despite correspondence between the parties, that the Board members have read, that suggests that there are several issues that the parties are in disagreement about. The Board members attempt to bring these differences out by asking questions about the contents of the documents, but each party continues to deny having disputes.

The Board adjourns at the end of the day with the parties not discussing the correspondence. The very next day, the contrac-tor’s project engineer emails the DRB Chair and advises that he is requesting a formal hearing on several of the issues in question contained in the correspondence the Board had questions about. How should the Board deal with this?

NOTES1. Dispute Review Board – gives a non-binding recommendation.2. Van Langelaar, A 2017. Dispute Boards – Ethics. Civil Engineering,

25(6): 67–70.3. The DRBF Forum is a quarterly publication of the DRBF.4. Van Langelaar, A 2017. Dispute Boards – Ethics in Today’s World of

DRBs. Civil Engineering, 25(7): 52–53.5. Van Langelaar, A 2017. Dispute Boards – Ethics in Today’s World of

DRBs (article 2). Civil Engineering, 25(8): 54–55.6. Van Langelaar, A 2018. Dispute Boards – Ethics in Today’s World of








DRBs (article 10). Civil Engineering, 27(6): 58–59.14. A new document of ethics has been produced by the DRBF – The

DRBF Code of Ethical Conduct which can be found at https://www.drb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DRBF-Code-of-Ethical-Conduct-March-2018.pdf. However, Chapter 2.10 of the DRBF Practices and Procedures Manual remains relevant to the series of articles published in the Forum prior to March 2018.

15. First published in the DRBF Forum, Volume 17, Issue 2 June 2013.16. The exact wording depends on the specific FIDIC form.

The DRBF is a non-profit organisation formed in 1996 and is dedicated to promoting the avoidance and resolution of disputes worldwide using the unique and proven Dispute Board (DB) method� The DRBF objectives include communication, education and training and it has over 700 members in 80 countries�

https://www.drb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DRBF-Code-of-Ethical-Conduct-March-2018.pdf




G EN ER A L CO N D I T I O N S O F CO N T R AC T

The issue of dealing with and assessing concurrent delays under the different forms of recognised construction contracts in South Africa has probably been the most contentious and recurring issue which I have dealt with over the past ten years. I have experienced the stalemate in resolving such a claim before proceeding to adjudi-cation or arbitration to be two-fold. The one is based on the inter-pretation of fairness and the other is based on determination of the proper cause, and its effect on the due completion date, as based on the extension of time claim submission made by the contractor.

On dealing with the issue of fairness in a construction con-tract, the outcome of the recent case between Cool Ideas 1186 CC v Hubbard and Another (2014) provided some authority on the matter. The employer, Hubbard, refused to comply with an arbitration award for final payment in the amount of R550 211 to the contractor, Cool Ideas, on the premise that Cool Ideas was an unregistered house builder. The Constitutional Court had to determine whether to make the arbitration award an order of court where such award was at odds with a statutory prohibition. The Court declined to make the arbitration award an order of court as, by doing so, they would agree to an illegality (or non-compliance by Cool Ideas with legislation) in terms of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act of 1998. In the instant matter it was de-termined by the Court that a claim on the basis of “fairness” could not overrule the express provisions of the contract, whether such provisions are interpreted as to be fair or not.

Hence, whether it is interpreted to be fair or not, the legal and contractual principles underlying the consideration and assess-ment of concurrent delays in our construction contracts must be honoured and applied accordingly.

In the 19th century, the English courts concluded that it was wrong in principle for an employer to hold a contractor to a completion date, and a concomitant liability to pay liquidated dam-ages, in circumstances where at least a part of the subsequent delay was caused by the employer. In Holme v Guppy (1838), the claimant argued that the defendant failed to give claimant possession of the site for four weeks following the conclusion of the contract (i.e. the commencement date of the contract). The Honourable Judge found that there were clear authorities to the effect that “… if the party be prevented by the refusal of the other contracting party from completing the contract within the time limit he is not liable in law for the default …”1 In other words, if the employer failed to give the

contractor access and possession of the site as required in terms of the contract, then the employer cannot benefit from such default and impose penalties against the contractor should the contractor overrun the due completion date by four weeks.

Similarly, in Dodd v Churton (1897), where the employer or-dered extra work which delayed completion, Lord Esher MR said:

“… where one party to a contract is prevented from performing it by the act of the other, he is not liable in law for that default; and accordingly a well-recognised rule has been established in cases of this kind, beginning with Holme v Guppy, to the effect that, if the building owner has ordered extra work beyond that specified by the original contract, which has necessarily increased the time requisite for finishing the work, he is thereby disentitled to claim the penalties for non- completion provided by the contract.” 2

As a result of these decisions, construction contracts began to incorporate extension of time clauses, which provided that, on the occurrence of certain events (which included what might generically be described as “acts of prevention” on the part of the employer), the date for completion under the contract would be extended, so that liquidated damages (or penalties) would only be levied for the period after the expiry of the extended completion date.

In Multiplex v Honeywell, Mr Justice Jackson clarified that, “The essence of the prevention principle is that the promisee cannot insist upon the performance of an obligation which he has prevented the promisor from performing.” 3

Such clauses were not, as is sometimes thought, designed to provide the contractor with excuses for delay, but rather to

Theunis van Zyl Pr Tech EngPr CPM, Pr CM, AAArb

SAICE PMC DivisionContractual Affairs Subcommittee

[email protected]

A concurrent affair – concurrent delays in GCC 2015

In the 19th century, the English courts concluded that it was wrong in principle for an employer to hold a contractor to a completion date, and a concomitant liability to pay liquidated damages, in circumstances where at least a part of the subsequent delay was caused by the employer.


protect the employers, by retaining their right both to a fixed (albeit extended) completion date and to deduct liquidated dam-ages (or penalties) for any delay beyond an extended completion date. Therefore, an extension of time clause in a contract exists for the benefit of the employer and is an option available to the contractor to exercise the remedies available. If the contractor does not use the extension of time provisions in the contract, then the employer’s right to impose penalties is protected.

However, when it comes to concurrent delays, the matter becomes more complex. A useful definition of a concurrent delay is “… a period of project overrun which is caused by two or more effective causes of delay which are of approximately equal causative potency.”4

In Walter Lilly & Company Limited vs 2 others 5, Mr Justice Akenhead arrived at the following conclusions:

“In Henry Boot Construction (UK) Ltd v Malmaison Hotel (Manchester) Ltd (1999) 70 Con LR 32, Mr Justice Dyson had to decide primarily whether an arbitrator had jurisdic-tion to deal with a defence by an employer that events such as variations and late information had not delayed the contractor but that other matters were causes of the delay. At Paragraph 13, he referred to some common ground between the parties: ‘Second, it is agreed that if there are two concurrent causes

of delay, one of which is a relevant event, and the other is not, then the contractor is entitled to an extension of time for the period of delay caused by the relevant event 6 notwithstanding the concurrent effect of the other event. Thus, to take a simple example, if no work is possible on a site for a week, not only because of the exceptionally inclement weather (a relevant event), and if the failure to work during that week is likely to delay the works beyond the completion date by one week, and then if he considers it fair and reasonable to do so, the architect is required to grant an extension of time of one week, he cannot refuse to do so on the grounds that the delay would have occurred in any event by reason of the shortage of labour.’

