Imiesa January 2015

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IMESA IM ESA TThe official magazine off th h Institute the off Municipal EEngineering En o f SSouthern of oouu th Africa

IINFRASTRUCTURE IN N FFR R AS A S TR T R UC TRUC UC CTU T U RE TU TUR R E DEVELOPMENT D EEV V ELL OP O P ME M E NT • MA MAINTENANCE M A INTENA I TENA IN A NC NCEE • SERVICE S ER R VI V I CE VICE C E DELIVERY DEE LI LV

HUMAN H UMAN SETTLEMENTS Realigning for real delivery

THE BITUMEN AND ASPHALT EDITION

Soil stabilisation A new solution

Sustainable Roads Ready for reclaimed asphalt?

Quality through partnerships

IN THE HOT SEAT Now that we are operating in a trusted supplier space again, it really is in our capacity to deliver for today’s market conditions.”

Deon Pagel, Managing Director, Tosas ISSN 0257 1978

V o l u m e 4 0 N o . 1 • J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5 • R 5 0 . 0 0 ( i n c l VAT )

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CONTENTS turene.w www.infrastruc

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VOLUME 40 NO 01 JANUARY 2015

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A ESA IMES IM

GOVERNMENT VOICE Tackling housing deliver y on a mega scale

TThe officia l magaz ine h Institu te the off th off Munici pal EEngine ering En oouu th rn Africa o f SSouthe of

A I TENA IN A INTEN MAIN M E NT • MA M ENT O P ME L OP V ELLOPM D EEV R E DEVE T U RE TU TUR CTU CTUR UC T R UC TRUC TR A SSTRU R AS N FFR IINFRA IN

L V ERY DEE LI C E DELIV V I CE VICE R VI S ER NC E • SERVI NCE

N AN UMA HUM H SETTLEMENTS Realigning for real delivery

THE BITUMEN AND ASPHALT EDITION

The Roads We Build

Better with soilions stabilisation solut

Sustainable Roads

partnerships Quality through

Ready for reclaimed asphalt?

THE HOT SEA IN T

T

ier space again, it ting in a trusted suppl ” Now that we are opera ’s market conditions. ity to deliver for today really is in our capac

Deon Pagel, Manag

ing Director, Tosas

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( i n c l VAT ) 015 • R50.00 .1 • January 2 Vo l u m e 4 0 N o

Ammann SA is walking a path of serious commitment to all market players, viewing the sale of a machine as the beginning of a lifelong partnership. With a reputation for quality, Amman’s compaction equipment sales have exceeded traditional ranges for ELB Equipment. P6

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MUNICIPAL FEATURE Infrastructure development in the City of Cape Town

Regulars

Partnering for Infrastructure

Editor’s comment

3

President’s comment

5

Africa round-up

12

Government Voice

Index to advertisers

72

Tackling housing delivery on a mega scale

Cover Story Ammann SA & ELB Equipment

6

Infrastructure development in the City of Cape Town

9

Capacity-building guidelines

Tosas – Turning the corner on the road 14 to recovery

Trenchless Technologies

Deon Pagel, managing director of Tosas, takes IMIESA’s Hot Seat to discuss the bitumen supplier’s return to its trusted position in the industry. P14

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Bitumen & Asphalt COVER STORY: National Asphalt

34

Bringing Cornubia to the community 38

Hot Seat

IMESA conference review

32

Human Settlements EPWP Phase 3 – Balancing service delivery

Municipal Focus

IMESA

HO OT SEATT

Banking on infrastructure – The DBSA’s 29 Financing Operations Division

39

Tunnelling a trenchless municipal future

45

Pipes Fiberpipe announces BBBEE deal

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Water Storage

Global technologies to bridge Africa’s road infrastructure gap

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George Airport – Major runway rehabilitation

Structa Technology supports mines 53 with water infrastructure

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Water & Wastewater

Much Asphalt thrives in adversity

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Chemical construction solutions

55

Unlocking South Africa’s future water sources

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CEMENT & CONCRETE Transparent materials

Cement & Concrete Concrete industry gets tough

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School of Concrete Technology prepares for busy 2015

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Transparent materials

64

Accelerated housing

66

Construction Vehicles & Equipment Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm gets a lift

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Technology in Infrastructure Geotextile drainage solution Measuring up

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IMIESA January 2015

1

INFR SET

PAVING

RAILWAY

Aveng Manufacturing Infraset produces a diverse range of precast concrete products to world-class quality standards and actively contributes to SADC infrastructure development. Our range includes concrete pipes, culverts, manholes, special precast products, various types of pre-stressed railway sleepers, turnouts, maintenance-free railway electrification masts and poles, paving blocks, retaining wall systems and roof tiles.

ROOF TILES

Aveng Manufacturing Infraset’s admired heritage is founded on innovation, technical and service excellence.

RETAINING WALLS

KERBS

SEVEN WAYS TO

LASTING INFRASTUCTURE Aveng Manufacturing House Tel: +27 (0)11 876 5500 Fax: +27 (0)11 872 1713 email: Infrasetinfo@infraset.com www.infraset.com

Pipes • Culverts • Manholes: Gauteng Tel: +27 (0)11 876 5100 Cape Town Tel: +27 (0)21 908 1156 Kwazulu Natal (Pietermaritzburg) Tel: +27 (0)33 387 2236

Railway Sleepers • Poles & Masts National Tel: +27 (0)11 813 2340

POLES & MASTS

INFRASTRUCTURE

Paving • Retaining Walls • Roof Tiles Rossway (Midrand) Tel: +27 (0)12 652 0000

International Branches Swaziland Tel: +2682 518 4236

Kwazulu Natal (Effingham) Tel: +27 (0)31 569 6900

Zambia Tel: +260 21 131 1838

EDITOR’S COMMENT

PUBLISHER Elizabeth Shorten EDITOR Nicholas McDiarmid EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Liesl Frankson HEAD OF DESIGN Hayley Mendelow DESIGNER Kirsty Galloway CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Tristan Snijders SUB-EDITOR Beatrix Knopjes CONTRIBUTORS A Bowers, R Janse van Vuuren, N Mannie, H Muller & K van Rijswijk CLIENT SERVICES & PRODUCTION MANAGER Antois-Leigh Botma PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jacqueline Modise FINANCIAL MANAGER Andrew Lobban MARKETING & DIGITAL MANAGER Esther Le Roux MARKETING SPECIALIST Philip Rosenberg ADMINISTRATION Tonya Hebenton DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Nomsa Masina DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Asha Pursotham SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@3smedia.co.za PRINTERS United Litho Johannesburg +27 (0)11 402 0571 ___________________________________________________

Paying attention to the municipal engineer

W

ELCOME TO 2015. We are now halfway through a significant decade for the country; a decade in which we come of age – we are now 21 – a decade in which we said goodbye to the father of our nation; and one in which the flavour of the country is changing. If 2015 should be about anything, it should be about change.

Engineering in the public sector has been embracing its own changes for some time now.

Our institute, IMESA, has been actively making significant inroads in establishing a cohesive and usable asset register as a basis for muchneeded asset maintenance.

The Sustainable Infrastructure Asset Management (SIAM) programme has been actively driven by the institute and implementation across the Free State nears completion.

It’s important to note this within a positive context; this level of asset management is fairly new globally and its implementation here – assuming its support at municipal level – will yield incalculable value.

That IMESA is taking such an important lead in this matter speaks volumes for the contribution it is making to the country. In this issue, we review the institute’s 2014 conference, and touch on IMESA’s SIAM and will receive indepth coverage in our forthcoming editions. We encourage all readers interested or affected by this initiative to get in touch with the institute for assistance and information.

While 2016 is the year of our next local elections, what happens this year is of far more importance. Being 21 years old, our democracy is indeed coming of age and no more so than in terms of actual service delivery. If 2014 demonstrated anything, it was that the real impact

ADVERTISING SALES Jenny Miller Tel: +27 (0)11 467 6223 ___________________________________________________

PUBLISHER: MEDIA No. 4, 5th Avenue, Rivonia 2056 PO Box 92026, Norwood 2117 Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600 Fax: +27 (0)11 234 7274/5 E-mail: nicholas@3smedia.co.za www.3smedia.co.za ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION: R550.00 (INCL VAT) ISSN 0257 1978 IMIESA, Inst.MUNIC. ENG. S. AFR. © Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. ___________________________________________________ IMESA CONTACTS IMESA Administration Officer: Narisha Sogan P O Box 2190, Westville, 3630 Tel: +27 (0)31 266 3263 Fax: +27 (0)31 266 5094 Email: admin@imesa.org.za Website: www.imesa.org.za BORDER BRANCH Secretary: Melanie Matroos Tel: +27 (0)43 705 2401 Fax: +27 (0)43 743 5266 E-mail: melaniem@buffalocity.gov.za EAST CAPE BRANCH Clarine Coltman Tel: +27 (0)41 505 8019 Fax: +27 (0)41 585 3437 E-mail: clarinec@africoast.com KWAZULU-NATAL BRANCH Secretary: Rita Matthews Tel: +27 (0)31 311 6382 Fax: +27 (0)31 701 2935 NORTHERN PROVINCE BRANCH Secretary: Rona Fourie Tel: +27 (0)82 742 6364 Fax: +27 (0)86 634 5644 E-mail: imesanorth@vodamail.co.za SOUTHERN CAPE KAROO BRANCH Secretary: Henrietta Oliver Tel: +27 (0)79 390 7536 Fax: 086 536 3725 E-mail: imesa.southcape@gmail.com WESTERN CAPE BRANCH Secretary: Erica van Jaarsveld Tel: +27 (0)21 938 8455 Fax: +27 (0)21 938 8457 E-mail: erica.van_jaarsveld@capetown.gov.za FREE STATE AND NORTHERN CAPE BRANCH Secretary: Wilma Van Der Walt Tel: +27(0)83 457 4362 Fax: 086 628 0468 E-mail: imesa.fsnc@gmail.com All material herein IMIESA is copyright protected and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the publisher. The views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa or the publishers.

of not prioritising the country’s infrastructure is profoundly damaging and tends to drive shortterm, unstainable solutions.

