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January/February 2014 Vol 22 No 1
Sivili EnjinierengSivili EnjinierengJJanuary/February 2014 Vol
22 No 1
Stanford Mkhacane: Stanford Mkhacane: SAICE 2014 PresidentSAICE
2014 President
Results of CESA Results of CESA Young Professionals Survey Young
Professionals Survey
Bridging the Khan River Bridging the Khan River in Namibiain
Namibia
WINNER
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F R O M T H E C E O S D E S K
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 1
Earlier in January 2014, Stanford Mkhacane, SAICEs President for
2014, and I, represented SAICE in Parliament in Cape Town. SAICE
was invited by the Portfolio Committee for Economic Development, to
comment on the Infrastructure Development Bill that Bill that
seeks, under the watchful eye of the Presidential Infrastructure
Coordinating Commission, to ensure that all components of our
economy enjoy maximum bene t from the tril-lions of Rands aimed at
the Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs).
SAICE expressed support for the Bill and provided comment for
specific enhancements in the document. From information drawn out
of SAICEs data-base, we showed the changing dynamic in the
engineering and construction in-dustry in terms of age and
demographic profiles, and stressed the importance for training and
development for young engineers to be included as imperatives in
the SIPs. We also encouraged plan-ning, the need for operation and
main-tenance and the desperate need for im-proved technical
capacity in the public sector. We were clear that SAICE was willing
to assist, given that in a random survey of about 200 SAICE
members, 44% of those surveyed were willing to join the public
sector.
The reception was excellent. Our contributions were well
received and are being taken into account in the fi-nalising of the
Bill.
But closer to home, there are two points I wish to make on this
matter:
Weeks earlier, just before the fes-tive holidays began, we
installed the draft Bill on our website and invited our members to
make comment. We received sufficient comment to compile a six-page
report to Parliament. Of the
11 000 membership, eight members commented.
At the risk of singing the same tune I invite you as a SAICE
member to play an active role in SAICE in whatever capacity suits
you; thereby enjoying the maximum benefit of your SAICE. I
encourage you to learn more about this incredible Institution that
has served its members and inspired socio-economic development
through civil engineering for the last 110 years learn about our
structures, networking events, pro-grammes and activities, and how
they impact you.
The second point is: This is SAICE working for you.
We do remarkable work at SAICE National Office in Midrand, and
via our units where our members are vol-untarily involved. But you
make this possible. You empower us to extend the gospel of civil
engineering to the fur-thest parts of our influence. SAICE
re-spects the fact that most of its members are extremely busy,
probably too busy to engage directly, but you contribute via your
membership fees. Thank you for being faithful and diligent with
your membership fees. The honour conferred to the soldiers is
surely also bestowed on the sender.
As early as 3 January 2014, I was asked the question, What does
SAICE do for me and why should I become a member of SAICE? This
question is like a broken record.
During my December break, I bumped into an eccentric manager of
a famous Johannesburg golf course; given that I am allergic to all
things golf, I seized the opportunity to learn a little. First
things first cost. At this larney club, membership fees extend to
more than R10 000 per annum, excluding
levies and fees to the tune of about R1 000, also per annum.
Even after coughing and spluttering up almost R11 000, one has to
choke out further fees per game. This varies from R150 to R300 per
game.
The epiphany of my holiday: So what happens if I pay my club
fees and dont pitch up to play golf? I enquired of the bourgeois
freak show.
Why would you do that the course is always here, Mr Pillay. Well
be waiting for you. And of course, you certainly may not take
umbrage if YOU dont take full enjoyment of the mag-nificent grounds
that have been mani-cured especially for your pleasure.
Men of honour
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F O R E X C E L L E N C E I N M A G A Z I N EP U B L I S H I N G
A N D J O U R N A L I S M
AAP CA
R D SWW I N E R 2 0 0 7N W I N N E R 2 0 0 8
F O R E X C E L L E N C E I N M A G A Z I N EP U B L I S H I N G
A N D J O U R N A L I S M
W I N N E R 2 0 0 9F O R E X C E L L E N C E I N M A G A Z I N
E
P U B L I S H I N G A N D E D I T O R I A L
Winner of the 2009 Pica Awardin the Construction, Engineering
and Related Industries category for the third year running
ON THE COVERStanford MkhacaneSAICE 2014 PresidentPage 9
January/February 2014 Vol 22 No 1
Sivili EnjinierengJJanuary/February 2014 Vol 22 No 1
Stanford Mkhacane: SAICE 2014 President
Results of CESA Young Professionals Survey
Bridging the Khan River in Namibia
WINNER
FROM THE CEOS DESKMen of honour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CIVILUTIONPutting words to hopes tune . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 5
PROFILE OF SAICE 2014 PRESIDENTRemembering the disadvantaged . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 9The SAICE 2014 Presidential Team . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Paving the way for dolomitic compliance .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Building Virtual Skyscrapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
The BricsCAD Brigade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 22
INFRASTRUCTURECan we deliver infrastructure sustainably? . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25NEC3 Engineering and
Construction Contract: Activity Schedules. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .28Africas fi rst aerotropolis in Ekurhuleni will
it foster economic growth? . . . . . . . . . .32
A brief history of transport infrastructure in South Africa:
Chapter 1: Setting the scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
MORE ENGINEERING Nest building the engineering way? . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Ambient
vibration monitoring of the Roode Elsberg Dam initial results . . .
. . . . . . . 43
P49
South African Institution ofCivil Engineering
Using hexagonal steel wire mesh gabions in mass gravity
retaining walls
Sivili Enjiniereng = Sepedi
PUBLISHED BY SAICEBlock 19, Thornhill Offi ce Park, Bekker
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EDITORIAL PANELMarco van Dijk (chairman), Irvin Luker
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The South African Institution of Civil Engineering accepts no
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sustained by any reader as a result of his or her action upon any
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ISSN 1021-2000
January/February 2014 Vol 22 No 1
Sivili Sivili EnjinierengEnjiniereng
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The use of hexagonal steel wire mesh gabionsin mass gravity
retaining walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
INTERNATIONALBridging the way to the second largest uranium mine
in the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
LEGAL Global claims quo vadis?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.60Record levels in global claims. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
COMPANY PROFILEGeopile Africa (Pty) Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. . . . . . . . .66
SAICE AND PROFESSIONAL NEWSThe Candidate Academy grows from
strength to strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .68Engineering and Built Environment Mentors
Needed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .71Call for Volunteers to serve on ECSA
committees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Young Members Pages:
Old issues die hard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72(Results
of the CESA YPF Western Cape Young Professionals Survey
2012/13)
Did you know?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.77SAICE Training Calendar 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Notice to
SAICE Corporate Members:
Amendments to the SAICE Constitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
CARTOONSCivillain by Jonah Ptak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .63Mpumis cartoon of the month. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
P22
P56
P30
P32
P43
Bridging the way to the second largest uranium mine in the world
through the starkly beautiful moon landscape of Namibia
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 3
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Civil Engineering January/February 2014 5
Hope is the thing with feathersthat perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the wordsand never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
Hope is why most of us have not run off to Australia or the
States. But hope is despairing because what is wrong is not being
fixed fast enough. We need action Civilution which is exactly what
the upcoming Civilution Congress is all about.
Th e concept of Civilution is so easy to grasp, yet so di cult
to de ne.
In a roundabout way a severe thun-derstorm towards the end of
last year, coupled with Nelson Mandelas passing, put Civilution
into perspective for me.
On Th ursday 28 November the most severe hail storm that we have
ever expe-rienced in 37 years of living in our home left our garden
in shreds, also stripping away the leaves of the creeper on our
boundary wall, exposing the tiny nest of a pair of Cape Robins. Th
e nest held three eggs, and we were concerned that the parents
might abandon the nest and the eggs, as they no longer had leafy
protec-tion. However, they dutifully took turns keeping the eggs
warm, while watching us warily as we opened and closed the garage
door mornings and evenings right next to their nest.
And exactly one week later, on 5 December, while our revered
Madiba departed to another realm, new life hatched in that little
nest thin-skinned still, with closed eyes and just the merest hint
of feathers. Th e chicks were so ter-ribly exposed, they did not
seem to have a chance, but before Christmas two of them were ying
around our garden quite con dently (the third one had fallen out of
the nest one night).