It could thus be said that the learned judge was simply repeating the common ground between the parties rather than reach a considered decision on the issue. That said, the judge seems to have ‘run with the ball’ in his second and third sentences and appears to have endorsed that common ground. In any event, I am clearly of the view that, where there is an extension of time clause such as that agreed upon in this case and where delay is caused by two or more effective causes, one of which entitles the contractor to an extension of time as being a relevant event, the contractor is entitled to a full extension of time.

Part of the logic of this is that many of the relevant events would otherwise amount to acts of prevention and that it would be wrong in principle to construe Clause 25 on the basis that the contractor should be denied a full extension of time in those circumstances. More importantly, however, there is a straight contractual interpretation of Clause 25 which points very strongly in favour of the view that, provided that the relevant events can be shown to have delayed the works, the contractor is entitled to an extension of time for the whole period of delay caused by the relevant events in question. There is nothing in the wording of Clause 25 which expressly suggests that there is any sort of proviso to the effect that an extension should be reduced if the causation criterion is established. The fact that the architect has to award a ‘ fair and reasonable’ extension does not imply that there should be some apportionment in the case of concurrent delays. The test is primarily a causation one.”

In essence, the learned judge confirmed that the Malmaison approach in the assessment of concurrent delays remains the cor-rect approach to be taken.

There are therefore generally three types of concurrent delays:a. Two or more effective causes of delay where one (or more)

delay may be attributable to the contractor and one (or more) to the employer

b. Two or more effective causes of delay where all the delays may be attributable to the contractor

c. Two or more effective causes of delay where all the delays may be attributable to the employer.

Hence, the General Conditions of Contract for Construction Works, Third Edition, 2015 (GCC 2015) took this into consid-eration in Clause 5.12.1 when it comes to the assessment of an extension of time claim and the determination of the adjusted due completion date. Clause 5.12.1 of GCC 2015 provides as follows:

“Such extension of time shall take into account any special non-working days and all relevant circumstances, including concurrent delays or savings of time which might apply in respect of such claim.” (emphasis added)

Therefore, in order to give proper justice to Clause 5.12.1 of GCC 2015 the employer’s agent and the contractor need to agree from the outset of the contract whether they are going to follow a static or dynamic approach in the assessment of delays.

The static approach shows the theoretical impact of delaying events rather than what actually happened. The baseline for this type of analysis is the planned programme of work, and the effect is calculated in relation to its likely impact on the planned programme of work.

On the other hand, the dynamic approach focuses on how the works progressed by regular progress updates on the programme, how activities were delayed and to then seek to ascertain which delay events actually caused the delay. The effect is calculated in relation to its impact on the as-built pro-gramme of work and therefore takes account of the contractor’s culpable delays or additional float that may have been created on the programme.

“ I am clearly of the view that, where there is an extension of time clause such as that agreed upon in

this case and where delay is caused by two or more effective causes, one of which entitles the contractor

to an extension of time as being a relevant event, the contractor is entitled to a full extension of time.”


However, if the employer’s agent and the contractor never agreed on the approach to be followed, the fall-back position will be the static approach, although the dynamic approach is more preferable and equitable in the assessment of delays, when referring to international best industry practices such as the Delay and Disruption Protocol of the UK Society of Construction Law.

Whether the assessment of delays is based on the static or dynamic approach, it stands to reason that, in order to give proper effect to the provisions of Clause 5.12.1 of GCC 2015, the assessment of delays and the resultant impact on the due completion date must also be determined on a cumulative basis.

For example, once the cause and effect Extension of Claim #1 has been determined, the cause and effect analysis of Extension of Claim #2 must be based on the adjusted programme derived from the cause and effect analysis done for Extension of Claim #1 (as based on the approved programme). If each extension of time claim is analysed in isolation, and in this example if Extension of Claim #2 is analysed in isolation of Extension of Claim #1, it logically follows that the possible “con-current delays or savings of time” will not be taken into account, to the detriment of the employer.

Although it is acknowledged that the issue of contractual notices and competent claim submissions is usually given higher priority over cause and effect analysis, it is in both the contractor and the employer’s best interest that the contractor presents an assessment of a delay including both its isolated and cumulative effects, having due regard for the provisions of Clause 5.12.1 of GCC 2015.

The provisions of Clause 5.12.1 of GCC 2015 have in es-sence been drafted in such a way to prevent “double payment” to the contractor and to give credit to the employer where it is due.

NOTES1. North Midland Building Ltd v Cyden Homes Ltd (2018) EWCA Civ

1744 (30 July 2018).2. North Midland Building Ltd v Cyden Homes Ltd (2018) EWCA Civ

1744 (30 July 2018).3. Multiplex Constructions (UK) Ltd v Honeywell Control Systems Ltd

(2007).4. John Marrin QC (2002).5. (2012) EWHC 1773 (TCC).6. A relevant event is in essence defined as delay for which the

employer is at risk in terms of the contractual provisions.

Although it is acknowledged that the issue of contractual notices and competent claim

submissions is usually given higher priority over cause and effect analysis, it is in both the contractor and the employer’s best interest that the contractor

presents an assessment of a delay including both its isolated and cumulative effects, having due regard

for the provisions of Clause 5.12.1 of GCC 2015.

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SA I CE A N D PR O FE SSI O NA L N E W S

SAICE GOLD MEDAL

Neil Macleod – man with a heart for the poorThe SAICE Gold Medal was awarded to Neil Macleod for his immense contribu-tion towards bringing affordable water and sanitation services to the poorest of the poor in South Africa and globally.

Neil Macleod was born and educated in Durban, and graduated with a BSc in Civil Engineering in 1972. Since childhood his civil engineer father, Don Macleod, a sanitation expert, exposed Neil to inter-esting projects, such as building pipelines out to sea and tunnels under the harbour – leading to his career choice.

After obtaining his degree, Neil started working for the Durban Municipality. Because he understood the importance of people skills and wanted to understand why a certain mode of interaction would work with one person but not with the next, he enrolled for an MBA degree, which he obtained from the University of Durban-Westville in 1989. In the early nineties he became the Head of Water and Sanitation in what would later become eThekwini Municipality, where he managed about 3 000 people and a turnover in excess of six billion rand. He expected his staff to be solution-minded and innovative. He said, “I don’t think that in my profession you can rest until

everybody has an acceptable water and sanitation service.”