Housing has become a hot topic again, and Lindiwe Sisulu is actively driving the mega housing projects and has been calling on the private sector to participate in planning and building public housing more efficiently and to standard. Civil engineering contractors with multidisciplinary expertise are essential to these programmes, as is innovation in providing and maintaining effective services, especially on the sanitation front.

We take a look at Sisulu’s plans, and profile the highly successful Amanz’ abantu social franchising approach to sanitation. Again, it is to the policy maker that we turn, to provide legislation that is fit for purpose and supports this type of innovation. It is only through an integrated approach, which aligns from the top down, that critical nation-building initiatives, such as enterprise development and job creation, can be optimally realised.

Sustainability is now firmly entrenched in South Africa, and is a central theme in all the articles that comprise our bitumen and asphalt section. It is certain that as far as expertise and equipment are concerned, our engineers and suppliers are up to the job; it is now essential that public sector projects are properly specified from a life-cycle perspective, both in terms of cost and maintenance. To all our readers and stakeholders, IMIESA wishes you well for 2015 and promises to keep providing the critical information you need. I invite you to contact me at nicholas@3smedia.co.za if you have any comments or suggestions for improvement.

Nicholas McDiarmid

To our avid readers, check out what we are talking about on our website, Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and have your say.

@infrastructure4

www.infrastructurene.ws

Infrastructure News

IMESA IM ESA

www.in

frastruc

turene.w

TThe official magazine off th the h Institute off Municipal EEngineering En Africa o f Southern of S oouu th

s

IINFRASTRUCTURE IN N FFR R AS A S TR T R UC TRUC UC CTU T U RE TU TUR R E DEVELOPMENT D EEV V ELL OP O P ME M E NT • MA MAINTENANCE M A INTENA I TENA IN A NC NCEE • SSERVICE ER R VI V I CE VICE C E DELIVERY DEE LI LV

R A STRUC FR N FFRA INFRA IIN

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• SERVI

Cover opportunity In each issue, IMIESA offers advertisers the C opportunity to get to the front of the line by placing a company, product or o service on the front cover of the journal. Buying this position will afford the s advertiser the cover story and maximum exposure. For more information on a cover bookings contact Jenny Miller on tel: +27 (0)11 467 6223. c

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THE BITUMEN AND ASPHALT EDITION

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IMIESA January 2015

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PRESIDENT’S COMMENT

Supporting service delivery Duncan Daries, IMESA president

Having just completed a successful annual IMESA conference in Durban, I hereby congratulate the local organising committee on a job well done.

T

HE ANNUAL IMESA conference continues to be a flagship event on the municipal engineering calendar driven by a committed and passionate core of membership who do the institute proud. The theme of the conference, ‘Balancing Service Delivery’, was appropriately reflected through the range of topics presented. Issues around governance, asset management, sustainability, decisionmaking tools, new technology and environmental engineering were covered.

The keynote addresses by the Deputy Minister of CoGTA (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs), Andries Nel, and Neil McLeod set the scene at the start of the conference.

IMESA has set itself a goal to forge partnerships with national departments (CoGTA, Treasury etc.), SALGA and sister voluntary institutions active in the built environment. The institute, through its membership, has a wealth of knowledge that it wants to share and thereby contribute towards improved infrastructure service delivery for the people of South Africa. With this in mind, I want to reiterate the gist of Deputy Minister Andries Nel’s address: • Presidential Local Government Summit 2014 was recently held at Gallagher’s Estate. It is recognised that a national

collaborative effort is required to address the issues that give rise to protests.

• Minister Pravin Gordhan presented the findings of a performance assessment of municipalities. Of the 278 municipalities, roughly a third were meeting and exceeding basic required services.

• Another third were doing the basics but ran the risk of falling behind if not assisted to maintain this performance.

• The last third reflected municipalities where basic services had actually collapsed.

These municipalities were characterised by: - lack of sound leadership and political instability - fighting over tenders - no proper technical staff in place or in decision-making positions - no maintenance - no proper allocation of finances.

With this background, CoGTA has set the following five pillars in dealing with local municipalities’ lack of performance: • Putting people first – elected officials are not there to serve themselves, but the broader community.

• Delivery of basic services – address broken services speedily.

• Good governance – well-run, financially clean municipalities with regular council meetings.

• Sound financial management – it is the people’s money and someone must account for it.

• Build capacity of institutions – employ the right people, with the right experience and qualifications, in the right position.

CoGTA will monitor the progress of municipalities and ensure that regulations are enforced.

Those municipalities who are performing adequately will be encouraged to do better.

Support from CoGTA will however be required. Here, Deputy Minister Nel appealed to IMESA to provide support as well.

The municipalities presently performing well will be given greater latitude and scope to do even better. There will be zero tolerance to fraud and corruption, and procurement practices are to be scrutinised.

The criminal justice system will be imposed and civil claims pursued together with asset forfeiture. Corruption is a group activity as confirmed by the recent uncovering of an extensive fraud syndicate in Johannesburg.

The deputy minister reiterated the need to maintain existing infrastructure. While politicians find it nice to cut ribbons at the opening of new infrastructure assets, we are sitting on a time bomb of infrastructural collapse. Proper budget allocation and technical expertise are necessities. The deputy minister also touched on disaster

risk management and pointed out the role of crucial minor maintenance activities that can avert disasters such as major flooding, road collapses and water supply breakdown. Copper cable theft, and lately theft of rail infrastructure, is resulting in service delivery interruptions and protests. CoGTA is looking into responding effectively.

The deputy minister has extended an invitation to IMESA to meet and explore the areas where the institute can be of assistance. To this end, IMESA has brought the deputy minister up to date on the Asset Management Project presently undertaken by IMESA, on behalf of CoGTA in the Free State, where 71 of the 78 local municipality’s asset management plans are housed on the IMESA asset management database. This represents approximately R100 billion in infrastructure assets.

IMESA is presently in a position to provide information about the highest-risk assets in the Free State where interventions should occur.

The deputy minister was also informed of the asset management training that was being undertaken by IMESA on behalf of MISA. We look forward to a continued, fruitful partnership with CoGTA, MISA and SALGA in support of enhanced service delivery.

IMIESA January 2015

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COVER STORY

Accessing quality Since entering the South African market, Ammann has achieved a significant market share for their quality machines that has exceeded all expectations.

U

NDER THE stewardship of Rocco Lehman, managing director, the Swiss-based equipment and asphalt plant manufacturer is walking a path of serious commitment to all market players, from the emerging contractor to the most established construction companies.

Ammann manufactures not only asphaltmixing, concrete-mixing and mineralprocessing plants together with the respective control systems, but also compaction machines and pavers, and these have been making a big impression on the Southern African market over the last year, thanks in part to the company’s strategic partnership with ELB Equipment.

Championing the little guy “I feel strongly about supporting new contractors,” explains Lehman. “This is a segment of a market that doesn’t always enjoy the kind of attention from suppliers that would really benefit them

when they are starting out.” Ammann has a unique appreciation of the challenges smaller contractors face. “While we are in the business of developing the market for Ammann in Africa, we are very much a South African company in terms of the experience, technical expertise, market knowledge and support we provide.”

“The road-building industry has to be one of the most varied industries in the world.

From the smallest contractor doing repairs and maintenance, to a major civil engineering contractor building major highways, each has very specific needs.” The intrinsic value of Ammann’s equipment and asphalt speaks for itself; however, the company’s broader value lies in the integrity of its relationships with its dealers and customers. “One size does not fit all,” notes Lehman. “We invest equal energy and time in all our clients, and although we can’t always know how the newer and emerging contractors will fare in the longer term, we walk with them,

and offer them support, guidance and options that ultimately put them in a better position than they would have been in without us,” he explains. This kind of support and market guidance may not result in a short-term transaction for the company but, as Lehman sees it, supporting the emerging end of the market now will contribute to a more robust market in the future.

Ammann does not view the sale of a machine as the end of a transaction, but as the beginning of a lifelong partnership.

“Proper end-user training, with ongoing support and guidance, is as important to Ammann as the sale of machines. It is important to us because the ultimate success of our products

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IMIESA January 2015

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COVER STORY

through partnerships is down to a positive market experience overall,” he says. Ammann’s leadership team is home to a profound level of collective experience and expertise, and this, coupled with its dedication to the smaller contractor, makes it a rather unique market participant.

ELB Equipment – an ideal dealership partnership This particular focus on training and support was a significant part of the reasoning behind ELB Equipment’s decision to partner with Ammann SA as a partner dealer, over and above the reputation of Ammann’s products.

The benefits of the partnership to both parties were clear from the outset: “Ammann and ELB Equipment share a very similar culture,” explains Desmond van Heerden of ELB Equipment.

“Although the two companies have reached a ‘corporate’ level, they started out and developed as family-run companies, and this is reflected today in their stability and their general approach to business.”

Van Heerden empha3 sises that Ammann’s

reputation for the high quality of their equipment, and pragmatic approach to design and product support, was already well known within ELB Equipment. “When the possibility of entering into a dealer partnership arose, we chose to fast-track the technical assessments. The range of equipment Ammann has to offer was as appealing as their reputation for ruggedness, reliability and simplicity of design.”

Innovative, rugged and reliable Ammann’s reputation for high-quality, reliable machines was also something ELB Equipment was well aware of. “They have a very strong global presence and, we have found that as a brand name, they are already well known in our markets,” says Van Heerden. “This has allowed us to get rapid traction in the market place, and we have sold a significant volume since March 2014, with an impressive number of forward orders,” he continues. Testament to this is the fact that ELB Equipment’s sales of Ammann’s compaction equipment have already outstripped their traditional range.

Partners in support and training “We have also been incredibly well supported by Ammann since the inception of the partnership,” explains Van Heerden. “Its

Germiston office is home to technical and sales support that is second to none and the response time is first class.” Ammann SA also ensured that ELB Equipment’s technical manager received hands-on training at Ammann’s factory in Prague, and all the company’s technicians have been trained across the entire product range.