Th e timing and the symbolism struck me Madiba left us a legacy
of hope, and on the day he passed on, these tiny feath-ered things
embraced hope. And grew. And eventually ew. Transformed.
It dawned on me that the new era of Civilution is now following
on the post-1994 era of transformation. Trueman Goba, the rst black
president of our Institution, and a recipient of the SAICE Gold
Medal, had the following to say in his presidential address back in
the year 2002:
True transformation also has to be sustainable. I would
therefore call on eve-ryone in civil engineering to start looking
more into the future than into the past. Our industry will continue
to change. And in a changing environment we will need to respond
accordingly to not only sustain what has been achieved, but also to
appro-priately in uence the future.
Its a new year, and in April a gath-ering of engineering minds
will consider
our infrastructure problems in the light of the Civilution
movement, a new era in which hopes tune must be trans-formed into
doable, definable solutions and actions. Engineers, after all, are
the drivers of transformation in that their actions work towards
the eradication of inequalities running water for all, decent
sanitation, safe roads and trans-portation facilities, roofs over
the heads of school children, etc. With these in place, a nation
can soar.
Let us lead from the bottom up by get-ting stuck in and xing our
country one task at a time, each one of us in whichever small way,
thereby collectively putting words to hopes tune.
C I V I L U T I O N
Putting words to hopes tune
Dates to Diarise!
Verelene de KokerEditor
[email protected]
Civilution Congress 20146 8 April
Emperors Palace, Johannesburg
Register at www.civilutioncongress.com
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We invite you to join the movement. Secure your
spot today.
Civilution is a mass movement of engineering professionals
an engineering revolution in which engineering practitioners
reinstate strategic, technical and intellectual leadership.
For bookings contact:Project Manager Liza Monteiro E:
[email protected]: +27 11 465 0334W: www.
civilutioncongress.com
PLACE: EMPERORS PALACE, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
68 APRIL 2014
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Civil Engineering January/February 2014 7
Trevor ManuelMinister in the Presidency: National Planning
Commission
Thuli Madonsela Public Protector of South Africa
Nazir AlliCEO of the South African National Roads Agency
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
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Civil Engineering January/February 2014 9
Remembering the disadvantaged
IF I WERE A RICH MANI never regretted not growing up rich. I
dont wish I were born into a rich family, because then maybe I
would not have made myself into something, Stanford Mkhacane,
SAICEs President for 2014, says somewhat bashfully. It would have
been nice to have grown up in a world with more opportunities, but
perhaps it would not have been fun then. Growing up in a typical
platteland environment, if you wanted to swim, you could swim, even
if it was with crocodiles. He cannot help but wonder what it would
have been like to be born into better circum-stances, but this
laid-back man accepted his happy lot, which eventually turned into
so much more.
I knew that, through grace and by doing my best, the path I was
on would lead me to where I wanted to be.
Born on 9 August 1950, and to all intents and purposes destined
to herd livestock, Stanford never let his circum-stances get in the
way of accomplishing his purpose. Th e oldest of seven siblings,
his early days in the village of Botsoleni in the Mhinga
Traditional Authority area (now the Th ulamela Municipality in the
Vhembe District in Limpopo) were spent
alternating weeks between tending the familys livestock and
attending school. With lions and elephants occasion-ally escaping
the nearby Punda Maria Kruger Park entrance and going on to kill
livestock and sometimes people, life
P R O F I L E O F S A I C E 2 0 1 4 P R E S I D E N T
Rebekka [email protected]
Unhurried, happy days in Mhinga for Stanford (standing second
from left)
Stanford MkhacaneSAICEs President for 2014
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10 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
was never dull for the pensive boy. It was here where the seeds
of adventure were incubating that would allow him to forge along
new paths, paths which he could never have guessed.
STEPPING UPBecoming a civil engineer was never on Stanfords
horizon until much later, and he accredits it to some kind of
coincidence, or rather Gods grace, so farfetched was the idea.
Uncertainty about his continuing education was in fact always on
the ho-rizon. His bus-driver father, a visionary man who valued the
power of education, after much vacillating chose to con-tinue
Stanfords secondary education during the drought of 19631965 rather
than sending him to the Makuleke area, where there were better
grazing grounds, to care for their livestock. Sending someone in
Stanfords place was a risky decision, as their cattle were of great
importance, being the measure of a mans wealth.
After having started his education at Botsoleni Primary School
in 1958, Stanford, thanks to his fathers decision, matriculated
from Lemana High School in 1970.
Stanford cherished dreams of be-coming an agricultural o cer or
some-thing similar. His family, on the other hand, favoured
teaching, but he was determined to rather follow a more tech-nical
career. Having no money to fund his studies, he applied to the then
Gazankulu
Government in 1971 for a study bursary. Although the government
did not award a bursary to him then, they o ered him a position as
an administration clerk. A few months later, when the government o
ered civil engineering study bursaries to employees who had
obtained good mathematics and science matric passes, Stanford
applied, and was accepted. Seizing the opportunity with both hands,
he completed his National Diploma in Civil Engineering at Mmadikoti
Technical College in 1974.
Returning to work for the same government, he became acutely
aware of some often over-looked fundamental values. One such time
was during the su-pervision of a pipeline in Giyani, where he had
been struggling with its planning and soon discovered that the land
surveyors had cooked the levels. If it had been done accurately
from the start, and problems addressed honestly, Stanford would not
have had to struggle along trying to dis-cover why nothing was
going according to plan. Th is experience strengthened his motto
that, as a civil engineering profes-sional, you need to be honest
and accurate in everything you do.
Later, when working on one of his rst road projects, tasked with
managing a construction team and all its activities, the challenges
of simultaneously bal-ancing human resources and machinery rose to
the fore. Th e realisation came soon that the gist of civil
engineering is listening to others and respecting their views.
Th is in part has become what civil engineering and the future
of civil en-gineering mean to Stanford not only relying on accuracy
and honesty, but listening rst and then, through a process of
discussion, equipping people to create their own solutions. Th is
is where more experienced engineers can make a di er-ence. Th e
future of civil engineering lies in the transfer of skills from
experienced engineers an open-minded approach where we need to
empower younger engineers. We are an empowered force. Th is is one
of my passions, to see young people develop, to see people becoming
empowered, becoming professional and becoming good at what they
do.
After a short stint working as an engineering technician,
Stanford was again chosen by the government as one of the
technicians to pursue a degree
A chuffed Stanford close to graduating from Mmadikoti Technical
College in 1974, looking the part of a professional
A period of fi rsts on site at Bushbuckridge his fi rst
practical training as a resident engineer on a water purifi cation
ridge, and the fi rst time in a caravan
Platteland days
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Civil Engineering January/February 2014 11
towards civil engineering. In 1976 he enrolled at the then
University of the North for a BSc degree in mathematics, physics
and chemistry, proving that he had the stamina and determination to
accomplish his nal goal of becoming a civil engineer.
In 1978, after the relaxing of the rules regarding black
students studying at white universities, Stanford went on to enrol
at the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal)
for a BSc Civil Engineering degree, which he com-pleted in
1981.
He went back to work for the Department of Works in the
Gazankulu Government, rst as engineer and later as senior roads
engineer up until 1991. During this period he gained vast
experi-ence in road engineering, to the extent that transportation
engineering became one of his passions, propelling him to pursue
further studies at the University of Pretoria, where he obtained
his BEng Hons and MEng (Transportation) degrees, nally graduating
in 1990. In 2001 he also completed an MBA from Potchefstroom
University (now the North-West University).
INTO CONSULTING ENGINEERINGWhile at the University of Pretoria,
Stanford studied under Professors Jordaan and Joubert who, after he
had graduated with his MEng, became his colleagues at Jordaan and
Joubert Inc. This was a time for growth, being men-tored, and
spreading his wings. This
was also where he met future business partner, Dr Pine Pienaar.