Under Neil’s leadership the eThekwini Municipality became one of 16 recipients of grants awarded to research bodies around the world who were using innova-tive approaches, based on fundamental engineering processes, for the safe and sustainable management of human waste. These grants came about as a result of the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme in which they

challenged the world to “reinvent the toilet” – an initiative that aims to bring sustainable solutions to the 2.5 billion people worldwide without access to safe, affordable sanitation.

eThekwini Water and Sanitation’s reputation as a centre for innovation under Neil Macleod, until his retirement in 2014, was rewarded when the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development announced eThekwini Water and Sanitation as the

SAICE Gold Medal, Honorary Fellowship and President’s AwardAt the inauguration of SAICE’s 2020 President, Fana Marutla, towards the end of last year (see pp 4–9 of this edition), the SAICE Gold Medal was awarded, an Honorary Fellowship bestowed, and the President’s Award handed to three unsuspecting SAICE members who were taken completely by surprise�

Neil Macleod being named a SAICE Gold Medallist by SAICE’s 2020 President, Fana Marutla; the Gold Medal is the highest honour that the Institution can bestow on a member


recipient of the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2014, stating, “In addition to providing basic services to a large popula-tion, eThekwini Water and Sanitation is also at the forefront of exploring technical and social solutions … The combined result is one of the most progressive utilities in the world. The open approach to experimenting and piloting new solu-tions across both technical and social aspects of service delivery has made eThekwini a forerunner in the world of utility-run services.”

Neil was also profiled in National Geographic (2002) as an innovative engineer “with an obsessive desire to make the most of every drop of water”. And Bill Gates blogged that Neil “… has been a leader in thinking through how to improve sanitation for the poor in Durban”.

Over the years Neil’s expertise was, and still is, in demand across the globe at conferences or as advisor. He must have visited far more than a hundred countries in his endeavours to share knowledge on water and sanitation for the poor.

Summary of Neil Macleod’s far-reaching involvement:

Q Chairman of the committee that drafted the National Water Supply Regulations

Q Chair of the National Free Basic Water Services Task Team for the Department of Water Affairs

Q Since 2000 served on the board and as a director of the Johannesburg Water Company, after having been instrumental in creating its foundation structure

Q Appointed as director on the board of Umgeni Water in 2005

Q Director of the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit (MIIU), a company created in partnership with the South African National Government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Q Building Partners for Development in Water and Sanitation (BPD) where he became chairman of this international charity with its head office in London

Q Part-time consultancy work for the World Bank Water Services Partnership (WSP), advising on water and sanitation services in South Africa

Q Advisor to the City of Cape Town, seconded there by the PICC.

Neil, a solution-driven man who is always challenging the status quo, once said, “I

find my greatest challenge in the areas where the need is greatest. I can combine my engineering skills and my business skills to create a sustainable product, in this case affordable water and workable sanitation, and bring hope to people.”

As SAICE President in 2007 he steered the Institution towards communicating the importance of engineering in society. All the above, and his devotion and efforts to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor globally, make Neil Macleod a worthy recipient of the SAICE Gold Medal.

SAICE HONORARY FELLOWSHIP

Prof Yunus Ballim – kind educator and philosopherProf Ballim is an outstanding academic, the author of more than a 100 scholarly publications, and has been serving on the SAICE Journal Editorial Panel for many years.

He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and paid for his first two years of study with support from the family grocery shop, and then won a bursary for his third and fourth years from D&H Construction (now Group 5). After graduating with a BSc in Civil Engineering, he went on to complete an MSc in Civil Engineering the following year, and then worked as a site engineer on projects like the Botha Road Bridge in Centurion and the Nancefield Bridge in Soweto.

After six years in the construction industry, he was awarded the Portland Cement Institute Research Fellowship based at Wits in 1989, where he did a PhD on the durability of concrete. He was offered, and accepted, a position as lecturer in construc-tion materials at Wits in 1992, where he became Associate Professor in Construction Materials in 1999, and Head of Department from 2001 to 2005. From 2006 to 2012 he served as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, and as Vice-Principal.

Prof Yunus Ballim being congratulated by SAICE President Fana Marutla on becoming SAICE’s most recent Honorary Fellow


Up until the end of 2019 Prof Ballim was the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the new Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley. He actively participated in the development of the Sol Plaatje University from project inception. He believes that not only should the quality and quantity of graduates be improved, but gradu-ates should be encouraged to develop habits of the mind – critical reasoning, reading, engaging critically with everyday experiences, seeing the unfamiliar in the everyday occurrence.

Prof Ballim was born in the 1950s and grew up in Kliptown. Although science was not part of the curriculum at his school, he knew he wanted to be an engineer from an early age, and he partly educated himself through reading. He also grew up with an abiding sense of the effect that social con-ditions have on one’s life, and on people’s ability to make choices.

Prof Ballim finds inspiration in nature, loves hiking, and enjoys fishing and birding.

This humble, kind and philosophical educator, who continually builds lasting bridges, is indeed a worthy recipient of a SAICE Honorary Fellowship.

SAICE PRESIDENT’S AWARD

Johan de Koker – networker and volunteer par excellenceOutgoing President, Brian Downie, had the following to say when he handed Johan the award:

“Few of us spend the time to ponder on the evolution of the people who will

serve SAICE. Johan commits himself to the identification of members who have the talent to lead, persuading them to accept their responsibility, and mentoring them into the SAICE structure.

His energy is not restricted to senior members of the Institution. He supports the Johannesburg Branch as their mentor,

and is readily available to provide the sup-port a young branch needs.

In our efforts to promote diversity and inclusivity in SAICE, he has given his time and energy to identify people who will assist in this process.

The future strength and effectiveness of SAICE will owe a great debt of grati-tude to Johan’s work.”

Johan de Koker receiving the President’s Award from outgoing president, Brian Downie

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Powerful Interface User-defined Beam Creep and Shrinkage Reinforcement Design

THE GRADE OF SAICE FELLOW EXPLAINEDA Fellow is a Corporate Member of SAICE who has achieved ap-propriate recognition in the civil engineering profession and/or in the Institution, having significantly contributed to the profession, displaying substantial responsibility and initiative in the practice of civil engineering, and who has considerable professional ex-perience. This membership category presently comprises around 2.5% of SAICE’s paying members. A nominee is usually proposed for this honour by a SAICE Branch or Technical Division on the

appropriate application form, and the nomination has to be sup-ported by three Corporate Members, at least one of whom must be a Fellow. Nominations are considered by the SAICE College of Fellows, who comprises the current President, President Elect, Immediate Past President and two recent Past Presidents. Approved nominees are recommended to the Executive Board for confirmation and thereafter they are notified by letter from the Chief Executive Officer. They may then proudly display FSAICE behind their names.