Reaching out For Ammann, ELB Equipment’s geographic footprint is also a great advantage. The company has six branches across South Africa, including Cape Town, Durban, Middelburg, George, Kimberley and East London, with further dealers in Port Elizabeth and Polokwane.

ELB Equipment also has eight dealers in the rest of Africa, including Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, the DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe. “We also have 63 service vehicles operating in South Africa at any one time, supported by three service 1

AV 70X Tier 3 tandem roller

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ASC 110 T4i single-drum roller

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Rammax 1575 trench roller

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ARX 20 tandem roller

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ARW 65 pedestrian roller

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APH 5020 hydrostatic plate compactor

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APR 3520 Hatz reversible plate compactor

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APF 1850 Honda forward plate compactor

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ACA 1000 add-on compactor

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IMIESA January 2015

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COVER STORY

depots in Kathu, Wolmaransstad and Brits,” notes Van Heerden. Another benefit that ELB Equipment brings to the partnership is its inhouse financing capacity, as well as its partnerships with third-party financial institutions.

Another contributor to these impressive results has been ELB Equipment’s concentration on Ammann’s range of compaction equipment. “We have concentrated on this part of Ammann’s range to ensure it retains a presence in the market, and this has helped establish the product rapidly, with a strong support structure,” he explains.

It is clear that ELB Equipment’s partnership with Ammann SA has been a great success, with sales far exceeding expectations, repeat business flourishing and technical support ensuring market confidence. “The Ammann product range has made a major contribution to ELB Equipment’s growth over the last year.

The value of the partnership has exceeded our forecasts and expectations.”

The impact of innovative design While smaller contractors have much to gain in working with Ammann SA, the company has one the biggest ranges of equipment available today, all of which carry the hallmarks of innovative design, reliable equipment and intelligently applied technologies. It has a distinct design philosophy, which includes the user experience, from mechanic to operator. “Design is often thought of in terms of operational capabilities,” observes Lehmann.

“Ammann has made it a point to integrate feedback from operators and mechanics into equipment design.” Ammann’s machines have an enviable reputation for being userfriendly, easy to operate and convenient to maintain.

A typical example of this is the ASC 110 single-drum roller. The bonnet opens to almost 70 degrees and the cab itself is able to tilt, ensuring that service technicians have complete access to the parts they need to work on. This element of design is directly responsive to feedback from the service technicians, mechanics and operators themselves. In another example of this method of design, all service access on the ARX range of small tandem rollers is placed on the left side of the machine, to ensure mechanics do not have to contend with hot exhaust pipes.

This method of design, as it applies to operational considerations, is demonstrated in the smooth directional change, as well as Ammann’s unique intelligent compaction technology, which is now applied across its entire range of compaction equipment.

Equipment overview Engineers and process specialists at Ammann incorporate this method in their pursuit of technologies and products for the building industry of the future. New approaches are sought and researched in collaboration with universities and colleges, and this is where the foundations for innovative product platforms are laid.

Compaction From rammers to tandem rollers, from addon compactors to intelligent compaction systems, Ammann SA offers a comprehensive product range of state-of-the-art machines to suit all customers.

focus on the user experience has produced a range of machines that provide unparalleled ease of operation. Operator safety was behind the development the APH 100TC, the company’s remote-controlled vibratory plate, which is ideal for excavation and canal construction sites. It achieves remarkable results even in the deepest trenches. The company’s range of plate compactors starts at just 120 kg and stops at just under 1 t.

Drum rollers From 7 t single-drum rollers to 25 t singledrum rollers, Ammann has achieved extraordinary results in areas of performance, including safety and compaction. Ammann also leads the way in intelligent compaction, using modern vibratory rollers equipped with an integrated measurement system, an onboard computer reporting system, GPS-based mapping, and optional feedback control.

Intelligent compaction results in the most uniform material densities possible, and sets the industry standard.

Attachment plate compactors The ACA boom-mounted compactors, developed by Rammax, complement Ammann’s range of compaction machines. The compactors are easy to fit to any excavator arm by means of fast-coupling systems, for a hydraulic, form-fitting connection within seconds.

Trench, hillside and slope compaction are just a few of the many applications for the range of add-on compactors.

Plate compactors Ammann is a leading provider of hydraulically powered vibratory plates and the company’s ASC 110 ACE single-drum roller

Ammann Construction Machinery South Africa

229 Hull road, Rynfield Benoni t +27 (0)11 849 3939 c +27 (0)78 488 2945 info.aza@ammann-group.com www.ammann-group.com

ELB Equipment – A division of ELB Equipment Holdings (Pty) Limited Reg. No. 1954/003028/07

14 Atlas Road, Anderbolt Boksburg South Africa t +27 (0)11 306 0700 www.elb.co.za

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IMIESA January 2015

IMIESA offers advertisers an ideal platform to ensure maximum exposure of their brand. Companies are afforded the opportunity of publishing a two-page cover story and a cover picture to promote their products to an appropriate audience.

Please call Jenny Miller on +27 (0)11 467 6223 to secure your booking.

MUNICIPAL FOCUS

Infrastructure T development Cape Town is well known for its natural beauty and rich cultural diversity, and the city’s official tourism website describes it as a place where the unexpected is always just around the corner.

By y Liesl Frankson

HIS COULDN’T BE more accurate, as the city, which is a popular destination for the rich and famous, was thrust into the spotlight when strange and shocking sanitation and housing issues made headlines. Some of these issues included protests against the use of the bucket system, which saw residents of Khayelitsha taking to the streets and emptying buckets of human waste on the steps of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

The 2013 mass winter eviction of approximately 800 families from the Lwandle informal settlement, in Strand, is another example of a major event, which sent shockwaves around the country and brought the city’s infrastructure plans into focus.

Although these incidents have cast a negative light on the city’s role in infrastructure development and service delivery, this municipality remains at the forefront of these spheres when compared to other provinces around the country.

According to the latest census report by Statistics South Africa, the City of Cape Town ranks at the top of the categories for flush toilets connected to sewage, piped water inside a dwelling and electricity for lighting.

It ranked second for weekly refuse removal and sixth for formal housing dwellings.

These rankings are an indicator that although the city is leading the pack with infrastructure development, there is still more to be done. As part of the City of Cape Town’s role in the five-year Integrated Development Plan (IDP), it has set out a social development strategy to address the high rate of poverty, inequality and social ills that plague its people.

The strategy is structured around five high-level objectives, which include: • maximising income-generating opportunities for people who are excluded or at risk of exclusion • building and promoting safe households and communities • supporting the most vulnerable through enhancing access to infrastructure and services • promoting and fostering social integration • mobilising resources for social development.

IMIESA takes a look at a few of the infrastructure development projects the City of TOP LEFT The MyCiti buses LEFT The Potsdam Project

IMIESA January 2015

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MUNICIPAL FOCUS

Cape Town has undertaken, in recent years, to address some of these objectives.

City of Cape Town project round-up Project: Main Road rehabilitation project in Muizenberg Companies: Kayad Knight Piesold Consulting Engineers, Martin and East Main Road between Muizenberg and Fish Hoek is undergoing major repairs and improvements.

The road was not structurally designed to carry the traffic it currently does (19 000 vehicles daily), which has resulted in the asphalt surface breaking up and allowing water to seep through, causing potholes and surface depressions. Over 80% of the road is affected.

Some of the work on the project includes minor modifications to the vertical and horizontal alignment; the severe camber will be eliminated; existing road layers will be removed; a new asphalt surface will be laid; and totally new base layers (pavement structure) will be laid. All the services such as water mains, gravity sewers and sewer rising mains will be replaced or re-lined, which will limit the need for major maintenance in the next 20 years.

The construction work required from Atlantic Road, Muizenberg, to Clovelly Road, Fish Hoek, is divided into three phases. The project is currently in the final phase and is expected to be completed by January 2017. All in all, approximately R304 million will have been spent on all three phases of this project.

Project: Potsdam Project Company: HHO Infrastructure Engineers The Potsdam Project formed part of the integrated rapid transpor t (IRT) MyCiTi infrastructure. Work on the project commenced in March 2012 and was completed in 2013. The project involved the construction of a new bus lane in red concrete from Blaauwberg Road to Usasaza Road, which is the access road to the MyCiTi bus depot.

The Potsdam Project was the latest edition to the Atlantis Corridor of the MyCiTi IRT system. The corridor now links the Stables IRT depot and the areas of Dunoon, Killarney and Tableview to the City Bowl, Camps Bay and Sea Point.

This section of the IRT roll-out extended the uninterrupted non-motorised transport facility between the City Bowl and Tableview to Dunoon, and added a further

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IMIESA January 2015

Main Road rehabilitation

eight median-trunk bus stations, as well as low-floor platforms at Tableview and Wood stations.

Project: Concrete roads upgrade Companies: Icon Civils-Secure Electronics JV A R600 million project is underway to standardise road infrastructure in Cape Town and its surrounding areas. The purpose of the project is to eradicate inferior roads, particularly in previously disadvantaged areas.

Thus far, the City of Cape Town has invested nearly R8 million in upgrading the concrete roads in Bonteheuwel. Another R21 million will be spent in the 2014/15 financial year on further upgrades to the concrete roads in the area.

The city has committed to investing in excess of R274 million over three financial years to upgrade concrete roads in Gugulethu, Manenberg, Heideveld and Bonteheuwel.

The main purpose of the upgrades is to provide quality infrastructure through resurfacing the concrete roads and, in some instances, widening the roadway, constructing pedestrian walkways and installing proper stormwater drainage systems.

The budget allocation for the concrete roads projects is as follows: In the current 2013/14 financial year, R102 million is being spent in Gugulethu, Manenberg, Heideveld and Bonteheuwel.

In the 2014/15 financial year, R107 million will be spent in Gugulethu, Manenberg, Bonteheuwel, Hanover Park and Heideveld.

In the 2015/16 financial year, a further R65 million is to be spent largely in Gugulethu, Hanover Park, Bonteheuwel, Manenberg, Parkwood and Retreat.

Project: Broadband infrastructure project Companies: Neotel, State Information Technology Agency, Project Isizwe This project is a R1.3 billion plan to extend

broadband in Cape Town. The project is jointly funded by the City of Cape Town and the provincial government of the Western Cape, and is expected to roll-out over a period of seven years.