In 1999 Dr Pienaar and Stanford started Nyeleti Consulting (Nyeleti
meaning star), a firm of consulting engineers com-mitted to
delivering excellent service, particularly addressing the needs of
rural communities with appropriate solutions, and creating
opportunities for all in the process.
Stanfords experience since 1991 in the consulting engineering
in-dustry as a director of Jordaan and Joubert Inc, as chairman of
African Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd, and as vice-chairman of
GIBB Africa (Pty) Ltd
prepared him well for his role at Nyeleti Consulting, where,
from 1999 to date, he has been serving as chairman of the company,
which now boasts 100 employees from initially only two and has a
presence in three provinces and Mozambique. Now man-aging the
Polokwane office of Nyeleti Consulting, over the years he has been
involved in the design and construction of roads, implementation of
labour-intensive as well as community-based public works projects,
and construction monitoring of roads and water supply schemes, the
latter being where he pre-fers to dedicate most of his time.
A moment of relaxation sampling fi ner cuisine during an
educational trip to France in the late '80s, with classmates from
the Masters class at the University of Pretoria
Celebrating Christmas back home in Mhinga
We need you! Catching up at a transportation conference in
Windhoek, Namibia; Stanford was working for African Consulting
Engineers (Pty) Ltd at the time
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12 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
THE SAICE 2014PRESIDENTIAL TEAM
Stanford MkhacanePresident
Chairperson of the Board of DirectorsNyeleti Consulting (Pty)
Ltd
Polokwane Offi [email protected]
Malcolm PautzPresident-ElectAssociate DirectorTransactions &
RestructuringGlobal Infrastructure & Projects GroupKPMG
Advisory (Proprietary) [email protected]
Tom McKuneVice-President
HOD Civil EngineeringDurban University of Technology
Pietermaritzburg [email protected]
Sundran NaickerVice-PresidentDirectorNyeleti Consulting (Pty)
LtdPretoria Offi [email protected]
Errol KerstVice-PresidentDirectorLategan Bouwer
[email protected]
Dr Chris HeroldVice-President
Managing MemberUmfula Wempilo Consulting
[email protected]
ALWAYS LOOKING FORWARDAs a boy, the days of sitting in his
vil-lage philosophising with his cousin, who would later become a
lecturer in research methodology at the University of Limpopo, rst
sowed the seeds of pro-gressive thought regarding education. My
cousin inspired me what you want to be depends on who you surround
yourself with. Not only that, we need information, we need to stay
abreast of all civil engi-neering activities. Civil engineering
alone will not make us engineers. As custodians of infrastructure
infrastructure which truly serves society we need to be aware of
societal needs to be good engineers.
Coming from a typical rural area gave me an appreciation for the
situa-tion in South Africa. Many are poor, and coming from such a
background myself, I know what they need. As SAICEs 2014 President,
Stanford hopes to take civil
engineering to the remote and margin-alised areas of South
Africa, where civil engineering can provide for the needs of many,
sparking interest in what civil engi-neering can do, as well as
reviving many of the areas in which SAICE Branches are not fully
active.
Stanford is also involved in a number of voluntary organisations
promoting science and engineering skills, and is a member of the
South African Black and Allied Careers Organisation (SABTACO).
He is married to Cate and Phyllis, and has ve daughters and two
sons, one of whom is also a civil engineer.
With a patient and thoughtful temperament, Stanford loves the
tran-quillity and open air that fishing gives him, providing time
to reflect, but he laments with a twinkle in his eye, You cant be a
fisherman and also want to go to church.
Holidaying at the seaside, one of Stanfords favourite places to
unwind
-
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IS 0
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14 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y
Paving the way fordolomitic compliance
TAKING THE LEADOpen-access bre optic infrastructure provider,
Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), has taken the lead in setting the standard
for the installation of dry services on dolomitic land in
accordance with SANS 1936-3 (2012).
DFA has compiled a comprehensive set of speci cations for bre
optic infra-structure installation and has introduced a focused
risk management programme for all DFA installations in dolomitic
areas.
Following the release of SANS 1936 in October 2012, the company
assessed the impact and scope of the dolomite-related risks
associated with the provision of bre optic infrastructure, and
compared these with the cost of mitigation as required by the
standard.
Fibre optic infrastructure is considered a dry system, as de ned
in SANS 1936. Th e release of the standard prompted urgent action
to ensure that DFA in-frastructure on dolomitic land meets the
requirements of the code, either by complying directly with its
requirements
or invoking the provisions of clause 4.2.5 of SANS 1936-3. Th is
clause permits the introduction of alternative requirements
procedures based on rational assessment in cases where the
requirements of the standard are not reasonably practicable.
Th e provisions of clause 4.2.5 can only be invoked after a full
assessment has been carried out for each project, and where
ap-propriate, risk management procedures are implemented. Th e
provisions adopted must also comply with way leave
requirements.
According to previous studies, ap-proximately 96% of all
dolomitic subsi-dence events that have occurred to date were
man-induced, and were caused by the ingress of water from leaking
water-bearing infrastructure, poor surface water management or arti
cial lowering of the groundwater level.
However, bre optic ducts are not water-bearing, so the risk of
bre optic ducts giving rise to dolomitic subsidence is very low.
Fibre optic ducts are not water-bearing services, and hence have
absolutely no impact on stormwater drainage or the lowering of the
water table.
Th e risk associated with the installa-tion of such services is
signi cantly lower than that with other forms of develop-ment or
services, such as water, sewage, gas and electricity.
Unlike a ruptured water-bearing ser-vice, a damaged bre optic
duct cannot add to the severity of the initial event. It also poses
no danger to the public, as would be the case with severed
electrical cables or gas lines.
MINIMAL RISKSWith a dry engineering service, the big-gest risk
for sinkhole formation is the possibility that the service or the
trench in which it is laid may become a conduit through which water
can be introduced into the ground.
Th e most likely places where water can gain access to the
system are through non-watertight hand-holes, the point where the
ducts enter the hand-holes, or a conduit break (e.g. due to
physical damage caused by other excavations in the area).
Alternatively, if the conduit itself is not watertight, water can
gain access by inter-section or leakage from other services, or by
in ltration of water from the ground surface through the trench
back ll.
Th ese risks can be largely eliminated by ensuring that the
hand-holes, the hand-hole covers and the connection of the ducts
into the hand-hole walls are watertight and are regularly
inspected. It is also important to ensure that existing
water-bearing services are not damaged
Setting the standard for the installation of dry services on
dolomitic land
Nicol van der Walt Pr EngAdvising EngineerDark Fibre
[email protected]
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 15
during the laying operation and that any existing leakage from
such services is re-ported to the relevant authorities.
Risks associated with water in ltra-tion from the surface can be
reduced by ensuring that the back ll of the trench comprises the
same excavated mate-rial compacted to a higher density than that of
the surrounding ground, thereby reducing its permeability. Also,
risks are further reduced by ensuring that the ground surface above
the trench is nished o in such a way that surface drainage is not
impeded and water does not accumulate above the trench or around
hand-holes.
Periodic inspection of the accumula-tion of water in the
existing hand-holes and of the ground surface above the duct route,
in line with the DFA Risk Management System on dolomitic land, will
provide an early warning of poten-tial problems.
In order to manage the risk of dolo-mitic ground conditions, the
following mitigating measures have been intro-duced by DFA:
All installations are designed as if they are to be installed in
D3 or D4 dolomite area designations, as de ned in SANS 1936, i.e.
by rational assessment of risk and mitigating measures by a
competent person, peer review of the risk reduction
measures and the introduction of appro-priate risk management
procedures. A competent person (geotechnical) has been appointed to
review the pro-posed route designs, carry out a desk study prior to
construction and make recommendations regarding route op-timisation
and avoidance of any known problem areas. During construction, the
competent person (geotechnical) receives any re-ports emanating
from the requirements of Clause 4.8.3.1 (SANS 1936:3) and car-ries
out su cient inspections to ensure that no particularly hazardous
ground conditions (e.g. voids, palaeo sinkholes, etc) are traversed
by the duct route. On completion of the construction, the competent
person (engineering) inspects the entire route to ensure that the
ground surface is free-draining and properly nished o . Appropriate
risk management pro-cedures have been incorporated into the DFAs
dolomite risk management system (ENG-PRO-029), prepared in
accordance with the requirements of SANS 1936-4.