New SAICE Fellows

PrOf WAlter burdZiK Pr Eng is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria. He received his degrees from the same university, and has been involved in timber research and structural timber design for the past 40 years. He runs one of the few recognised timber-testing facilities in South Africa and is often involved in queries surrounding the importing of structural timber and wood-based products. He has also served on the SANS committees charged with writing the South African timber design codes and specifications that have to do with wood-based structural products. His other fields of interest include analysis of structural systems, as well as steel, concrete and masonry design. In addition he serves on the SAICE Journal Editorial Panel.

AndreW COPelAnd Pr Eng is a technical specialist in the area of mine residue management (pri-marily tailings) and the associated infrastructure, environmental, social and economic aspects. He has 30 years of experience in civil geotechnics, paste and filtered tailings, heap leach facilities and mine infrastructure, with a Master’s degree in mine backfill. Andrew has also participated in the drafting of guidelines and standards for mine residue facilities, and carried out numerous audits and design reviews in Africa and around the world. He is based in Johannesburg and oversees the mine residue, environ-mental and geotechnical sections of Knight Piésold’s business in southern Africa, and in this context also interacts with their international counterparts.

MArK CrOssMAn Pr Eng commenced his career in 1980 with the South African Railways, and then moved to BS Bergman & Partners as a structural engineer. From 1987 his interest turned to geotechnical engineering, and he joined Schwartz Tromp and Associates, becoming a partner in 1992. In 1995 he started Crossman Pape & Associates which he has successfully run to the present. He has worked exten-sively in Africa and across South Africa on various projects, including The Lost City (Sun City), Mall of Africa, Cornubia and Fourways Mall. He has been involved in a number of lateral support designs (e.g. Standard Bank Rosebank, Loftus Park) and pile designs (e.g. Houghton Hotel, Jumeraih Hotel in Dubai, Atburra Bridge in Sudan). He has also been involved with many slope stability designs and block walls, including the current Leroy Merlin and DSV South Africa developments.

JOnAthAn duvel Pr Eng is experienced in railway infrastructure management and track mainte-nance. He started with Spoornet in 1994, working on the COALLINE and NATCOR systems. From 2002, he worked on the BHP Iron Ore Railway in Australia in wheel-rail interaction, maintenance standards, and track, formation and bridge research focused on the progression to 40-tonne axle loads. He returned to Transnet in 2007, serving the Western Cape and COALLINE systems. Currently, he leads the track discipline at Transnet as Principal Track Engineer, which includes advising other railways in Africa. Additionally, Jonathan holds an MSc in Railway Operations Management (cum laude), and is registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer in Australia.

http://ally.co.za/


PrOf Alex elvin Pr Eng is Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He holds a PhD and a Master’s degree from MIT, Cambridge, USA, as well as a BSc (cum laude) from Wits. Besides his academic and research work (he has been cited more than 1 600 times in national and international journals), Prof Elvin consults on difficult engineering problems and carries out forensic/failure analyses. He is passionate about mentoring young engineers, as well as entrepreneurs and start-ups innovating in the high-tech structures and construction space.

stePhen huMPhries Pr Eng obtained BEng and Honours degrees in 1988 and 1989 respectively from the University of Pretoria, and registered professionally in 1995. Stephen is a director of Nyeleti Consulting and heads their Structural Division, specialising in bridge engineering. For the past 28 years he has been involved in several major bridge projects, including strengthening and rehabilitation of existing bridges, as well as the design of new bridges. He co-authored what was to become the COLTO Series 12 000: Standard Specifications for Rehabilitation of Concrete Bridges and was also a member of the bridge expert panel of the COTO committee that drafted the new TMH19 – Manual for Visual Assessment of Road Structures. In 2017 he received the SAICE Engineer of the Year award.

PrOf sW JACObsZ Pr Eng graduated with a BEng (cum laude) and MEng (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria before joining Jones & Wagener in Johannesburg as a geotechnical engineer. He completed his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and worked on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project in London before returning to Jones & Wagener. He joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria in 2010, where he established a geotech-nical centrifuge laboratory for which he is currently responsible. His research interests include geotech-nical physical modelling and the application of unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice. He also serves on the SAICE Journal Editorial Panel.

steven KAPlAn Pr Eng, Pr CPM, who graduated from UCT with an Honours in Civil Engineering, is SAICE’s COO (and currently Acting CEO). He has more than 35 years of consulting engineering experience, with particular focus on the construction and project management sector. A highlight was being project manager on the construction of the Gautrain Hatfield Station. His project management experience has stood him in good stead in enhancing SAICE’s internal organisation processes, which has allowed SAICE as a learned society to continue fulfilling its mission. Along with this he actively contributes to developing SAICE’s new Growing Forward strategy for an evolved student and graduate mentorship programme. In addition he has participated in ECSA’s Working Group for Development of a Stakeholder Framework document, and serves on the SACPCMP IDoW and Tariff of Fees Committees.

gerhArd Keyter Pr Eng graduated from the University of Pretoria and subsequently obtained an MSc in geotechnical engineering from Imperial College (UK). He also holds a Chamber of Mines Certificate in Advanced Rock Engineering, and specialises in the geotechnical design of open pit mines, road and railway cuttings, tunnels, large hydropower caverns, mine tunnels and underground mine excavations, and underground mining (more specifically on geotechnical design aspects of block caving and sublevel caving). He was part of the design team for the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme and also worked on Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, leading the design of the Polihali Diversion Tunnels (now being constructed at the site of the Polihali Dam), and in designing the 38 km long Polihali Transfer Tunnel which will transfer water to the Katse Dam.

dr MiChele Kruger Pr Eng completed her degrees at the University of Johannesburg. She specialises in water and wastewater treatment and was, until recently, with CSVwater where she was in charge of various water and wastewater treatment projects. She has subsequently been appointed as Member of the Advisory Committee on the stabilisation and efficient functioning of the water sector, linked to the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. Michele is a previous Board Member of CESA, has served on FIDIC committees since 2007, and chaired the FIDIC Capacity Building Committee. She is currently a Mentor for the FIDIC Future Leaders Management Program that develops top young engineers from around the world, and she also chairs the FIDIC Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. Previously she served as deputy chair of the ECSA Communication and Information Committee.


AnitA lOOts Pr Eng, FSAAE holds an MEng in Civil Engineering from Stellenbosch University. Since January 2018 she has been the Head of the Technical Units for the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC). She started her career in the Dam Safety Division in the Department of Water Affairs in Pretoria and has since worked in the private as well as public sectors. In 2004 she started a small consulting company and became involved in the international Square Kilometre Array team in South Africa, which she later joined on a full-time basis, establishing the engineering team and developing the programmes for the SKA’s African partner countries. The team received an award from the Department of Science and Technology for their work. Anita was also a recipient of the inaugural Inspiring 50 awards for women in technology in South Africa.