Cape Town has set aside R222 million over three years for the roll-out of broadband infrastructure throughout the metropolitan area, and this forms part of the R1.3 billion programme.

In June 2014, the State Information Technology Agency and Neotel signed a deal to provide broadband services to 2 000 government sites, including schools, libraries and health facilities. The first phase of the city’s broadband project has been completed.

A total of 350 km of fibre-optic cable has been installed in the city’s own duct network, which has more than 980 manholes.

Part of the project also involves providing free Wi-Fi services to communities in Cape Town. With the help of Project Isizwe, the city launched this initiative in Atlantis on 27 August 2014 and in Robertson on 29 August 2014.

Project: MyCiTi (the Cape Town integrated rapid transit system) Companies: HHO Infrastructure Engineers, GIBB Engineering and Architecture, Martin & East, Civils 200, Group Five The IRT system in Cape Town is aimed at significantly improving public transport in the city.

Work on the project started in 2007. The first network was launched in May 2011, focusing on the city centre. The system will be rolled out in four phases. The full system is expected to take about 15 to 20 years to implement, with each phase being built as funds become available. Most of the funding comes from the National Department of Transport’s Public Transport Infrastructure

MUNICIPAL FOCUS

and Systems Grant, with the balance funded by the city. Bus rapid transit costs four to twenty times less than light rail and is the best-known way to transport large numbers of people as cost-effectively and efficiently as possible. According to the City of Cape Town, the service is capital-intensive, but crucial for the future sustainability and well-being of the city.

The business model for the IRT system is based on successful BRT models used worldwide. Central to this model is a publicprivate partnership in which most operational components are delivered via the private sector, while the municipality is responsible for oversight and quality control.

Project: Mega human-settlements projects Companies: HHO Infrastructure Engineers, GIBB Engineering and Architecture These projects are a response to the City of Cape Town’s housing problems, which were aggravated by the expanding population – from 2.9 million in 2001 to 3.7 million in 2011.

The projects include new housing developments, the transformation of the apar theid-era hostels, and upgrades to the living conditions of backyard dwellers and residents in informal settlements.

Most of the projects are scheduled to start in the 2014/15 financial year. Almost R1.2 billion has been approved for humansettlement projects in the 2014/15 to 2016/17 financial years.

Project: N2 Gateway Project Companies: Group Five-Vula JV (Martin & East, Isidima, Vela VKE, Motlekar Cape, Sobambisana Community Developments, ASLA, Citrine group of companies, Power Construction) The N2 Gateway Project is the pilot and lead project in the ‘Breaking New Ground (BNG)’ strategy (a new housing strategy conceived in 2004.) The project intends to provide housing units for residents of the informal settlements along the N2 freeway.

The project is to be completed in two phases and is currently in the first phase. The basic essence was that 22 000 housing opportunities across the subsidy ranges were envisaged.

The total planned housing units for Phase 1 is 16 083 and target areas include Joe Slovo, Delft Symphony, Delft, Newrest and Boystown.

Thus far, 11 437 units have been handed over and 4 646 are in progress. Approximately R9 billion has been spent on Phase 1 of the project.

Mega humansettlements project

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AFRICA ROUND-UP

INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS FROM AROUND THE CONTINENT KENYA Countries get together to construct multipurpose dam Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed to construct a multipurpose dam and a hydropower station on the Dawa River in the border town of Mandera.

The decision came during a three-day meeting in Nairobi organised by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to discuss cooperation in the management and sustainable development of the river.

“Harnessing the water from the river can solve the persistent drought that the region has been experiencing,” said Mandera county governor Ali Roba, who represented Kenya. “We are optimistic that the process will be successful since each of the states are very positive about the proposal.”

During the meeting, the three countries also proposed

the construction of a bridge to link Kenya and Ethiopia, which will promote crossborder movement across the seasonal river.

The three countries formed a technical team, which will be steered by IGAD, to conduct a feasibility study of the proposed projects and share its findings.

RWANDA Capacity challenges could frustrate PPP programme Efforts by government and private sector to work together on major development projects could face hurdles because of the private sector’s capacity challenges, Antoine Manzi Rutayisire, the Private Sector Federation's (PSF) director for advocacy, communications and labour relations, said.

Rutayisire noted that while they encourage members to embrace public-private partnerships, the private sector needs to work hard

to play a meaningful role in the initiative.

He revealed that PSF has established a secretariat to handle issues to do with public-private partnerships, as well as discuss the opportunities and challenges members face.

He urged members to use the challenges as an inspiration to do more to contribute to the country’s development objectives.

the project. Augusto da Silva Tomás, Transport Minister, believes that the Port of Porto-Amboim challenges the Angolan government to create infrastructure that will enable commercial transactions and compete with the ports of Luanda, Cabinda, Lobito and Namibe. It is also a challenge to provide support to the neighbouring province of Kwanza Sul, as well as to the countries in the SADC region.

ANGOLA New commercial port estimated at $400 million Over $4.3 million is the amount the Angolan government plans to invest in the construction of a new commercial port in the municipality of Porto-Amboim, Kwanza Sul province.

The contract was carried out by SPAL at the end of 2014. The corporate structure includes the state-owned oil company of Angola, Sonangol, and the Sogester Group, who was in charge of the design of

ZIMBABWE $1 million upgrade for Kariba South The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is set to undertake a $1 million upgrade of one of its six generators at Kariba South power station in December 2014.

Kariba hydropower station, which is said to be the country’s most reliable power station, produces 750 MW. The power station’s acting general manager, Charles Bhebhe, said the other five generators had already been upgraded, with equipment acquired from France.

“We have been modernising the systems and only one generator is left,” Bhebhe said during a tour of the plant.

Zimbabwe is currently reeling from power shortages as power demand continues to outstrip supply.

ZPC is currently undertaking a $400 million extension of its power plant, which is being financed by China.

A tour of the new plant, which currently employs over 300 people, revealed that a lot of ground had been covered in making sure the plant The Kariba Dam between Zambia and Zimbabwe

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IMIESA January 2015

AFRICA ROUND-UP

Olkaria geothermal power plant in Kenya

Development Bank and Africa Reinsurance Company.

Many other countries in Africa are suffering from a housing deficit. Last year’s reports indicated that Uganda was suffering a housing deficit standing at a 500 000 units, with Kampala alone suffering a 100 000 housing units deficit.

GAMBIA The Gambia inks $65 million Trans-Gambia bridge project

is completed ahead of the 2017 deadline.

The new plant will generate an additional 300 MW.

TANZANIA Tanzania to invest $300 million in first geothermal plant Tanzania is planning to invest in its first geothermal power plant at Lake Ngozi, in Mbeya, in a bid to shift focus from hydropower.

The venture, which is being led by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as financiers, will unlock the country’s potential for geothermal power, according to Emeka Oragunye, the principal energy specialist at AfDB. The new power plant will generate 5 000 MW and is part of AfDB’s plan in financing renewables through the scaling-up renewable energy programme (SREP). The country has received $45 million from AfDB and $25 million from SREP. The country will also seek to develop 50 other potential geothermal spots – which will be crucial in the shift from hydro and private oil-fired power generation by the staterun Tanesco. It will also be critical in the planned addition

of 10 000 MW into the grid by 2025, up from the current 2 780 MW. Tanzania’s hydropower has been affected by recurring droughts.

All this is for the rehabilitation of the road sections joining Rusumo to Lusahunga and Nyakanazi to Manyovu via Kasulu in Tanzania; Kayonza to Kigali in Rwanda; and Rumonge to Bujumbura via Rutunga in Burundi.

AfDB AfDB to fund Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania roads The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the East African Community (EAC) signed a $2.6 million agreement to finance feasibility studies and design for the rehabilitation of some road sections of the Central Corridor in Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

The letter of agreement, under the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility, was signed by Tonia Kandiero, AfDB’s resident representative in Tanzania, and the EAC secretary general, Dr Richard Sezibera, at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

According to the EAC secretariat, the grant will finance consultancy services related to undertaking feasibility studies, detailed engineering designs, environmental and social impact assessment and preparation of bidding documents.

UGANDA $200 million housing project earmarked Uganda citizens will benefit from a new housing project to be implemented by Shelter Afrique (SAf) in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

The project will be developed over a period of four years and 4 000 commercial and social housing units, schools, health centres and waste management facilities will be constructed. The government has already identified and secured 650 acres of land in various parts of the country.

The construction project will be implemented under a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Lands and Urban Development, and will be officially launched early 2014. Other partners in the project include 44 SAf member countries, the African

The government of the Gambia has signed a contract agreement for the construction of the long-awaited Trans-Gambia bridge over the Bamba TendaYelli Tenda crossing.

The project, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) at a tune of $65 million, is contracted to IsoluxCorsan and Areski construction companies, with the consultancy services awarded to Setec Tepi/Studi International and Mahfoos.

The 942 m bridge will connect the south and north banks of the Gambia. Its completion is expected to enhance trade and easy movement between the two countries.

The Transport, Works and Infrastructure Minister, Ousman Badjie, said the Trans-Gambia bridge project is the Gambian government’s single biggest project ever undertaken, thanks to the generous contribution of the African Development Bank and other partners.

“The long-term aspiration of the government of the Gambia is to achieve a solid infrastructural base for industrial development. The availability of infrastructure services significantly influences development between regions, and also between countries,” he said.

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HOT SEAT

Turning the corner on the road to recovery Tosas’ re-ascent as a trusted bitumen supplier to the road-building pp industry is in full swing. Deon Pagel, the man leading the way, takes IMIESA’s Hot Seat and frankly unpacks the company’s frank return to its trusted position. retu

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HE LAST TIME Deon Pagel spoke to IMIESA, Tosas was focused on becoming the efficient, customer-centric organisation it had always been. Its reputation had to be rebuilt, following its acquisition by the Raubex Group some 12 months earlier. This time, most of the structural and operational challenges have been solved and Pagel presents a company that has earned considerable market confidence and is gearing itself, through innovation, to align with broader national goals.