HAND-HOLE DEVELOPMENTIn conjunction with suppliers, DFA has
developed and tested a waterproof hand-hole constructed using
bre-cement or
special HDPE plastic units. Although more expensive than
standard hand-holes, they are signi cantly cheaper than a
cast-in-situ or precast concrete hand-holes. Th e placement of the
lighter- bre cement or HDPE hand-holes is also not as risky and
labour intensive.
Th e selection of hand-hole positions is also important.
Hand-holes must be appro-priately positioned, remote from any areas
of potentially high water table (perched or permanent), areas where
water may pond, or areas where physical damage could occur. Th e
hand-hole cover should be ei-ther ush with the surrounding ground
or marginally proud of it.
Hand-holes are purpose-made for use on dolomitic land according
to DFAs and the manufacturers speci cations. Only hand-holes certi
ed and approved by the DFA competent person are used, whether cast
in situ or prefabricated. All DFA hand-holes are certi ed to be
watertight, with no possible shedding of any accu-mulated water
into the surrounding dolo-mitic soil or into the ducts. Th e water
test duration is 24 hours with zero water loss.
At the inlet points of ducting into the hand-holes, the ducting
is securely mounted to withstand reasonable pull-out forces in case
the system is a ected by subsidences/sinkholes. During
construc-tion, the competent person (engineering)
Water-tightness test in progress on completed hand-hole with
duct and waterproof glands in position
-
16 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
inspects the hand-hole and the duct con-nections for
water-tightness, both prior to and after completion of back ll. A
record is kept of such inspections as part of the quality assurance
procedures.
Furthermore, the area around the hand-hole is inspected for any
signs of surface settlement or other features which may give rise
to impeded drainage. Th e water-tightness of cable ducts is also
checked.
As part of DFAs dolomite compliance investigation, experimental
hand-holes were constructed and subjected to water-tightness tests
under controlled condi-tions. In addition, control water-tightness
tests are conducted on all bre cement hand-holes at the
manufacturers prem-ises prior to delivery, as well at the
distrib-utors yard, and again once the hand-hole has been installed
in the eld.
INSTALLING THE DUCTSNormally, the installation of bre optic
ducts involves bundling four ducts in a 2x2 formation. Th e
alternative for dolo-mite areas is to lay the ducts side by side
with a space between each duct.
Although this necessitates the excava-tion of a wider trench at
additional cost, it addresses the concern that the open space
between the four bundled ducts could possibly serve as a conduit
for water. Where bundling of the ducts is permitted by the
authorities, a suitable means is introduced to seal around and
between the ducts at 100 metre intervals along the length of the
trench.
DFA specifies that ducts shall be continuous having no joints
between hand-holes. Where joints have to be introduced, for example
if a duct is damaged by excavation activities after installation,
great care is taken to ensure that the joints in the ducts are
watertight. All duct installations are pneumatically tested in
accordance with standard practice.
At regular intervals, the route of all existing DFA duct lines
on dolomitic land are inspected for any signs of settlement of the
ground surface in general, settle-ment of the back ll, or any
obstructions that have been created and which may impede surface
drainage. If any such
problems arise, depressions are back lled and obstructions are
removed.
In addition, all hand-holes are in-spected for physical damage
and are randomly, or in critical areas, opened and checked for the
presence of water. Should water be present to the extent that it
creates a risk of in ltration into the surrounding ground, an
investigation is undertaken to establish the source of the water
ingress and ensure that it is remedi-ated. Any movement of ducting,
indicative of soil movement, is also recorded.
Where repairs need to be undertaken on ducting, a competent
person must be noti ed and all new joints and repairs must be made
watertight and approved by the competent person. More importantly,
only approved joint connection means should be employed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTInputs by Dr Peter Day of Jones & Wagner
Engineering and Environmental Consultants, who acts as DFAs
geotech-nical advisor on SANS 1936, are acknowl-edged and
appreciated.
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 17
Building Virtual SkyscrapersBuilding Virtual Skyscrapers
BACKGROUNDIMQS Software has served South African municipalities
with asset and infra-structure management software and supporting
professional services for more than ten years. Its software
combines infrastructure asset information, engi-neering simulation
results and spatial GIS data in a single package. Growing demand
for a web-based version of their desktop application has led to the
development of the latest release of their software that can be
accessed through any web browser and on mobile devices such as
iPads. Th e software was recently deployed at a number of
municipalities. Th is article explores the lessons learnt during
the development process.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
What is so hard about software?As a civil engineering graduate
starting to explore the software development world, I quickly
realised that building software would be di erent to building
anything I had been taught at university. Civil infrastructure
projects t the tra-ditional project management approach well, with
a natural progression from
project initiation, planning and design, to construction, and
nally completion and hand-over. In comparison, IT pro-jects managed
in this way tend to hobble along in a pair of shoes that do not
seem to t. Th e reality is that the IT industry is in its infancy
while civil engineering has been practised since the rst human
constructed a shelter. Th e IT processes and methods are not as
well de ned as those in civil engineering, and the high failure
rate of IT projects is testament to this. A recent study of 5 400
large-scale IT projects found that 66% of software projects go over
budget, 33% overrun their schedule and 17% do not deliver on the
bene ts they had promised (Bloch, Blumberg & Laartz 2013).
Using a tra-ditional project management approach, IMQS itself had a
false start on its rst attempt at developing its web-based product.
Th ese high failure rates may just be a symptom of treating the
younger sibling like the elder.
A new parenting style: agile project managementAgile project
management focuses on continuous delivery and improvement, instead
of delivering the nal product moments before the deadline. This
Jaco BriersSoftware Developer
IMQS Software [email protected]
Lessons learnt developing a web application for Lessons learnt
developing a web application for municipal infrastructure asset
managementmunicipal infrastructure asset management
As a civil engineering graduate starting to explore the software
development world, I quickly realised that building software would
be different to building anything I had been taught at university.
Civil infrastructure projects fi t the traditional project
management approach well, while IT projects managed in this way
tend to hobble along in a pair of shoes that do not seem to fi
t.
-
18 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
approach may seem unstructured to project managers, but managed
well, it has consistently facilitated on-time delivery of IMQS
products (often with days to spare).
IMQS employs the Scrum meth-odology for agile project management
(there are other methodologies, such as Kanban). In order to
facilitate continuous improvement, Scrum involves short feed-back
sessions every morning where the previous days progress and
challenges are discussed, as well as what is planned for that day.
Once every two weeks, a review meeting is held where
production-ready functionality is demonstrated. After this review
meeting, work is planned for the next two weeks, and the cycle
begins afresh (each such cycle is called a sprint).
Figure 1 indicates the activities that form part of each
sprint.
Clients and other stakeholders are often involved in review
meetings to provide feedback and suggestions. Th is process is
designed to catch failures early in the development life cycle
instead of at the end of the project time line. Th is quick
feedback cycle reduces the risk of building software that does not
meet client re-quirements, and keeps the development team focused
on building working soft-ware. Th e aim is to fail often and early,
giving the team time to adapt and recover, rather than fail
spectacularly right before the product delivery date.
In contrast, the traditional project management approach assumes
the system can be designed in its entirety be-
fore the construction phase begins. With software development
this is very seldom the case. Where a civil engineer would nd
himself walking through a building with very much the same function
as the one he is designing, software developers and their clients
often nd themselves designing business-speci c software that they
have never used before. Th e project management process must allow
for this discovery phase and the unknowns asso-ciated with it. Th e
agile approach ts this bill perfectly.
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURESoftware architecture is a broad term that
describes how different parts of a software system fit together.
Layeringyour software architecture allows one part of your
applica-tion to function independently from others, while also
allowing it to be replaced without affecting other parts. Layering
a civil infrastructure project would be much harder. No reasonable
client would expect a civil engineer to design a building where the
foundation could be removed and replaced with another, but in an IT
project a common question might be: If we want to switch to a
different database at a later stage, would that be possible? In the
software world this f lexibility takes careful plan-ning, but it is
completely feasible. The core layers that form part of the IMQS
system are indicated in Figure 2.