PrOf JAMes MAinA Pr Eng, FSAAE is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP). He holds a PhD and a Master’s from the University of Miyazaki, Japan, and a BEng Honours from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He has worked in Tanzania, Japan, Qatar and South Africa, with research collaborations in Australia, China, India, Japan, Qatar, Italy, Tanzania and the USA. Before joining UP, he worked at the CSIR where he became Chief Researcher in 2009. He focuses on pavement engineering, including numerical modelling of pavement structures, characterisation of mechanical properties of pavement materials, non-destructive field testing of pavements and the use of high-performance computing. He has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and is a recipient of numerous excellence awards. At UP he teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and supervises Master’s and Doctoral students.

MAMAtŠelisO MAKhethA Pr Eng, Pr CPM is the Managing Director of Makhetha Development Consultants which provides professional services to communities and project implementation agencies in appropriate urban and rural development planning and implementation. Martha, as she is popularly known, is also a project manager and roads and stormwater engineer. She obtained her B Eng degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Roorkee in India in 1983, and subsequently earned an MSc in Engineering Project Management. Throughout her career she has been involved with roads projects, mainly in South Africa and Lesotho, including work for the Coega Development Corporation in the Eastern Cape. Currently (since 2017) she is team leader for the Polihali Western Access Corridor in Lesotho managing a team of engineers, sociologists, surveyors, GIS specialists, architects, and data management and administrative staff.

MAreliZe MOstert Pr Eng started her career at the Department of Water Affairs where she gained valuable design experience. She also had the opportunity to serve as Assistant Resident Engineer for the construction of the Nandoni Dam. She then joined Rand Water as a design engineer focusing on water-retaining structures and associated pipe work. In 2003 she joined Nyeleti Consulting as an associate and is currently a Technical Director in the Structural Division of the company. She specialises in the design of water-retaining structures, but also has extensive experience in managing and coordinating multi-disciplinary design teams. Projects in which she played a leading role include the Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Works, a number of wastewater treatment works, and the design of ancillary structures at Medupi and Kusile Power stations.

rAJAndrAn PAdAvAttAn Pr Tech Eng, Pr CPM graduated with a BSc Honours in Transportation Planning (Civil) from the University of Pretoria. His passion for construction materials and pavement design began with his first employer, a consultant with a construction materials laboratory. This led him to joining the National Department of Transport (Directorate Transport: Materials), later moving to the Gauteng Roads and Transport Materials Laboratory. In 2006 he joined SANRAL, which led to his involvement in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. From 2008 to 2011 he served on the PIARC Committee, as well as for a short stint on the Chapter 4: Materials COTO Committee. He started at Nyeleti Consulting in 2015, where he now heads the Transportation Division as Technical Director. In 2019 he was runner-up for the CESA Mentor of the Year award.


JOsh PAdAyAChee Pr Eng graduated from the University of Natal in 2000 and went on to join the bridge team at VKE, where he worked on numerous bridge designs for strategic national road projects. In 2005 he went on a sabbatical to Mouchel in the UK. Whilst in the UK he was integrally involved with the establishment of an ASSET Management Infrastructure Framework for Wokingham, as well as working on various international bridge design projects. In 2011 he joined Naidu Consulting as a Senior Bridge Engineer and was promoted to Director in 2015. His passion and drive have always been to push the engineering envelope through constant innovation whilst maximising job creation to serve local com-munities. Josh currently leads the Bridges and Buildings Sector of Naidu Consulting on complex bridge projects, both locally and internationally.

KAMAshAn reddy Pr Tech Eng holds qualifications in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Engineering Management (cum laude) obtained through the University of Johannesburg. He is currently employed at Transnet and is in charge of the rail and built environment portfolio at Transnet Group Capital’s Engineering Centre of Excellence. He has a diverse range of experience, spanning from rail infrastructure maintenance to fulfilling key technical and advisory roles on strategic port, heavy-haul rail, commuter rail and inland dry port mega infrastructure projects, gained during his time spent in both the public and private sectors. He is the current Chair of the SAICE Railway and Harbour Engineering Division.

PrOf AKPOfure tAigbenu Pr Eng is Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Professor of Water Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. With over 35 years of experi-ence, he has served in various capacities in academia as Professor, Dean and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and in professional engineering circles as consultant locally and internationally. He obtained his doctoral degree from Cornell University in 1985, and is professionally registered in South Africa. He is the founder of the computational technique, the Green Element Method. He is also an NRF-rated scientist, and has published widely in the areas of computational methods and water resources management. He also facilitates the short professional course, Urban Drainage, for SAICE.

MiKe tAitZ Pr Eng, who graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BSc in Civil Engineering, has 35 years of experience in the South African construction industry, primarily in earthworks construction and geotechnical engineering (25 of these years were spent with Franki Africa). During these years he was the Director of high-profile geotechnical contracts including the Gautrain Rapid Transit Railway System, Kusile Power Station, major award-winning lateral support and piling basement contracts (e.g. the FNB Palace Parkade; Nkomati Phase 2, Mpumalanga; New Old Mutual Head Office, Sandton; 129 Rivonia Road, Village Walk, Sandton; 2 Pybus Road, Sandton; Discovery Head Office, Sandton) and most recently the Okavango Bridge Contract, Botswana, and the Clairwood Logistic Park, Durban, which is the largest ground improvement contract undertaken in southern Africa.

Abe thelA Pr Eng, who graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, has more than 30 years’ work experience in municipal services and the water sector. He is currently Executive Director and Chairman of Nyeleti Consulting. He served for more than seven years in various committees of Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) and in 2014 was elected President of CESA for a period of two years. He is currently Secretary General of the Group of African Member Associations of FIDIC, which is an association of consulting engineers representing engineers on the continent of Africa. He has participated in a number of CESA, FIDIC and GAMA conferences and workshops both locally and internationally.

PrOf ChristO venter Pr Eng is Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP). He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in transport engineering and plan-ning, public transport planning, and transport modelling. He received his PhD degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1998, and then worked for the CSIR until he joined academia in 2003. His research interests focus on the intersection of transport policy, public transport deployment, and societal impacts within the challenging environment of African cities. He leads UP’s research collaboration with the international BRT Centre of Excellence, and is a serving member on several research advisory and editorial panels, including that of the SAICE Journal.

dr niCO verMeulen Pr Eng completed his formal training in geotechnical engineering at the University of Pretoria from 1988 to 2001. He was appointed as senior lecturer from 1994 onwards. After obtaining his PhD, he joined Jones & Wagener where he currently holds the position of Technical Director. As a consultant, his major involvement has been with geotechnical investigations for large industrial developments, including the establishment of the Coega Industrial Development Zone, the Mmamabula Power Station and various specialised aspects of tailings engineering. He is actively involved in the profession and with geotechnical research through SAICE and in collaboration with the major universities. More recently, he has also become involved in engineering litigation, especially arbitration.