You have managed some serious changes internally; can the market see the difference? DP Evidence that we are regaining the trust of the industry is coming in much sooner than anticipated.

We regularly receive written commendations that show great appreciation, not only for the quality of product we are delivering but – crucially – the efficiency of our service.

Because of the nature of the products we provide, efficiency from a turnaround point of view is non-negotiable. The written appreciation of this aspect of what we do really assures me that we are out the ICU phase of our business rescue and well into full recovery in the general ward.

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IMIESA January 2015

Rubber bitumen used in a single reseal is a great maintenance option

So the market is confident in Tosas again?

There are many signs that this is the case. Our order book is growing and, importantly, many of these orders come from existing clients and older clients who had left Tosas due to its struggles. That these clients are remarking on our service is a definite indication that we are restoring confidence in the market.

What has been the biggest struggle? In a word, efficiency. The services and products we specialise in are the core component of a very expensive daily operation

on any construction site. One slip on our side carries the risk of a chain reaction that incurs huge costs.

Downtime on these sites is extremely expensive, not just in terms of the cost of personnel, which carries massive hourly rates.

The downtime of the infrastructure on-site is also very expensive. Our efficiency problems were the result of a business structure that didn’t accommodate the kind of operational agility demanded of a bitumen supply company.

Procurement had been centralised and this had really hamstrung Tosas’ ability to meet orders flexibly and efficiently. Fixing this demanded a massive amount of energy to turn around.

What was your main focus? Simply by demanding a back-to-basics approach, combined with elevating the operational standards to match and exceed current market developments. We re-established the processes that had previously worked, and built on them smartly. It has been especially gratifying to see the staff that bridged these periods jump at the opportunity to excel again. They were freed up to deliver as they had always wanted to.

Now that you are well on the road to recovery, how would you describe Tosas’ offering to the market now? It really is our capacity for delivery in the context of today’s market

HOT SEAT

THE BENEFITS OF NEW CRUMB RUBBER TECHNOLOGY

Rubber bitumen remains an ideal solution to prevent reflective cracking

conditions. This includes the increased need for labourintensive technologies and the demand for better and more innovative products.

The Department of Public Works just launched Phase 3 of the EPWP. How is Tosas supporting it? A large portion of the products we supply are highly adaptable for labour-intensive work methods, including bituminous binders that are aligned with labour-intensive road-surfacing methods and we are actively involved in skills transfer as well.

A very specific labourintensive technology that we sell is the Chippy handoperated aggregate spreader, which we are now beginning to market in conjunction with NCA, the manufacturers of the equipment. This is a very effective tool for labourintensive road construction that replaces automated aggregate distribution with manual distribution.

It was designed to construct thin seals for both new roads and maintenance projects in a labour-intensive manner retaining the quality of automated methods at a comparable cost.

As well as selling the equipment and the appropriate binders, we also supply full training on the proper use of the chip-spreading equipment.

What innovations is Tosas contributing to the market? We have New Crumb Rubber Technology (NRCT) – a highly innovative product – to offer the market. We have done a lot of successful trials and performed a number of different applications with different roads authorities, and we expect to put down a substantial amount of this product over the next year. Some of the larger metros have shown strong interest for maintenance and new builds.

What are main advantages of NCRT? The product is very crack- and rutt-resistant and has a longer lifespan than other binders, whether modified or not.

These ‘new’ properties are dependent on the pretreatment of the rubber crumbs, and it is our licensed technology that distinguishes NCRT from conventional bitumen rubber.

It is also this pretreatment that lowers the working temperature and increases the lifespan of NCRT, and delivers the more environmentally beneficial attributes.

Traditional bitumen rubber is usable for four to six hours, after which a phenomenon known as over-digestion can occur, and the product can no longer be used in its current form.

It has to be reconstituted through the introduction of additional rubber crumbs. The new technology overcomes this, extending the window period to as much as seven

days and beyond. You can work with the product at 170°C and store it at 140°C. This makes a profound difference to the energy consumed in working with the material, as well as to the practical handling of it.

Can you expand on NCRT’s impact on the reduction of life-cycle costs? While it appears to be more expensive than conventional rubber and some other modified binders upfront, when you take the higher actual application rates of the product and factor them in to the extended lifespan, the perceived initial costs become a non-issue.

In fact, it saves you money.

NCRT eliminates the need to establish expensive bitumen-rubber-blending plants on-site and it can be directly transported from the manufacturer’s fixed operations.

Traditionally, bitumen rubber’s short shelf life was risky and logistically challenging and some people felt uncomfortable specifying it. Now, with NCRT, they can do so, risk-free, knowing it is a superior product. This product solves a multitude of problems, from point of specification to full life-cycle value.

It is also a major boon for maintenance work.

(NCRT), the Rolls Royce of bitumen rubber and the road-seal binder of the future: • reduced manufacturing, paving and spraying temperatures • reduced binder ageing • safer working conditions • increased energy efficiency, reduced emissions during production, paving and spraying • lower viscosity at lower temperatures • increased shelf-life of seven days • longer lasting road surface • reduced road maintenance intervals • better rut resistance • higher tolerance for high traffic volumes • more environmentally friendly and sustainable. extremely happy to say that, within 12 months, we are better geared and ready to thrive and exceptionally well geared to make a substantial contribution to South Africa’s road industry.

The need for reliable, innovative and policy-supportive products and services is more important than ever before in achieving national goals.

While this much has been achieved in a relatively short period of time, Tosas has also kept its eye on further research and development, and we have a number of new initiatives in the pipeline to be introduced in the short to medium term amplifying the company’s goal to be a positive contributor to all stakeholders in the roadbuilding sector.

How would you describe Tosas’ recovery? When Raubex first took over, we soon discovered that Tosas was in intensive care and needed a radical business rescue. I am

www.tosas.co.za

IMIESA January 2015

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IMESA

IMESA Conference 2014

IMESA’s annual conference, which was held last year at the Durban International Convention Centre from 29 to 31 October 2014, was hosted in partnership with the City of eThekwini.

By Nicholas McDiarmid

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HEMED ‘BALANCING Ser vice Delivery’, the conference certainly did deliver, and was characterised by high-level speakers and powerful outcomes. IMESA 2014 began with the biannual IMESA-CESA Excellence Awards and the inauguration of the institute’s new president, the honourable Duncan Daries, who also delivered his inaugural speech.

The awards revealed that despite general concern about the state of public infrastructure in South Africa today, there is no shortage of world-class engineering and worldclass projects being delivered across the nation. Innovative, smart and well-executed, many of the projects embraced key conference themes, including sustainability and socio-economic transformation, and speak to high levels of public-private cooperation.

The challenges of replicating these successes more rapidly and sustainably emerged later as key conference themes.

Farewell Frank Stevens and welcome Duncan Daries The presidential address saw the handover of the institute’s presidency from outgoing president Frank Stevens to new president Duncan Daries.

President Frank Stevens reflected on the substantial growth in membership of the institute over the last 24 months. “Today, close to 40% of our total membership is

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IMIESA January 2015

made up of consultants, contractors and suppliers,” observed Stevens.

Head office Stevens acknowledged the crucial role of the team that staffs IMESA’s head office (IMESA House) in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, and welcomed Narisha Sogan (finance officer), King Singh (office manager) and Dashree Reddy (IMESA finance officer), all of whom joined the team over the last two years. “I personally thank the amazing head office team for its support to the institute as well as to myself over the last years,” said Stevens.

Into action Stevens highlighted that the higher-impact activities undertaken by the institute are central to the institute’s development and influence. The Municipal Benchmarking Initiative is an example of a high-impact project born of cooperation and coordination of several stakeholders – in this case, IMESA, Salga and the WRC. “All of the country’s 152 water services authorities took part,” explained Stevens. This level of participation is extraordinary and represents a great success.

IMESA’s ongoing membership of the International Federation of Municipal Engineers has led to several key opportunities, and Stevens has interacted with municipal engineers from some 20 countries. “I

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found the respect shown towards IMESA’s activities, and the interest shown in how South African municipal engineers tackle their challenges, both exciting and humbling,” reported Stevens.

IMESA IMESA is making great strides in the roll out of its IMESA Infrastructure Management System (IIMS). The institute has provided both financial and training support to this project, which is set to make a massive contribution to managing the nation’s municipal infrastructure.

Steven’s also noted that IMESA’s training courses continue to grow in demand and have delivered quality training to more than 622 people over the past two years.

Welcome to Duncan Daries IMIESA congratulates Duncan Daries on his inauguration as president of IMESA and extend to him our support. His inaugural speech picked up on the themes covered by his predecessor: “My goal for IMESA is first of all to consolidate our position by being the voluntary institute of choice for professionals and graduates within the municipal environment. “My second goal is to continue the excellent work undertaken by previous presidents in partnering with relevant volunteer sister institutes, as well as associations such as Salga and MISA. We continue to

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IMESA

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Duncan Daries in his presidential regalia

reach out to municipalities who do not have any representatives as members of IMESA, as there surely is a need for technical staff to network with fellow professionals.

“We will review our governance framework (constitution and by-laws) to consolidate portfolios on our executive council to ensure greater input and interaction with the general council of IMESA.”

Balancing profiles – engineers and leadership Neil Macleod, formerly of eThekwini Water and Sanitation, and a highly respected, long-standing member of IMESA, was warmly introduced and received a strong welcome from delegates. His contribution to municipal engineering cannot be underestimated and his perspective on the status of engineers in political, public and economic life is of great importance.

Macleod noted that management and operational issues are increasingly dominating municipal activities and, in some cases, city engineers are not being replaced. The actual delivery of infrastructure and services needs must become the primary purpose of local government once more, and municipal engineers can play a central role in achieving that, notably by increasing their profiles and improving communication. Macleod also noted that ecological engineering needs more prominence in the local government

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sphere. Investment in infrastructure is also out of balance, with replacement and newbuild receiving more attention than maintenance of infrastructure assets, leading to waste. “We need to stop the cycle of build → neglect → abandon → rebuild,” said Macleod.