Web-based architectureIf you open www.google.co.za in your
browser, what you see on your screen is a very small part of the
Google sky-Figure 1: Process diagram for Scrum agile project
management
Figure 3: IMQS web-based architectureFigure 2: Layered
architecture employed by IMQS
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 19
The Intelligent Choice
[email protected] | www.gibb.co.za | +27 11 519 4600
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Quarter Page Civil Engineering indd 1 26/04/2013 11:13:09 AM
scraper. The website you are viewing has a simple box for you to
enter some text, and a button that sends off this text to a server
at Google. This server distributes the workload and sends off your
request to thousands upon thousands of other servers, which each
processes part of your request before sending it back to your
browser, which in turn simply displays the results. The part of the
application that you executed on your computer only knew where to
send your request and how to display the results. It knew nothing
of how data from millions of websites were collected and sorted
through to get those results. This separation of concerns makes web
application architecture very powerful. A simplified diagram of
IMQSs archi-tecture inside a clients IT network is displayed in
Figure 3.
Th e following are a few of the ad-vantages that led IMQS to
choose this architecture:
Application is always up to dateWeb applications do not require
instal-lation (unlike desktop applications). Th e latest version
would always be fetched from the applications server. Th is allows
the web application to be updated regu-larly and without signi cant
interruption in service. IMQS updates its software on average three
times a day. Th ese updates are available to all users minutes
after functionality has been developed and passed quality checks.
With desktop ap-plication architecture this could take days or even
weeks.
IMQSs web application uses a single centralised source of data.
Th is means that, once data is imported onto the mu-nicipalitys
IMQS server, it is immediately accessible to all of its users.
LightweightWeb-applications are lightweight and only fetch data
that the user requests to view. In contrast, a desktop application
displaying one of IMQSs larger clients would require almost 50 GB
of storage space and a fairly fast processor. With the web
application architecture, this storage and processing load can be
shifted to a single high-re-source server, making access to
lightweight devices, such as tablets, viable.
High level of accessibilityTh e IMQS web application can be made
accessible outside a municipalitys net-work with minimal e ort. Th
is allows secure access to infrastructure informa-tion to whomever
the municipality pro-vides a username and password. Th is high
level of accessibility also opens the door to the possibility of
public participation and other input.
INTEGRATION WITH THIRD-PARTY SYSTEMSIntegration with existing
software systems is a common requirement for any municipal IT
project. Th e speci c methods and technology used for in-tegration
would di er from system to system, but the common key to
integra-tion is communication. For one system to interact with
another there needs to be a common communication protocol. If this
protocol is clear and well docu-mented, any two systems can
conceivably be integrated.
In general, it is not sound architec-tural design for one system
to have di-rect access to another systems internals or data.
Rather, all interaction should be routed through what is known as
an API (Application Programming Interface). An API specifies an
ac-
ceptable communication protocol and should be well documented.
Designing a system in such a manner protects it from unintended
harm and provides an unambiguous way for other systems to integrate
with it.
Vitens Water Utility in the Netherlands, a client of IMQS,
required that the IMQS system integrate with their OSIsoft PI
system. Th is system stores historical and near real-time data from
their telemetry network. Even though IMQSs developers did not have
direct support from OSIsoft, the integration was successfully
completed because their API was well-de ned and documented, and
there were training re-sources available in the form of YouTube
videos. Figure 4 shows a screen shot of the successful
integration.
SOFTWARE TESTINGDuring the development stage, software projects
are in a constant state of ux. Imagine replacing the foundation of
a building and expecting all the walls to stand afterwards. Within
such a volatile environment, a software project needs regular
testing to ensure that all new and existing functionality operates
as intended. IMQS employs more than 300 automated tests that run
after every change to its software. Th ese tests provide a safe
framework for rapid and robust software development; without them
manual testing of each bit of func-tionality after every change
would be the only alternative.
SYSTEMS MAKE IT POSSIBLE, PEOPLE MAKE IT HAPPENA skilled
developer can easily accom-plish in a day what a less skilled
de-veloper may need a week to complete.
-
20 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
Figure 4: Integration with Vitens Water Utilitys OSIsoft PI
system allows display of near real-time telemetry data within
IMQS
This non-uniform distribution of skills is another symptom of
the IT industrys youth, and makes recruiting software developers a
challenge. Quite a number of the technologies used in the
devel-opment of IMQS software have been in existence for less than
five years. In this rapidly developing industry, a software
developers proficiency and experience with a specific technology
are less important than a willingness to learn. Also, involving
experienced developers in the recruitment and interview process is
strongly recom-mended. A project may have all the ingredients for
success, but lacking
the right people, it will just be another failure statistic.
CONCLUSIONIMQS successfully developed its web-based
infrastructure asset management system after changing the way in
which we build software: we implemented hands-on agile project
management, switched to a layered architecture style, documented
our software and processes, and employed the right people. Th e
soft-ware industry may still be in its infancy, but while we build
aqueducts today, with the willingness to learn and adapt, we will
build skyscrapers tomorrow.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Vitens Water Utility and Tshwane Metropolitan
Municipality, clients for the IMQS web application Quasset, IMQSs
partner during the development of the Vitens product My colleagues
Adam Ricketts, Willem Pretorius, Ben Harper and Delany Middleton
for their edits and suggestions during the preparation of this
article.
REFERENCEBloch, M, Blumberg, S & Laartz, J 2013.
Delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget, and on
value. McKinsey on Finance, 45, p 2835.
During the development
stage, software projects
are in a constant state of
fl ux. Imagine replacing the
foundation of a building and
expecting all the walls to stand
afterwards. Within such a
volatile environment, a software
project needs regular testing to
ensure that all new and existing
functionality operates as
intended. IMQS employs more
than 300 automated tests that
run after every change to its
software. These tests provide
a safe framework for rapid and
robust software development;
without them, manual testing
of each bit of functionality after
every change would be the
only alternative.
-
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7EDIDNgTYTHEPLANEthat took her overseas
7EDIDNgTCRYTEARSOFJOYWHENSHECAMEHOME
HELP BUILD THE AIRPORT WHERE IT ALL STARTED
WE DID
SAY YES TO THE LOVE OF HER LIFE IN ARRIVALS
WE DIDNT
CREATING POSSIBILITIES
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22 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
The BricsCAD Brigade
INTRODUCTIONEngineers are pre-occupied with ef- ciency. Anyone
who has ever been frus-trated in a post o ce or licence renewal
centre will have some appreciation of how engineers experience the
world most of the time. Th is probably applies to many other types
of people, too, but what makes engineers unique is that they cannot
resist the urge to do something about it!
Th is kind of frustration was eating away at my friend and me,
both young South African civil engineers, for the past few years.
In our quest for e ciency in our work, we uncovered a piece of
Belgian ingenuity that changed our world, and that has the
potential to hit the technical CAD market like a bomb!
HISTORYTh e 80s were characterised by the boom of the personal
computer. Macintosh and IBM made their way into the South African
market amid strict international sanctions. Due to South Africa's
isolation, and a very limited and primitive software
market, South African entrepreneurs started developing their own
tools. Th is was nowhere more exploited than in computer-aided
drawing applications. We hail innovations such as AliCad, Caddie,
TurboCad and Padds. All these programs have their roots in
primitive DOS, coded on the likes of turbo Pascal and Fortran
languages. Today there are probably only a handful of people who
can still truly appreciate the brilliance of these early
developments.
Th e 90s saw the awakening of the international software
empires. Microsoft
monopolised the PC operating system market, Novell pioneered
software cluster suites, and Autodesk developed its plat-form
champion tool, AutoCAD. Th is was bad news for the local market
which was trying to come to grips with the interna-tional scene in
a new democracy. During the past 20 years South Africans have
be-come all too accustomed to over-in ated software prices!
A NEW GENERATIONHowever, in the 21st century a new generation is
putting its foot down! Th e
Jean-Pierre Rousseau Pr EngCo-founder of
[email protected]
Three-dimensional rendering of a bus station; BricsCAD provides
a familiar CAD interface with all the advantages of object-based
drawing technology
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 23
Highly Compatible
BricsCAD reads and writes WKHGZJIRUPDWDQGRHUVvery high
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BricsCAD integrates a smart connection with the cloud-based
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BricsCAD is the most development friendly CAD platform in the
industry. Thanks to industry compatible APIs third party solutions
can run on BricsCAD without modifying the source code.