MAgrethA vlOK Pr Tech Eng is a senior structural engineer at Themba-Africa. She completed her BTech degree at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), and followed this up with a BSc Honours in Structures at the University of Pretoria. After graduating from CPUT she worked for Kempell Abromowitz Yawitch and Partners where she gained valuable experience in structures and civil infrastructure. In 2002 she joined Themba-Africa Consulting Engineers where she worked her way up through the ranks to her current position as Director. She is widely experienced in structural and infrastructure-related engineering and has managed many projects in these fields in South Africa and in a number of African countries, as well as in Dubai. She is also knowledgeable about government processes and legislation relevant to the industry.

dr eduArd vOrster Pr Eng is Chief Client Officer of Aurecon Africa and past Director of Aurecon Global (Pty) Ltd. He furthermore serves on the Civil Engineering Advisory Board for the University of Pretoria, is a past Director of the Aurecon Ownership Board (AOB) and past Chairman of SAICE’s Geotechnical Division. He participates in selected SANS Technical Committees and has served on the ISSMGE Board-level Innovation and Development Committee. He also serves on the SAICE Journal Editorial Panel, and was SAICE Engineer of the Year joint winner in 2014. Other awards include SAPSA Engineering Professional of the Year (2019), JE Jennings Award (2006, 2010), Cambridge Turner Prize (2005), Barry van Wyk Award (1998) and the DW de Vos Medal (1997). He has also published over 31 papers, industry articles and opinion pieces.

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contact: Barbara spence tel: (011) 463 7940 email: [email protected] Website: www.avenue.co.za



SAICE recently launched its new strategic plan called Growing Forward Together. In this regard members are referred to the article on pages 2 – 5 in the August 2019 edition of Civil Engineering. Also relevant to that article was the article on page 1 of the same edition, prepared by SAICE’s 2019 President, Brian Downie. PDF copies of these articles are available from the editor ([email protected]).

Several of the initiatives of this new strategic plan require inputs from the various Branches and Divisions of SAICE – not only from the committees, but also from members across the spectrum.

A few challenges have, however, been identified, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

Q Some SAICE Branches are not opera-tional in the true sense of the word.

Q Many members actually do not know much about SAICE – neither of its history, purpose and activities, nor of the whole engineering setup in South Africa and abroad.

Q Many members do not fully un-derstand the concept of Voluntary Associations (VAs) and the role of the membership in such organisations.

Q Rural and smaller Branches are in some respects disadvantaged.

Q Distances between towns play a major role in the functioning (or not) of some Branches.

In order to try and better understand each region’s unique challenges, SAICE Past-President Errol Kerst (2018) will be visiting various centres within a few of the smaller Branches to present a seminar to members. He will be supported where needed by three Past-Presidents – Johan de Koker (2008), Seetella Makhetha (2011) and Stanford Mkhacane (2014). The seminars will cover the following topics:

Q SAICE structure: Why belong, its objectives and historical background

Q What is a VA / NPO / NPC?

Q Other VAs in the civil arena Q Statutory organisations Q History of professional registration Q The Washington, Dublin and Sydney

Accords (regarding mutual acceptance of engineering qualifications), and the International Engineering Accord (regarding mutual recognition of professional registration)

Q Engineers / Technologists / Technicians Q Educational institutions Q Other country organisations Q Ethics and change Q Growing Forward Together strategy Q Your involvement.

The purpose of these visits will be to inform and empower SAICE members.

The SAICE Council has approved the use of accumulated funds from dormant Branches to cover travel and accommoda-tion expenses on these road trips. The events will take place as an afternoon ses-sion, followed by a networking opportu-nity lasting until about 18:00. Attendance and participation in the discussions will be awarded with 0.4 CPD points.

A nominal fee of R250 will be charged to cover the incidental costs, such as venue hire where necessary, plus a memory stick with the presentations, and some refresh-ments. The presenters do not charge for their time, so this is an excellent way to get CPD virtually for free. As we are really trying to keep costs low, firms are being requested to make their boardrooms avail-able, and to sponsor snacks and drinks.

In August 2019 Errol Kerst and Johan de Koker visited the SAICE North West Branch as a trial run, and over a five-day period met SAICE members in the towns of Hartbeespoort, Rustenburg, Mafeking and Klerksdorp. Much was learnt and the programme will now be rolled out to the Limpopo, Highveld and Lowveld Branches in the next few months.

One of the main conclusions from the initial road trip was that towns in a

Branch with a number of SAICE members should function as a node within that Branch. Future trips will explore this concept in more detail.

The team is in fact willing to present these seminars at any SAICE Branch in the country. All that is required is that a low-cost venue be provided in a few towns and that travel and accommodation costs be met by the Branch. SAICE National Office and the presenter/s will do all the necessary advertising and administration for these events. Presenting the seminar in a few towns in a region will also help with keeping members’ travel costs low.

Any member who thinks their area or node would benefit from such an event should please contact Errol Kerst (details below) for more information and a general discussion about hosting such an event.

The SAICE Executive Board (who fully endorses this initiative) is excited about the new strategic plan, Growing Forward Together, and the many planned initiatives to reignite the civil engineering spark amongst our members. The road trips dis-cussed above form part of these initiatives.

Our profession’s future, and our great country’s future, are in our hands.

Keeping SAICE’s smaller Branches in the fold

errol Kerst (sAiCe 2018 President)

082 551 5075errolkerst@gmail�com


Course name Course dates location CPd Accreditation no Course Presenter Contact

Adjudication and Arbitration: How to deal with Challenges to Jurisdiction

4 August 2020 Midrand SAICEcon18/02268/21Credits: 1 ECSASACPCMP/CPD/18/009 5 hours SACPCMP

Hubert Thompson dawn@saice�org�za25 August 2020 Cape Town

General Conditions of Contract for Construction Works (Simplified Form) – First Edition (2018) SGCC (2018)

13 March 2020 DurbanSAICEcon18/02270/21Credits: 1 ECSASACPCMP/CPD/18/0306 Hours SACPCMP

Benti Czanik cheryl-lee@saice�org�za17 April 2020 Midrand

15 May 2020 Port Elizabeth

12 June 2020 Cape Town

General Conditions of Subcontract for Construction Works – First Edition (2018) GCSC 2018

11 May 2020 MidrandSAICEcon18/02254/21Credits: 1 ECSASACPCMP/CPD/18/0326 Hours SACPCMP

Benti Czanik dawn@saice�org�za7 July 2020 Durban

27 July 2020 Cape Town

17 August 2020 Port Elizabeth

SAICE Suite of General Conditions of Contract: GCC 2015, SGCC 2018 and GCCSF 2018