Balancing the economics of infrastructure

The opening session was hosted by Frank Stevens and was chaired by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality’s Eric Applegrin, and themes included municipal governance, infrastructure management and asset management.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister Andries Nel’s keynote address was challenging and explicit about the fact that a substantial percentage of South Africa’s municipalities are failing and in need of urgent attention. Cogta’s estimates that one third of municipalities are in good shape; one third are adequate and one third are failing were later contradicted by IMQS’s presentation, which painted a very different picture, with only 7% of municipalities doing well; 31% need intensive care, 30% perform reasonably, and 32% are dysfunctional. Either way, the situation is untenable.

Cogta’s ‘Back To Basics’ strategy focuses on cleaning up local government, promoting integrated urban development, and protecting municipal assets. The strategy rests on four pillars: • cleaning up failing municipalities • improving the functioning of adequate ones • empowering successful municipalities by broadening their scope and increasing their latitude • vigorously responding to corruption and fraud with zero tolerance.

National Treasury is set to review supply chain management and procurement policies for local government, and the possibility of capacitating district municipalities to assist and strengthen smaller municipalities is also being explored. Nel stressed that technical capacity is fundamental to Cogta’s goals, and that the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent is already working with IMESA on finding capacity and training solutions to this challenge. Nel noted that IMESA’s training programmes are laying a solid groundwork for asset management.

John Harrison, planning engineer at eThekwini Water and Sanitation, presented the issues faced by municipal engineers within a broad political and economic context. Noting that the concept of supply and demand is an illusory driver of capitalism, Harrison described the current economic system, globally, as being driven by the interests of the wealthiest 1%, who control 45% of the world’s wealth. Best practice, from a technical point of view, often goes against the interests of the 1%, and maintenance and asset protection is never as profitable as new-build. The interests of the 1%, however, are often served and this is evidenced by an inappropriate selection of

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solutions to national challenges and public procurement regulations that sacrifice quality and best practice for profit. Harris echoed Macleod in calling for engineers to rise to the leadership challenge and use their technical and professional skills to rebalance the scales in favour of the public good.

This presentation was followed by Willem Pretorius of IMQS Software, who provided an overview of life-cycle asset management, and a compelling argument for

1 IMESA President Duncan Daries relaxes after his inaugural speech 2 Frank Stevens get a lesson getting down with Beauty Ramapelepele – AKA Ben Voss 3 Jannie Pietersen enjoying the gala event 4 Moses Mabida Stadium provided a phenomenal backdrop for the gala event.

5 Frank Stevens congratulates Duncan Daries on his inauguration as president of IMESA 6 Roger Byrne delivered a powerful account of eThekwini's asset management programme

IMIESA January 2015

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IMESA

'HHS DQG DFWLYH

integrated communication between the asset itself and the financial asset register.

EPWP Phase 3 The Department of Public Works presented an overview of the recently launched third phase of the Extended Public Works Programme. Public infrastructure is expected to create 6 million work opportunities over the next five years, with half of them coming from municipalities.

The EPWP has appointed specialist consultants to aid municipalities with project selection and design, to maximise implementation of EPWP in local government infrastructure development and maintenance.

KROHNE WATERFLUX meets SANS1529-1:2006 fit for trade metrology – exceeds class D Specifications

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The precisely acquired measurement and totaliser values can be conveniently read aboveground on the batteryoperated converter. Optionally, the data can be transmitted cyclically via any number of GSM mobile communications networks to a control system – even from remote areas.

With minimum effort, you can set up an autonomous and fully remotely monitored metering point installed underground – one that is deep and active!

KROHNE – Water is our world.

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Maintaining our assets – the AMPLE way In October 2012, GHD’s Global Asset Management Group granted a free licence for their AMPLE tool suite and associated training materials to IMESA for use in progressing sustainable infrastructure asset management (SIAM) within Southern Africa.

The official handover took place at the 2012 IMESA Annual Conference in George where Roger Byrne (retired GHD AMG manager) presented ‘Progress with the National SIAM Program’ and demonstrated how AMPLE will enhance the approach to raising knowledge and awareness in SIAM as a core part of IMESA’s national training programme This year, with much progress having been made in the roll-out of AMPLE, both in the Free State and the City of eThekwini, Byrne returned to provide a case study of eThekwini’s progress to date.

AMPLE is the result of over 20 years in the development of world-class asset management (AM) manuals and approaches for successful AM improvement programmes that has delivered all aspects of best appropriate practice AM for a full range of infrastructure services, especially local governments, using a ‘whole of city’ approach covering all infrastructure and physical asset types.

The objective of IMESA’s AMPLE is to provide a web-based asset management learning environment that will assist all municipalities and their infrastructure-rich businesses to drive sustainable asset management improvement cost-effectively.

Finding a voice In a sense, closing this review on this note takes us back to the conference theme, ‘Balancing Service Delivery’. The impact municipal engineers have on a nation’s prosperity directly affects the well-being of us all, economically and socially. While the technical presentations and discussions were invaluable, and will receive further coverage over the next editions of IMIESA, perhaps the most crucial aspect in need of balance in the world of public sector infrastructure is the profile and status of our engineers. There was general consensus that the profession urgently needs to find a way to effectively communicate its perspectives and expertise in a way that is heard by the decision-makers in power. We look forward to this year’s conference, scheduled to be held in Cape Town.

More information on booking your place, submitting papers and sponsoring this hallmark event can be found in this magazine, online at www.infrastructurene.ws or at www.imesa.org.za.

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IMIESA January 2015

BITUMEN AND ASPHALT

NATIONAL ASPHALT Moving beyond today to meet the demands of tomorrow

www.nationalasphalt.co.za | +27 (0)86 146 6656 companies of

ASPHALT | COVER STORY

Pioneering innovations Sean Pretorius, National Asphalt’s managing director, illustrates how their more recent innovations are directly linked to specific social, economic and environmental challenges.

T

HE COMPANY’S list of innovations is at the cutting edge, providing solutions across the road-building industry, virtually anywhere in South Africa. From the largest road contractor to the smallest emerging contractor, National Asphalt’s range of cold, warm and hot-mix asphalt innovations ensures the highest standards, no matter the size, location or nature of the project.

(The company’s pivotal role in the South African road-building industry is reflected in the fact that its innovations and trialling of reclaimed asphalt (RA) directly eventuated in the South African Roads Agency (Sanral) specifying higher levels of RA in some of its tenders.) Other technologies introduced into the South African market include high-modulus asphalt (EME), renewable additives like EcoNat, and mobile cold-mix plants. Other products include the LT 40 hot mix (also known as ‘Hot Mix in a Bag’), the manually operated chip spreader the ‘Chippy’.

Most recently, National Ashalt’s acquisition of the majority share of Shisalanga Construction in KwaZulu-Natal has added the use of slag and hydro-cutting technologies to its versatile slag offering.

Sustainability Sustainability in infrastructure is fast becoming a national requirement. The Presidential Infrastructure Commission is placing serious pressure on the private sector to deliver

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IMIESA January 2015

projects that deliver to improved economies of scale and contribute meaningfully to the country’s transformation. Moreover, South Africa’s environmental legislation is evolving and subject to interpretation. “We have found that from province to province, legislation is interpreted differently. National Asphalt differentiates itself by its mobility; we can carry out contracts on a project-byproject basis, focusing on smaller and highly mobile equipment,” explains Pretorius.

“Sustainability as a term is open to interpretation,” notes Pretorius. “While it’s a good buzzword, National Asphalt views it very practically. We look at areas that can give us an edge in the market, and align ourselves with best business practice, to become as effective and efficient as possible.

CHIPPY

ABOVE Candella Road OPPOSITE Reclaimed asphalt plant

“Developing new technologies is expensive, and costs must be recouped. One of the big challenges is working towards achieving increased cost efficiency,” Pretorius says.

“It is not only about profitability anymore but how you conduct yourself. National Asphalt have internal strategies to align ourselves and upgrade all our equipment. One of our larger sustainability factors is our heating costs,” he continues. “A huge amount of energy is used to manufacture asphalt.” The main driver of warm-mix technology is that it is mixed at a lower temperature, delivering lower energy consumption and a reduction in carbon emissions.

The manually operated chip spreader, or Chippy, as it has become known, was introduced into the market during 2004. This manual or labour-based method of road surfacing is now well proven and is being used very successfully in the upgrading of gravel roads to surfaced standard, as well as in the application of single and double seals for new roads and for maintenance of existing road networks. Depending on the nature of the project, up to 65 job opportunities are created around the surfacing process alone. What is of great significance is that roads were previously surfaced using very specialised mechanical equipment, requiring highly skilled operators, thus leaving very few opportunities for employment creation for local unskilled people. The Chippy method is very suitable for use by local authorities for maintenance programmes, and in-house teams can be trained to use the equipment and methodologies. The Chippy furthermore creates opportunities for smaller contractors to participate in the road-surfacing arena without having to lay out the large capital amounts required for conventional equipment. This enables them to be completely independent from large companies who own the expensive road-surfacing equipment.

ASPHALT | COVER STORY Environmental innovation

LT 40 HOT MIX National Asphalt introduces their latest product The company takes an extremely – LT 40 asphalt (also commonly referred to as ‘Hot Mix in a Bag’) – to the holistic approach to its innovaSouth African market. LT 40 asphalt is a continuously graded mediumtions, factoring in South Africa’s grade asphalt contained in a sealed plastic bag, which is heated up to between 40°C to 60°C to achieve workability similar to traditional hotunique job creation and enterprise mix asphalt. development needs, as much as Incorporating an additive made from 100% natural and renewable resources, LT 40 asphalt not its unique geospatial realities. only reduces waste, time lost waiting in queues at hot-mix asphalt plants and product loss from inclement weather, but allows for higher productivity due to proceeding directly to site with all the It pioneered the concept of RA necessary tools to begin work immediately. technology in South Africa during The product is perfect for edge breaks, reinstatement of trenches, patching and pothole repairs, the completion of a number of and application is carried out in the same manner as for traditional hot-mix asphalt repair. The product is supplied in 25 kg bags, has a shelf life of 12 months, and is heated up to approximately warm-mix trials for the eThek40°C to 60°C in a custom-built oven that can be supplied with a custom-built trailer or separately. wini Metropolitan Municipality in Once the product has reached the required temperature, it is shovelled onto a wheelbarrow and Durban from 2009. transferred to the repair site, placed in the prepared area and compacted.