BricsCAD - Unifying 2D and 3D CAD
BricsCAD is the powerful CAD software platform unifying 2D CAD
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dawn of the new age showed us once again what South African
ingenuity is capable of. Entrepreneur and visionary, Mark
Shuttleworth, has the world on re with his open architecture OS
Ubuntu. Alternative packages to high-priced suites, such as Open-O
ce, saw the light, and Google's smartphone open OS, Android, is
fast winning international market share.
It was in this spirit that Wolter Bijker and I set out to nd a
multi-platform-based, light-weight, advanced, object-orientated CAD
package that would not cost us an arm and a leg! Th ats when we
discovered the BricsCAD brigade!
To quote from the BricSYS website: With relentless commitment to
the success of the BricsCAD community, BricSYS is focused on
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industry-leading support at a compelling price to customers in the
AEC, GIS, civil engineering, process and power, and me-chanical CAD
markets. Founded in 2002, BricSYS is a founding member of the Open
Design Alliance.
The Belgium-found company set out to develop a CAD platform that
was not only affordable, but would ultimately be driven by the
needs and innovations of its online community, rather than
autocratically deciding what is best for their customers!
Th e Open Design Alliance is an as-sociation of CAD customers
and vendors committed to promoting open, industry-standard formats
for the exchange of CAD data. Th is reduces the development cost
for CAD software companies signi -cantly and creates a platform
where the community can steer the future develop-ment of CAD
technology.
BricsCAD takes this advantage one step further. By
re-engineering industry-standard CAD practices, and recreating a
back-end application programming interface which is com-patible
with leading CAD products, they enable third-party developers to
not only utilise the power of object-orientated CAD technology, but
also to convert previous developments to the BricsCAD platform.
Th is is exactly where BricSYS caught our attention. Being able
to develop our own custom application solutions on top of BricsCAD,
at a fraction of the price o ered by the competition, while still
being fully compatible with the latest dwg formats, was just too
attractive to resist, so we joined the movement.
Th e BricSYS website (www.bricsys.co.za) allows interested users
to download a 30-day trial version that may be extended on special
request. Th e software can run on Windows or Linux with versions
for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. A release for Apple OSX is
also on the cards. Th e website hosts a massive database of
international third-party developer tools, ranging from
architectural add-ons to civil engineering and surveying tools.
We set out to share this discovery with South Africans by
partnering with BricsCAD as a local re-seller. While researching
and developing custom ap-plications for bridge design, our company,
AddoSoft, acts as local support channel and community platform for
South African users.
-
24 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
The collaboration between Addosoft and BricSYS aims to bridge
the gap between advanced CAD systems and locally developed
solutions within the South African market. BricSYS provides the
ideal combination of a light-weight yet smart CAD platform, which
is extendable in terms of add-on applications. With BricSYS,
Addosoft sets out to bring back the local South
African ingenuity of specialised design and drafting modules on
a very ad-vanced and cost-effective CAD system, without reinventing
the wheel.
With BricSYS the community can steer the future development of
CAD technology (left) and BricsCAD is compatible with the latest 3D
mouse technology (below)
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 25
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT has been much advocated, but some have
seen a clash between its two key goals sustain-ability (living
within the Earths xed en-vironmental limits) and development
(eve-ryones right to develop out of poverty). In South Africa these
two have been charac-terised as the Green and Brown agendas, as in
Figure 1. Th is comes to a head when considering new
infrastructure, which is absolutely critical for development,
because it must serve social and/or economic needs, and tends to
regard some accompanying environmental damage as inevitable.
Engineers who struggle with these di-lemmas have a new source of
help: a new book from ICE Publishing Sustainable Infrastructure:
Principles into Practice 1 . Its rst section on Principles starts
with the two goals above as absolute principles: living within
environmental limits and the right to development. It acknowledges
the challenge of reconciling them, but rmly advocates that it can
be done, pro-vided engineers know the right questions
to ask and ask them early enough, and at the right time in the
project delivery se-quence. To this end, the central Practice
section of the book is set out with one chapter for each stage of a
typical pro-ject delivery process, and abounds with answers to the
question What can engi-neers do?, supported by project examples. Th
e outline design or feasibility stage of the process (see Figure 2)
is often the rst time an engineering team gets their ideas heard,
and can provide a short window in which the scope can be creatively
enlarged. Th e book describes how to iden-tify, hang onto and push
the best sustain-able option through this critical stage.
One key reason for the assumption that you cannot satisfy both
Green and Brown agendas at the same time is the pervasive idea that
being more envi-ronmental always costs more money. This originates
from the old way of doing things in which we had to add in measures
to mitigate environmental damage after completing detail
design.
The book shows how, by considering sustainability from the start
of the delivery process, lower costs can be achieved at the same
time as, for in-stance, low carbon emissions.
Although the book is written by UK authors, its principles and
practice recom-mendations are relevant internationally. It
advocates using procurement for infra-structure to improve peoples
training, social and commercial development to reduce inequality,
and uses three South African examples, including that of the
Zibambele road maintenance project 2 , where the challenge was to
maintain steep rural roads, strongly a ected by regular rainfall.
Th e poorest head of household local women (see Figure 3) were
selected and registered as hand labour maintenance contractors. Th
ey were given the tools and training to maintain a 0.51.0 km
stretch of road close to where they live, and were paid for two
days work each week.
GREEN AGENDAEco-systemic wellbeing
Forever
Local to global
Future generations
Protect and work with
Use less
Affl uence and over-consumption
BROWN AGENDAHuman wellbeing
Immediate
Local
Low-income groups
Manipulate and use
Provide more
Poverty and underdevelopment
Key concernTime frame
Scale
Concerned about
Nature
Services
NORTH
SOUTH
Prof Charles AingerSenior Associate
Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership
[email protected]
Dr Ron WatermeyerSAICE President 2004
Founder: Infrastructure [email protected]
Can we deliver infrastructure sustainably?
Figure 1: The Green and Brown Agendas
I N F R A S T R U C T U R E
-
26 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
As well as being very practically ori-entated, another
innovation in the book is its section on Change on how to per-suade
clients and teams to try out these new ideas. One aspect of this is
the idea of stages of innovation (see Figure 4) as a new
infrastructure practice moves from just a new idea (bottom left) to
nally become a sector standard process (top right). Th is
emphasises that it is not just vital to get a rst innovative
project done, but also to get the evidence it contains quickly
published, to encourage and en-able others to follow because
engineers rely on evidence for argument and design.
One recent example of this is the UK Treasurys latest
Infrastructure Carbon Review3 (which is another document well worth
a read). It has used the now available low carbon = low cost
evidence from three programmes/projects to argue authoritatively
that low carbon = low cost, and advocates clients setting hard
carbon targets to drive innovation and hence lower costs. Th is
would not have been possible without the published real project
evi-dence. So, one key role for professional in-stitutions like
SAICE can be to provide an authoritative platform for publishing
case studies of innovative sustainable projects4.
Sustainable Infrastructure: Principles into Practice is a
practical and accessible book which addresses the key principles of
sustainability for engineers and built environment professionals.
Try it out, and see if it works for you. And in this spirit of
innovation, the authors would welcome feedback from engineers about
how prac-tical and useful the book is.
REFERENCES1. See:
http://www.thomastelford.com/books/bookshop_main.asp?ISBN=9780727757548%20&BookTitle=Sustainable%20Infrastructure:%20Principles%20into%20Practice
2.
See:http://www.ice.org.uk/topics/International-development/civil-engi-neers-toolkit-for-development/In-use/Procurement-and-delivery#card_65)
3.