5–6 March 2020 Midrand

SAICEcon19/02451/22Credits: 2 ECSASACPCMP/CPD/19/01612 Hours SACPCMP

Benti Czanik dawn@saice�org�za

6–7 April 2020 Cape Town

23–24 April 2020 Durban

7–8 May 2020 Bloemfontein

21–22 May 2020 Port Elizabeth

4–5 June 2020 East London

9–10 July 2020 Midrand

23–24 July 2020 Polokwane

6–7 August 2020 Durban

20–21 August 2020 Pretoria

Introduction to the SAICE General Conditions of Contract for Construction Works Third Edition (2015)

2 April 2020 Polokwane

SAICEcon19/02450/22Credits: 1 ECSASACPCMP/CPD/19/0176 Hours SACPCMP

Benti Czanik cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

20 April 2020 Cape Town

29 May 2020 Midrand

17 July 2020 Port Elizabeth

14 August 2020 Pietermaritzburg

Project Management of Construction Projects


SAICEcon18/02375/21Credits: 2 ECSA Neville Gurry cheryl-lee@saice�org�za


12–13 May 2020 Cape Town

2–3 June 2020 Nelspruit

28–29 July 2020 Bloemfontein

4–5 August 2020 East London

25–26 August 2020 Port Elizabeth

Structural Steel Design to SANS 10162-1-2005

17 March 2020 Cape TownSAICEstr18/02396/21Credits: 1 ECSA Greg Parrott cheryl-lee@saice�org�za28 April 2020 Midrand

28 July 2020 Midrand

Reinforced Concrete Design to SANS 10100-1-2000

18 March 2020 Cape TownSAICEstr18/02395/21Credits: 1 ECSA Greg Parrott cheryl-lee@saice�org�za29 April 2020 Midrand

29 July 2020 Midrand

Practical Geometric Design

22–26 June 2020 Cape TownSAICEtr19/02561/22 Credits: 5 ECSA Tom Mckune dawn@saice�org�za28 Sept–2 Oct 2020 Durban

9–13 November 2020 Midrand

Leadership and Project Management in Engineering

19–20 August 2020 Cape TownSAICEbus19/02507/22Credits: 2 ECSA David Ramsay dawn@saice�org�za9–10 September 2020 Durban

14–15 October 2020 Midrand

register online: www. saice.org.za

sAiCe training Calendar 2020



Water Law of South Africa9–10 June 2020 Midrand SAICEwat19/02516/22

Credits: 2 ECSA Hubert Thompson dawn@saice�org�za7–8 July 2020 Cape Town

The Legal Process dealing with Construction Disputes

7–8 April 2020 Midrand

SAICEcon19/02517/22Credits: 2 ECSASACPCMP/CPD/15/010/RV12 hours SACPCMP

Hubert Thompson dawn@saice�org�za


21–22 July 2020 Cape Town

18–19 August 2020 Bloemfontein

6–7 October 2020 East London


Earthmoving Equipment, Technology and Management for Civil Engineering and Infrastructure Projects

28–30 October 2020 Midrand SAICEcon19/02447/22Credits: 3 ECSA Prof Zvi Borowitsh dawn@saice�org�za

Legal Liability Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)

23 March 2020 Midrand

SAICEcon17/02038/20Credits: 1 ECSA Cecil Townsend Naude dawn@saice�org�za

20 April 2020 Durban

4 May 2020 East London

1 June 2020 Port Elizabeth

6 July 2020 Midrand

17 August 2020 Cape Town

7 September 2020 Bloemfontein

28 September 2020 Polokwane

Construction Regulations from a Legal Perspective


SAICEcon17/02037/20Credits: 2 ECSA Cecil Townsend Naude cheryl-lee@saice�org�za


5–6 May 2020 East London

2–3 June 2020 Port Elizabeth


18–19 August 2020 Cape Town

8–9 September 2020 Bloemfontein

29–30 September 2020 Polokwane

Legal Liability Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) Act 29 of 1996


SAICEcon18/02359/21Credits: 2 ECSA Cecil Townsend Naude dawn@saice�org�za


7–8 May 2020 East London

4–5 June 2020 Port Elizabeth


20–21 August 2020 Cape Town

10–11 September 2020 Bloemfontein

1–2 October 2020 Polokwane

Report Writing for Individuals and Teams

12–13 May 2020 Cape Town

SAICEbus19/02456/22Credits: 2 ECSA Elaine Matchett dawn@saice�org�za

20–21 May 2020 Midrand

8–9 September 2020 Durban

22–23 September 2020 Port Elizabeth

Water Security and Governance TBC SAICEwat19/02412/22Credits: 2 ECSA Martin van Veelen cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

Equipment Options to reduce Hammer Water

27 February 2020 Durban

SAICEwat19/02493/20Credits: 1 ECSA Peter Telle cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

25 March 2020 Cape Town


21 May 2020 East London

17 June 2020 Nelspruit

22 July 2020 Bloemfontein

19 August 2020 Polokwane

NEC3 Project Manager Accreditation Programme

6–9 April 2020 Midrand SAICEcon19/02464/22Credits: 4 ECSA

Mile SofijanicAndrew BairdMahdi Goodarzi

helen@saice�org�zamile�s@ecs�co�za6–9 October 2020 Midrand

Introduction to the NEC3 family and the NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC3)

13–14 May 2010 Port Elizabeth

SAICEcon19/02557/22Credits: 2 ECSA Mile Sofijanic dawn@saice�org�za

24–25 June 2010 Cape Town

22–23 July 2020 Durban

2–3 September 2020 Midrand





Introduction to the NEC 3 Professional Services Contracts (PSC3 and PSSC3)


SAICEcon17/02301/20Credits: 1 ECSA Mile Sofijanic dawn@saice�org�za

26 June 2020 Cape Town

24 July 2020 Durban

4 September 2020 Midrand

Introduction to the NEC4 and the ECC4

20–21 May 2020 Cape TownSAICEcon19/02505/22Credits: 2 ECSA Mile Sofijanic cheryl-lee@saice�org�za29–30 July 2020 Durban

14–15 September 2020 Midrand

Introduction to the NEC4 PSC4

22 May 2020 Cape TownSAICEcon19/02522/22Credits: 1 ECSA Mile Sofijanic cheryl-lee@saice�org�za31 July 2020 Durban

16 September 2020 Midrand

Specification, Inspection and Restoration of Reinforced Concrete Structures

23–24 April 2020 Midrand CESA-1436-05/2021Credits: 2 ECSA Bruce Raath cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

Basic Design of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete 25–26 June 2020 Midrand CESA-1505-09/2021

Credits: 2 ECSA Bruce Raath cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

Specification for Structural Concrete (Concrete for Contractors and Consultants)

20–21 August 2020 Midrand CESA-1434-05/2021Credits: 2 ECSA Bruce Raath cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

Strategies for Surviving and Growing in Uncertain Times 16–18 March 2020 Midrand SAICEbus19/02559/22

Credits: 3 ECSA Dr Raj Raina cheryl-lee@saice�org�za

sAiCe / Computational hydraulics int (Chi)Surface Water and Integrated 1D-2D Modelling with EPA SWMM5 and PCSWMM – 1 Day