In several trials spanning from well as extending the life of the asset. Once 2009 to 2013, National Apshalt used its additive, manufactured from renewable raw the excess bitumen is removed, the stone ‘twin-drum’ concept to introduce increasing materials, called EcoNat. It can be used in chip matrix remains intact. percentages of RA into asphalt mixes. The the manufacture of warm, low-temperature In terms of multiple seal layers, the hydrosuccess of these trials saw the company and cold asphalt mixes and uses a powercutter dramatically improves seal stability commission three 120 to 150 tonne per ful asphaltene dispersant, ideal for the and reduces the overall bitumen content ratio hour, twin-drum mobile asphalt plants from manufacture of RA mixes, by rejuvenating the properties of age-hardened bitumen. by up to 1 ℓ/m2 per single treatment. “It is local manufacturer Comar. an exciting potential application for National National Asphalt was also part of the first It continued to work with Sanral on other Asphalt and we are carrying out quite a lot of officially recognised South African trials of projects, including maintenance projects and demonstrations throughout the country, with EME on a section of the South Coast road road upgrades, using 40% RA in the base mix the most recent taking place in the Eastern in KwaZulu-Natal. EME refers to a ‘highly and overlaying the base with an ultra-thin fricCape. It is new territory for us, but it is a modified mix’, and the term EME-2 is now tion course (UTFC) in one project and 60 000 major boost for our innovation and technolused where harder penetration grade bitutonnes of an AP1 modified continuously gradogy profile,” Pretorius says. men is used. ed course bitumen treated base with a 40% RA component, together with 63 000 tonnes Hydro-texturising The road to nation-building of ULM, a proprietary UTFC product manufactured under licence from Jean Lefebvre, in a “With the acquisition of Shisalanga, National No single manufacturer or supplier has made Asphalt is able to build on the momentum as indelible an impact on the South African second project. created by Shisalanga in the road mainteroad-building industry as National Asphalt.

“We are bold innovators, and we have the nance and rehabilitation sector with hydroThe company not only unlocks opportunities skills and the right quality of people to be cutting technology,” Pretorius explains. through innovation, it ensures that its innovaeffective innovators,” says Pretorius. “In the Hydro-texturising is a cost-effective and tions have a national reach, far beyond the case of RA, there was a lot of trial and error, environmentally sound solution for repairing road well-travelled. Its focus on mobility and and we worked our way from 10% RA to 40% flushed bituminous pavements. portability allows for the highest standards RA, using our skills and enabling eThekwini to The hydro-cutter can remove flushed seals, to be achieved in the remotest of areas, in push the envelope.” leading to a substantial improvement of the the most sustainable and economic manner.

It’s in the mix micro and macro texture of the seal. This National Asphalt is literally paving the road National Asphalt has also developed a results in a safer runway or road surface as to a sustainable South Africa. unique, dual-purpose environmentally friendly COLDMIX ASPHALT Cold-mix asphalt is a premixed, high-performance permanent cold-mix patching material made under licence using Macfix technology from Macismo International.

The product consists of a mixture of selected aggregates coated with a blend of bitumen and a special additive. The additive has been specially formulated to enhance the workability of the mix during handling and to improve the adhesion properties of the binder during its service life. The aggregate grading ensures optimal stone interlock after placement so that the product will not deform under traffic.

IMIESA January 2015

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BITUMEN & ASPHALT

Bridging Africa’s road infrastructure gap According to African Development Bank (AfDB) president Donald Kaberuka, “Inadequate infrastructure across Africa is costing about $40 billion in lost GDP a year. This deficit is estimated to be holding back economic growth by 2% each year, reducing private sector productivity by as much as 40%.”

By Nicholas McDiarmid

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HE AFDB IS the executing agency for the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), which has said that closing the infrastructure deficit is vital for Africa’s economic prosperity and sustainable development.

With the road access rate in Africa being only 34%, compared with 50% in other parts of the developing world and transport costs being 100% higher, transport infrastructure has been identified by the PIDA as one of the four key sectors requiring attention to address the deficit.

Mineral soil stabilisers – an alternative route “In many African countries, the infrastructure deficit is exacerbated due to appropriate road-building materials being expensive and/or difficult to obtain,” shares Zeevik Halber, CEO of AnyWay Solid Environmental Solutions. “However, there are alternatives that urgently need to be explored if economic and social development on the continent is to be significantly improved.”

He continues, “These are currently being used internationally, including in several African states, and are not only speeding up the process of road construction and

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IMIESA January 2015

improvement, but are also reducing the financial, time and environmental costs that are usually associated with this type of infrastructure development.”

Mineral soil stabilisers are dramatically changing the way roads are being built and restored, directly addressing the everincreasing road-building material shortage in developing countries.

Mineral soil stabilisers can – and are – increasingly being used in areas where locally available soils do not meet the standard road-building specifications and where good road-building material is expensive and difficult to obtain.

“The faster African countries can improve their road infrastructure, the faster there can be access to centres of economic importance for the creation of employment opportunities, greater rapidity of inter-country trade, reduced transport costs and, ultimately, enhanced economic growth for the continent as whole,” concludes Halber.

African projects adopting the breakthrough technology In Ethiopia, soil stabilisation technology has been used by the Addis Ababa City Roads Authority, since 2009, as part of a programme to develop and upgrade the

The main road into the city of Kigali, Rwanda

road network within the city, while advancing skills and providing jobs for inhabitants.

In addition to the many kilometres of road that have been built over the past few years using Anyway’s Natural Soil Stabiliser (ANSS) to stabilise the in situ soils, close to 100 000 people have gained employment in the resulting projects. Furthermore, the use of ANSS not only saved about 30% of the cost, but also more than 50% of the time otherwise required to complete these roads.

In nearby South Sudan, ANSS is to be used in the construction of a 700 km road leading from the capital, Juba, to the countr y’s border with Ethiopia. AnyWay has already delivered recycling equipment suited to stabilisation work for the project.

Further south, ANSS has been officially approved for use in light to medium roads in Kenya. This approval comes after four years of research conducted by the Ministr y of Roads, Materials Branch.

AnyWay’s products were put to the test on a variety of soils from around the countr y and proved to be a first-rate solution for stabilising substandard soils such as

BITUMEN & ASPHALT

.((3 &$/0 :(·9(

*27 ),%5(*/$66

A road stabilised with ANSS in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

black cotton and red coffee soils, along with some natural gravels. The ministr y is now conducting further tests in order to approve the use of ANSS in high-volume roads as well as in the upper layers of pavement structures. One of the characteristics that appealed to the ministr y’s professionals was the fact that no cracks developed in stabilised pavements using ANSS. This is contrar y to their experience with cement stabilisation. The ministr y is aiming to upgrade 1 200 km of roads within the next five years and soil stabilisation could become a power ful tool in achieving this ambitious goal.

In the Rwandan capital of Kigali, 2 km of a principal route were constructed using natural soil stabilised with ANSS. Prior to the ANSS application, the original soil was ver y weak and had a high plasticity.

The stabilised layer, which increased the bearing load of the soil by 30%, was constructed within 12 working days – saving almost a month of work and 300 14-tonnetruck journeys.

Locally, in the Dihlabeng District Municipality's township roads were upgraded using the ANSS technology. Instead of spoiling the soil and importing materials from a distant and expensive source, the municipality wanted to reduce costs and use its own limited road-building equipment and manpower, and so decided to stabilise the in situ soil. As a result, the municipal roads depar tment was able

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IMIESA January 2015

to construct a stabilised, unsur faced road within two days, as opposed to the 15 days it would have taken with the ‘spoil and import’ method. In addition to reducing the turnaround time, using ANSS saved the municipality 50% on costs, 200 20-tonne-truck journeys and two tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Localising production According to Jean Du Plessis, MD of AnyWay’s South African operations: “Unlike in most other countries, AnyWay decided to establish a local production facility in South Africa for the manufacture of its products for the local and regional markets. However, the concept of using local in situ soils as part of the road pavement structure has yet to be widely accepted by South African engineers.”

He attributes this principally to bad experiences with other so-called stabilisers.

“The use of liquid products has actually caused damage to the reputation of using stabilisation as a sound engineering solution for road infrastructure projects over the past few years.” He continues: “AnyWay’s stabilisation products are considered to be traditional as they are powder-based, not liquid. Our product is a natural extension of the traditional methods of using cement and lime as stabilisers, but overcomes many of their limitations.

“With a product like ANSS, one can look at using marginal materials that were not other wise suitable road-building materials and, consequently, get the job done faster, cleaner and cheaper,” he concludes.

BITUMEN & ASPHALT

Major runway rehabilitation A runway rehabilitation project to improve safety at George Airport, in the Western Cape, was recently completed. By Nicholas McDiarmid

T

HE PROJECT involved placing 2 080 t of Novachip, also know as ultrathin friction course (UTFC), on top of the new asphalt on the runway. In addition, the runway extensions and intersections comprised 1 920 t of medium graded asphalt, while 12 710 t of medium graded asphalt was used for the runway reprofiling.

Activities at the bustling local airport could not be hampered by the construction work, which meant that Murray & Roberts Infrastructure had to work during the night and hand over a pristine site every morning.

“The actual re-profiling of the runway with asphalt was a challenge,” Wouter Schreuder, site agent, Murray & Roberts, says. “We had to temporarily shorten the runway during construction, which meant that aircraft had to land without using their instrument landing systems.”

Work on the project commenced on 13 November 2013 and was wrapped up on 23 July this year.

Airports Company South Africa initiated the project in order to improve safety at George Airport in terms of run-off and stormwater drainage. In addition, the project was aimed at improving the structural capacity of the pavement surface.

Scope of work The scope of work comprised the extension of Runway 11/29, the extension of the aeronautical ground-lighting network and the re-profiling of identified runway sections.

Murray & Roberts Infrastructure worked in close conjunction with ADB Electrical on the major works.