See:http://www.cinqueltd.co.uk/uploads/in-frastructure_carbon_review_251113.pdf
4. Ainger, C 2012. Brie ng: Speeding up innovation by better rst
use reporting. Proceedings of the ICE Engineering Sustainability,
1(1): 810
Convertor remove
itUse and maintain
it
Set the strategy Define
the project
Choose and
procure the solution
Design
the solution
Deliver to achieve savings
Detailed design, construction Outline design
Project scoping Business strategy
Procurement and contracts
Operation & in use
End of life
Planning Development Implementation Operation
Decommissioning
Stakeholder engagementK
and construct
Figure 2: Ask the right questions at each stage of project
delivery
Figure 4: The S-curve stages of innovation in infrastructure
Figure 3: Poverty alleviation and road maintenance under the
Zibambele Project, eThekwini Municipality
-
-RJVEWXVYGXYVI
1]JYXYVI#
Delivering sustainable
infrastructure that
improves our world.
DOING GOOD WHILE
DOING BUSINESS
Contact www.bigenafrica.com, or the office most convenient to
you: Pretoria (012) 842 8700; Johannesburg (011) 802 0560;
Bloemfontein (051) 430 1423; Cape Town (021) 919 6976; Durban (031)
717 2571; East London (043) 748 6230; Gabarone
[email protected]; Kuruman (053) 712 2882; Mafikeng (018)
386 2111; Mthatha (047) 532 5234; Nelspruit (013) 755 1421;
Polokwane (015) 297 4055; Richards Bay (035) 753 1235;
Rustenburg (014) 597 3655; Umtata (047) 532 5216; Windhoek +26 461
237 346.
-
28 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract:
INTRODUCTIONISO 21500 (2012), Guidance on Project Management, de
nes an activity as an identi ed component of work within a schedule
that is required to be undertaken to complete a project.
Th e PMI Global Standard (2008), A Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge, de nes:
an Activity List as a documented tabulation of scheduled
activities that shows the activity description, activity
identi-fier, and a sufficient detailed scope of work description so
project team members understand what work is to be per-formed; and
a Schedule (or Project Schedule) as the planned dates for
performing scheduled activities and planned dates for meeting
scheduled milestones.
Th e NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) makes
provision for the following two Main Options:
Option A: priced contract with Activity Schedule Option C:
target contract with Activity Schedule
The questions that are frequently asked are: What is an Activity
Schedule in the NEC3 ECC?, What is the pur-pose of an Activity
Schedule?, How does one compile an Activity Schedule? and What are
the benefits of an Activity Schedule?
AN ACTIVITY SCHEDULE UNDER NEC3 ECC OPTIONS A AND CTh e NEC3 ECC
does not explicitly de ne an Activity Schedule. It de nes it as a
document which is identi ed in the Contract Data unless later
changed in accordance with the contract (clause 11.2(20)). What it
does say is that:1. Information in the Activity Schedule is not
Works Information
or Site Information (clause 54.1).2. Th e Contractor provides
information which shows how each
activity on the Activity Schedule relates to the operations on
each programme that he submits for acceptance (clause 31.4).
3. Th e prices are the lump sum prices for each of the
activities in the Activity Schedule, unless later changed in
accordance with this contract (clause 11.2(30)).
4. If the Contractor changes a planned method of working at his
discretion so that the activities on the Activity Schedule do not
relate to the operations on the Accepted Programme, he sub-mits a
revision of the Activity Schedule to the Project Manager for
acceptance (clause 54.2).
5. Assessments for changed Prices for compensation events are in
the form of changes to the Activity Schedule (clause 63.12).
Under the NEC3 the contractor is required to show the following
on each programme which he submits for acceptance by the project
manager:
the starting date, access dates, Key Dates and Completion Date
(and if applicable sectional completion dates) planned Completion
the order and timing of the operations which the Contractor plans
to do in order to Provide the Works the order and timing of the
work of the Employer and Others
Dr Ron WatermeyerSAICE President 2004Founder: Infrastructure
[email protected]
Activity Schedules
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 29
KEEP IT REAL. KEEP IT CAT
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FOR IT, their respective logos, Caterpillar Yellow, the Power
Edgetrade dress as well as corporate and product identity used
herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without
permission.
as last agreed with them by the Contractor or, if not so agreed,
as stated in the Works Information the dates when the Contractor
plans to meet each Condition stated for the Key Dates and to
complete other work needed to allow the Employer and Others to do
their work provisions for oat, time risk allowances, health and
safety requirements and the procedures set out in the contract the
dates when, in order to Provide the Works in accord-ance with his
programme, the Contractor will need access to a part of the Site if
later than its access date, acceptances, Plant and Materials and
other things to be provided by the Employer, and information from
Others for each operation, a statement of how the Contractor plans
to do the work identifying the principal Equipment and other
resources which he plans to use other information which the Works
Information requires the Contractor to show on a programme
submitted for ac-ceptance.
Accordingly, an Activity Schedule as a minimum comprises a list
of activities, which may be grouped together or listed on their
own, with an amount entered against each activity linked to the
Accepted Programme.
THE ROLE OF THE ACTIVITY SCHEDULES IN THE NEC3A Contractor is
paid the amount for each completed activity identi ed in the
Activity Schedule under Option A (priced contract with Activity
Schedule).
Under Option C (target contract with activity schedule) the
Activity Schedule is used to:
adjust the total of Prices (target) when compensation events
occur or when quotations for acceleration are accepted, and
calculate the Contractors share after Completion, i.e. the share of
the di erence between the total of Prices (sum of amounts for
activities in the Activity Schedule) and the Price for Work done to
Date (De ned Cost Plus the Fee).
Th e Activity Schedule is linked to the Accepted Programme,
which also shows the order and timing of the operations that the
Contractor plans to do in order to Provide the Works, provisions
for oat and time risk allowances and particulars about the intended
use of principal Equipment and other resources, including
subcontracted work. Th e Activity Schedule accordingly integrates
time and money and allows cost models to be generated to optimise
expensive or scarce resources. Th is also allows estimates at the
time of tender to be made on the costs being generated directly by
the method and timing of the construction.
Contractors are required to submit details of their as-sessment
of compensation events in the form of changes to the Activity
Schedule with each quotation. Where the pro-gramme for the
remaining work is altered by a compensation event, the Contractor
is required to include alterations to the Accepted Programme. Th e
revising of both the Activity Schedule and the Accepted Programme
ensures that all the resources for the compensation event
operations (the method statement) and forecasts of xed,
quantity-based and time-related actual costs are included in the
quotation. Th is also allows alternatives to be considered to
optimise changes in Prices versus changes in completion against the
Employers project objectives and time or cost constraints.
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30 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BILL OF QUANTITIES AND AN
ACTIVITY SCHEDULE IN TERMS OF THE NEC3 ECC?Th e ICE Civil
Engineering Standard System of Measurement (CESMM3) Southern
African Edition de nes a Bill of Quantities as a document that
lists the items of work, the quan-tities and rates associated with
each item to allow contractors to be paid at regular intervals an
amount equal to the agreed rate for the work multiplied by the
quantity of work completed.
A Bill of Quantities under the NEC3 ECC is a document which is
identi ed in the contract data and which is changed in accordance
with this contract to accommodate implemented compensation events
and for accepted quotations for accelera-tion. Th e Prices are de
ned as the lump sums and the amounts obtained by multiplying the
rates by the quantities for the items in the Bill of
Quantities.
A contractor is paid under Option B (priced contract with bill
of quantities) the quantity of the work which the Contractor has
completed for each item in the Bill of Quantities multiplied by the
rate and a proportion of each lump sum which is the proportion of
the work covered by the item which the Contractor has completed.
Under Option D (target contract with bill of quantities) the Bill
of Quantities is used to adjust the Prices when compensation events
occur or when quotations for acceleration are accepted, and to
calculate the contractors share after completion.
A di erence of quantities can, in certain circumstances under
Options B and D, be a compensation event. Inconsistencies in and
departures from the rules for item descriptions and divi-sions of
work into items in terms of the method of measurement in a Bill of
Quantities are also compensation events.
Accordingly, where Bills of Quantities are used, the con-tractor
is not at risk if quantities are incorrectly measured, items which
should have been measured are not measured or a mistake is made. Th
is is not the case with an Activity Schedule, as the contractor is
required to take responsibility for quantities and the pricing of
the works information.