7 April 2020 DurbanSAICEwat17/02197/20Credits: 1 ECSA

Chris Brooker Onno Fortuin Robert Fortuin

Meghan Kormanmeghan@chiwater�com15 September 2020 Stellenbosch

27 October 2020 Johannesburg

Surface Water and Integrated 1D-2D Modelling with EPA SWMM5 and PCSWMM – 2 Days

7–8 April 2020 DurbanSAICEwat17/02198/20Credits: 2 ECSA


Meghan Kormanmeghan@chiwater�com15–16 September 2020 Stellenbosch

27–28 October 2020 Johannesburg

Surface Water and Integrated 1D-2D Modelling with EPA SWMM5 and PCSWMM – 3 Days

7–9 April 2020 DurbanSAICEwat17/02199/20Credits: 3 ECSA


Meghan Kormanmeghan@chiwater�com15–17 September 2020 Stellenbosch

27–29 October 2020 Johannesburg

sAiCe / south African road federation (sArf)Asphalt: An Overview of Best Practice 24–25 March 2020 Gauteng

SAICEtr19/02471/22Credits: 2 ECSA

J Onraet sybul@sarf�org�zatshidi@sarf�org�za

Assessment and Analysis of Test Data TBC TBCSAICEtr20/02606/23Credits: 2 ECSA

R Berkers sybul@sarf�org�zatshidi@sarf�org�za

Concrete Road Design and Construction

3 June 2020 Cape TownSAICEtr19/02472/22Credits: 1 ECSA

B PerrieDr P Strauss

sybul@sarf�org�zatshidi@sarf�org�za19 August 2020 Durban

7 October 2020 Midrand

Successful G1 Crushed Stone Construction

17 March 2020 Durban SAICEtr20/02609/23Credits: 1 ECSA D Rossmann sybul@sarf�org�za

tshidi@sarf�org�za12 May 2020 Gauteng

Stormwater Drainage TBC TBC SAICEtr20/02608/23Credits: 4�5 ECSA

C Brooker Dingaan Mahlangu Alaster Goyns

sybul@sarf�org�zatshidi@sarf�org�za

Traffic Signals Design and Intesection Optimisation TBC TBC SAICEtr20/02607/23

Credits: 2 ECSA Dr John Sampson sybul@sarf�org�zatshidi@sarf�org�za

sAiCe / Classic seminarsProject Management Foundations TBC TBC SAICEproj18/02374/21

Credits: 3 ECSA

Susan RussellMartin BundredElridge Ntini

admin@classic-sa�co�za

Earned Value Management TBC TBC SAICEproj18/02259/21Credits: 1 ECSA

Philip Russell Andrew Holden admin@classic-sa�co�za

Advanced Project Risk Management TBC TBC SAICEproj18/02360/21Credits: 2 ECSA Elmar Roberg admin@classic-sa�co�za




Getting Acquainted with Basic Contract Administration and Quality Control 28–29 July 2020 Midrand

CESA-1574-04/2022Credits: 2 ECSA

Theuns Eloff lizelle@ally�co�zadawn@saice�org�za

Getting Acquainted with General Conditions of Contract (GCC2015)

9–10 March 2020 Polokwane


Theuns Eloff lizelle@ally�co�zadawn@saice�org�za

25–26 May 2020 Midrand

24–25 August 2020 East London

19–20 October 2020 Durban

Getting Acquainted with Geosynthetics in Soil Reinforcement

1–2 April 2020 Midrand SAICEgeo18/02216/21Credits: 2 ECSASACNASP 2017-0035-000046Credits: 2 SACNASP

Edoardo Zannoni lizelle@ally�co�zadawn@saice�org�za

14–15 July 2020 Durban

13–14 October 2020 Cape Town

Getting Acquainted with Road Construction and Maintenance

8–9 June 2020 MidrandCESA-1576-04/2022Credits: 2 ECSA Theuns Eloff lizelle@ally�co�za

dawn@saice�org�za3–4 August 2020 Bloemfontein

16–17 November 2020 Durban

Getting Acquainted with Sewer Design

17–18 March 2020 East London

CESA-1577-04/2022 Credits: 2 ECSA

Peter Coetzee

lizelle@ally�co�zadawn@saice�org�za

1–2 June 2020 Midrand

Andrew Brodie

27–28 July 2020 Port Elizabeth

2–3 September 2020 Durban

7–8 October 2020 Bloemfontein

4–5 November 2020 Cape Town

Getting Acquainted with Water Resource Management

12–13 May 2020 MidrandSAICEwat18/02328/21Credits: 2 ECSA Stephen Mallory lizelle@ally�co�za

dawn@saice�org�za10–11 June 2020 Cape Town

26–27 August 2020 Durban

Planning, Scheduling and Programming for Construction Works

4–5 May 2020 MidrandTBACredits: 2 ECSA Theuns Eloff lizelle@ally�co�za

dawn@saice�org�za6–7 July 2020 Durban


Pressure Pipeline and Pump Station Design and Specification – a Practical Overview

16–17 April 2020 MidrandCESA-1578-04/2022Credits: 2 ECSA Dup van Renen lizelle@ally�co�za

dawn@saice�org�za14–15 July 2020 Durban

21–22 September 2020 Cape Town

Road to Registration for Candidate Engineers, Technologist and Technicians

11 March 2020 Midrand


Allyson Lawless

lizelle@ally�co�zadawn@saice�org�za

17 March 2020 Cape Town Stewart Gibson

23 April 2020 Polokwane Stewart Gibson

2 June 2020 Durban Allyson Lawless

9 June 2020 Port Elizabeth Stewart Gibson

8 July 2020 Midrand Allyson Lawless

22 July 2020 East London Stewart Gibson

9 September 2020 Cape Town Allyson Lawless

Road to Registration for Mature Engineers, Technologist and Technicians

2 April 2020 Durban

CESA-1641-10/2022Credits: 1 ECSA Stewart Gibson lizelle@ally�co�za

dawn@saice�org�za17 September 2020 Durban

1 October 2020 Midrand

24 November 2020 Cape Town

Road to Registration for Mentors, Supervisors and HR Practitioners

18 May 2020 Midrand CESA-1580-04/2022Credits: 1 ECSA Allyson Lawless lizelle@ally�co�za

dawn@saice�org�za8 September 2020 Cape Town

In‑house courses are available. To arrange, please contact: Cheryl‑Lee Williams (cheryl‑[email protected]) or Dawn Hermanus ([email protected]) on 011 805 5947.

For SAICE‑hosted Candidate Academy in‑house courses, please contact: Dawn Hermanus ([email protected]) on 011 805 5947 or Lizélle du Preez ([email protected]) on 011 476 4100.


sAiCe / Candidate Academy


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