DEVELOPING AN ACTIVITY SCHEDULEA work breakdown structure is a
tree structure which shows a subdivision of e ort required to
achieve an objective. It pro-vides a common framework for the
natural development of the overall planning and control of a
contract, and is the basis for dividing work into de nable
increments and tasks which can be resourced, cost and
programmed.
A work breakdown structure should, as relevant, break down the
works in the rst instance into parts, e.g. in the case of
build-ings into:1. external works and services, and2. discrete
buildings, discrete spaces within a building or the
structure of a building, or any combination thereof.Th ese parts
are then broken down into elements, e.g. in the case of
buildings:1. broad sub-systems which are functionally connected,
e.g. ex-
ternal envelope, special dividers, roof, services etc, and 2.
types of nishes, e.g. oor, internal wall, ceilings etc. The ASAQSs
Guide to Elemental Cost Estimating and Analysis for Building Works
(1998) presents a system for el-emental estimating. This document
subdivides buildings into elements foundations, ground floor
construction, structural frame, independent structural components,
external envelope,
roofs, internal divisions, partitions, f loor finishes, internal
wall finishes, ceilings and soffits, fittings, electrical
instal-lation, internal plumbing, fire services, balustrades etc,
and special installations.
Elements should in turn be broken down, where necessary, into
logical groups of components and assemblies, e.g. the structure is
broken down into foundations, surface beds, beams etc. Where a
speci c component forms a relatively high cost in relation to the
works, the component should be subdivided into sub-components and
sub-assemblies.
Not all activities in an Activity Schedule will necessarily
relate to construction. Th ey can also relate to design, testing or
administrative activities.
An Activity Schedule needs to be prepared by the Contractor,
particularly under Option A, as the Activity Schedule establishes
the contractors cash ow. Th e activities also need to be structured
around the contractors planned pro-gramme and method of
working.
For the purpose of comparing tenders, or monitoring de ned cost
under Option C, it can be useful for the Employer to require the
Contractor to develop the Activity Schedule around a par-ticular
work breakdown structure. Where this is required, the Employer
should specify the parts and elements and some of the components.
Th e Contractor should then be permitted to break any component
into subcomponents, or to describe components where no descriptions
are provided, and to extend the num-bering system to accommodate
such items.
Th e Activity Schedule should as a minimum contain the
information shown in Table 1.
GETTING VALUE OUT OF AN ACTIVITY SCHEDULE IN THE TARGET CONTRACT
OPTION Th e Project Management Institutes Practice Standard for
Earned Value Management suggests that the three corner stones of
Earned Value Management are:
Planned Value the authorised budget assigned to the sched-uled
work to be accomplished Earned Value the value of the work
performed expressed in terms of the budget assigned to that work
Actual Cost total costs actually incurred and recorded in
accomplishing work performed during a given time period.
Planned Value is the numeric re ection of the budgeted or
planned work (Activity Schedule) that is scheduled to be per-formed
(accepted programme). It sets the baseline against which actual
progress is measured. Planned Value can only be changed through
compensation events or accelerations, which change the Activity
Schedule and the Accepted Programme, i.e. the latest programme
accepted by the project manager.
Earned Value is a snapshot of progress measured in terms of
completed and partially completed activities at a given point in
time. Th is can readily be established from the Activity Schedule
and the
Table 1 Example of minimum information required onan Activity
Schedule
Item Number
Programme Reference
Activity Description
Price excluding VAT
-
Civil Engineering January/February 2014 31
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accepted programme, as the activities in the Activity Schedule
and accepted programme are linked to one another.
Actual Cost on the other hand, is an indication of the level of
resources that have been expended to achieve the work performed to
date. De ned Cost plus the fee in Option C (target contract with an
Activity Schedule), allows cost to be forecasted and measured.
Th e relationship between Planned Value, Earned Value and Actual
Cost can be readily understood should the cu-mulative values of
these three metrics be plotted against one another. Th is will
enable a manager to analyse where a pro-ject is and where it is
headed, i.e. answer the questions:
How are we doing time-wise? Are we ahead or behind schedule? How
e ciently are we using our time? When are we likely to nish
work?
How are we doing cost-wise? Are we under or over our budget
(target)? How e ciently are we using our resources? How e ciently
must we use our remaining resources? What is the project likely to
cost? Will we be under or over budget? What will the remaining work
cost?
OBSERVATIONSAn Activity Schedule can be likened to a series of
bars on a Gantt chart, the difference being that each bar
(activity) has a Price attached to it and the Contractor is paid
for each completed activity whenever payment is assessed. Activity
Schedules accordingly require the tenderer to programme the works
before pricing it, and as such forcing him to prepare a more
thorough tender. This leads to a reduction in risk pricing, but
requires more time to prepare tenders.
Jon Broome in his book, NEC3: A Users Guide (2012), suggests
that a rule of thumb is that it takes 10% more time to prepare a
tender than a Bill of Quantities if the tenderers are provided with
the quantities. On civil engineering projects it takes 20% 30% more
time if the Contractor is required to take o quantities. On
building projects this can be more than 50%.
Th e assessment of the e ect of a compensation event is easier
and fairer than is the case in a Bill of Quantities. Changes in
resources or methods associated with an ac-tivity can be compared
with those stated in the Accepted Programme before the compensation
event occurred. Assessment of amounts due to the Contractor is also
easier and requires fewer hours to assess. Accordingly, the cost of
managing and administering a price-based contract with an Activity
Schedule (Option A) is less than a price-based con-tract with a
Bill of Quantities (Option B).
Th e di culty with target contracts with Bills of Quantities
(Option D) is that the target is a running target, as it depends on
the quantity of work that is required. Th e total of the prices
(i.e. the nal target) is only known after comple-tion. Th e
management and administration of a target con-tract with a Bill of
Quantities (Option D) is signi cantly more than a target contract
with an Activity Schedule (Option C), as the quantities need to be
tracked and adjusted for compen-sation events to maintain a
real-time target.
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32 January/February 2014 Civil Engineering
Africas fi rst aerotropolis in Ekurhuleni
WHAT IS AN AEROTROPOLIS? Air travel is ubiquitous in modern
life, not only for passenger travel, but to satisfy our growing
need for the just-in-time provi-sion of goods and services. Th e
consequences of this is a dra-matic increase in the number and
scale of airports, their growth as sources of employment and
increase in the consumer base, together with the growth of the
airport as a destination.
In modern cities, airports have therefore become major drivers
of urban form, economic activity and city competitive-ness. Th e
aerotropolis aims to take advantage of these changes and optimise
the positive e ects the airport can have on the economy and on
communities.
Essentially, the aerotropolis is an economic development
strategy designed to increase competitiveness in global markets,
leveraging the access that air travel and air freight provide to
global clients.
Critically, an aerotropolis does not involve simply building
additional retail stores in an airport terminal or more
light-industry parks on the land surrounding an airport. It is
about taking advantage of all the economic opportunities an airport
o ers, re ected at times by new physical infrastructure, but also
by alternative retail, entertainment, employment and commercial
land uses and these can stretch out in a radius of 30 km or more
from the airport itself.
THE AEROTROPOLIS IN EMERGING ECONOMIESWith aviation only
starting to boom, and routes, passenger num-bers and business
investment still comparatively low in many emerging countries, is
it too early to consider the aerotropolis approach for growing
economies?
Airports traditionally develop in a piece-meal fashion. Many of
the worlds current major airports started as small landing
strips
Danie WiumAurecon Government Industry
[email protected]
Matt CoetzeeAurecon Urbanisation Competency
[email protected]
will it foster economic growth? will it foster economic
growth?
In September 2013 it was announced that an
Aurecon-led consortium had won the contract to
develop the Ekurhuleni OR Tambo Aerotropolis in
Gauteng. The aerotropolis concept is now mainstream
in aviation planning, and there is little doubt that it
has brought substantial economic and social benefi ts
to airport owners, as well as local businesses and
communities. However, this experience has largely
been gained in the airports of Europe and North
America. The Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis offers a unique
opportunity to apply the lessons learnt at these other
airports to develop a truly African solution.
Central terminal at the OR Tambo Interna