“We had to build from an uneven existing runway surface to the final design level. This necessitated numerous layers of asphalt placed on top of each other in order to achieve the required level,” Schreuder adds.

Challenges Challenges included the fact that they were not permitted to have any steps on the

RESA 11 (runway-end safety area) upon practical completion of the project

runway. “We had to create ramps after each shift’s paving operation before the runway could be opened in the morning. These had to be removed once the layer was constructed in this particular area.”

Cleaning of the runway after each shift was equally challenging in that the area had to be clean and free of any debris pending an inspection by George Airport’s fire and rescue services before opening the runway in the morning.

“Time had to be allowed at the end of each shift in order to carry out all the required cleaning, and this took careful planning,” Schreuder says. In addition, each shift required thorough planning due to the constraints of working on an operational runway. Emergency removal equipment had to be available on-site in case of any plant breakdown during a shift. “The interface between the civil and electrical

IMIESA January 2015

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BITUMEN & ASPHALT

LEFT A closer view of the UTFC milled and replaced at Runway 29 BELOW LEFT Asphalt surfacing during the first phase of the project, which involved re-profiling the runway

works was difficult and had to be planned before the start of each shift. The logistics to get material to site posed a challenge due to the strict security measures. As a result, the bulk of the material had to be

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transported to site at night,” Schreuder explains. The wet and cold weather at night also played a role during the construction phase due to certain limitations, as per the project specifications. “Care had to be taken not to damage any of the existing services, such as runway lights, while working.”

Major statistics recorded by the project included: 12 465 m3 of topsoil removal, 18 500 m3 of imported G7 gravel material, 14 000 m3 of roadbed preparation, 1 980 m3 of stabilised gravel sub base by means of 130 t of cement, 1 144 m3 of G1 base course, 2 000 m3 of asphalt milling, 7 318 ℓ of primer using inverted bituminous emulsion, 71 678 ℓ of tack coat with a 30% stable grade bitumen emulsion and 4.4 ha of landscaping and hydro seeding.

IMIESA January 2015

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BITUMEN & ASPHALT

Satisfying market demands

M

UCH ASPHALT has retained a leading position in a challenging market in 2014, the first year following its split from the Murray & Roberts group. In November 2013, the business was acquired by a consortium led by Capitalworks Private Equity and including Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) and senior executives of Much Asphalt.

“We secured a number of projects in the traditionally ‘smaller’ regions such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, compensating for the lack of projects in the Gauteng area in particular,” says managing director Bennie Greyling. “These projects include

rehabilitation of the N2 between East London and King Williams Town, rehabilitation of a section of the N11 near Polokwane and various coal haul routes in Mpumalanga.

“The continued commitment of major clients, especially SANRAL, to use recycled asphalt (RA) on their projects, is pleasing and more than 75% of our 17 static asphalt mixing plants are now geared to incorporate RA into asphalt mixes.”

Much Asphalt has recently completed a section of the N2 near Mzinto on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, where 40% RA was specified. A second phase will commence in early 2015.

Much Asphalt’s Pomona plant in Gauteng

The company has also recently purchased a fourth mobile asphalt plant, this one capable of handling 50% RA, to cater for the growing number of major projects in outlying areas where mobile operations are economically more viable.

“In response to bitumen supply constraints, we are now able to store up to 2 500 tonnes in a bulk tank in the Cape Town harbour and have installed ‘ bitutainers’ ranging in size from 25 to 60 tonnes at our plants around the country,” Greyling concludes.

IMIESA January 2015

Much Asphalt is southern Africa’s largest supplier of an extensive range of hot and cold asphalt products.

Our products are supported by world class technology and expertise, extensive laboratory services and specialist advice.

With 17 branches and state-of-the-art mobile plants, Much Asphalt offers services anywhere, any time, no matter how big or small the project.

ANYWHERE. ANY TIME. ANY PROJECT. T: +27 21 900 4400 F: +27 21 900 4468 E: info@muchasphalt.com www.muchasphalt.com

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CALL FOR PAPERS THEME:

Changing the face of the Municipal Engineer • Political and Legislative Perspectives • Social and Environmental Impacts • Financial Considerations

• Transport and Traffic • Water and Sanitation • Roads and Stormwater

S YN O P S I S S U B M I T T E D BY Wednesday 15th April 2015 to Joanne Bezuidenhout | joanne@confco.co.za | tel 031 303 9852

IMESA t +27 (031) 266 3263 email conference@imesa.org.za

PARTNERING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

T www.dbsa.org

HE STATE-OWNED entity has achieved an increase in disbursements over the last financial year of 39.1%, repositioning itself as both a funding institution and an implementing agent.

The Financing Operations Division is the operational centre of the bank, with group executive Michael Hillary at the helm. In this interview, Hillary provides strategic insights into the bank’s core mandates, its specialised teams and its unique capabilities as an infrastructure funding partner.

Background to the Financing Operations Division

BANKING ON INFRASTRUCTURE THE DBSA’S FINANCING OPERATIONS DIVISION The restructuring of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), which began in 2012, has delivered big results in less than two years.

The Financing Operations Division (FOD) provides a turnkey operation that integrates the entire value chain of a deal. Its services are structured to provide support from the origination of a deal, and continue this support through ongoing monitoring up until repayment.

The FOD’s final task is the evaluation of the deals, which means the division is engaged for the full length of all deals. This clearly gives the FOD the most complete vantage point from which to refine processes and learn from within a complete feedback loop. The FOD is also responsible for actively managing the bank’s debt and equity portfolio through its monitoring and reporting services. The bank is involved in the following stages of projects: early planning to preparing, financing, building and maintenance.

Defining, refining and optimising – behind the restructure “While finance is our core focus, we have been pulled more and more into the build and prepare phases of deals,” starts Hillary.

“The bank mostly stays out of the planning elements as we believe these properly lie within government.” Hillary explains that the restructuring process, which began two years ago, was essentially about refining what the DBSA does, based on its core strengths.

“We also focused our attention on the four primary social and economic infrastructures relevant to our mandate – power, bulk water, roads and transport infrastructure, as well as information and communication technologies,” he notes. Education and health are two secondary focus sectors for the bank, with which the Infrastructure Delivery Division has already been strongly engaged.

“Within this mandate, and the efficiencies required to drive it, it was crucial to evaluate

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PARTNERING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

what sort of people we needed in each part of the value chain, taking into consideration the number of clients and the number of deals within a sustainable framework. We rebalanced the bank from a human capital point of view, as well as in terms of vertical operations across the South African and international divisions, where a lot of team and structural duplications existed, and opportunities to better leverage specialised skills that existed in specific areas which weren’t being optimally deployed.

“By taking all the common elements of the value chain and taking a more vertical view, we began building the platform for financing operations from which specialised skills could be shared across the DBSA, eliminating duplication and retaining and deploying institutional knowledge at the same time,” says Hillary.

The DBSA’s unique mandate The DBSA, as a developmental financial institution, is significantly differentiated from private institutions. Its shareholder obligations are not profit driven and operates under very different regulatory standards.

“We are in an interesting space, in that, while we are a state-owned entity, and in principle we function in some ways like an investment bank, we are also very close to our share- and stakeholders, and this gives us access to projects at very early stages of their development.

“What we are respectful of is that we have scarce capital and we don’t want to crowd out the private sector, so the two things we look for in our mandate are that we are catalysts in ensuring infrastructure programmes happen, including gap funding, and also fill the spaces where there is clear market failure,” observes Hillary. An interesting example of a market failure is the restrictions private banks face in terms of longer-term infrastructure investments.

“Basel III typically limits private banks’ ability to fund programmes beyond 12 years,” explains Hillary.

“We do not have those constraints and we can take the longer-tenor funding needs and make those projects happen.” The ability of the bank to provide funding in spaces where the private sector faces constraints has many enabling possibilities that can be examined on a case-by-case basis.

Some development finance institutions focus on central allocations from the fiscus on an annual basis, whereas the DBSA is capitalised by the state, and in return is expected to operate sustainably, with the management team running a tight ship.

“Where a commercial bank looks at the flow of dividends, our shareholders expect us to be sustainable; their dividend, so to speak, is in seeing the programmes happen,” clarifies Hillary. “The key to achieving this is to seek returns at a level equitable to inflation, and exceeding it somewhat in order to continue growing capabilities. The trade-off in this regard is between trying to grow and be profitable while not being so aggressive as to lose the catalytic agility of the institution.”

The bank is not seeking maximum profitability and massive returns, but seeks to balance a level of growth that is sustainable and allows for growth, but that ensures it

“The bank looks to bridge these gaps (between public and private sector approaches) where it can get the process right while bringing in the commercial savvy to bring down the costs…” Michael Hillary, group executive, DBSA 30

IMIESA January 2015

can fill the gaps in infrastructure finance – like smaller municipal projects that are essential but not viable from a return perspective for a typical private bank.

Not public; not private: project alignment and economies of scale Another function of the bank is to take advantage of larger economies of scale.

An example of how this looks in practice would be an investment team looking to put out a programme to build a few thousand toilet facilities in a rural area. An initial, superficial costing would be based on the standard cost per unit, typically based off a production run of much smaller scales. “We not only examine this and look for scaled costings; we can also ensure our suppliers are coming to the party. Now a typical public sector procurement process will not do this – a pricing table will be consulted and that will be the end of it,” says Hillary.

“Because the DBSA is in the middle of the spectrum of public and private, we are able to balance procedural consideration with those of implementation, which is precisely what defines the difference between the public sector approach and the private sector approach.”

The bank looks to bridge these gaps where it can get the process right, while bringing in the commercial savvy to bring down the costs. “This capability, which is something that the Infrastructure Development Division really focuses on, can make a major impact on the way projects are conceived and implemented, and create a very efficient

PARTNERING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

team that focuses on assisting municipalities with planning and preparation.

The FOD is also home to a team that acts as an agent for the Department of Environmental Affairs’ (DEA) Green Fund. All the grants and approvals for the Green Fund are processed by this team, which works directly with the DEA to sign off on the grants and approvals. The DBSA has recently been accredited as the Southern African implementing agent for the Global Environmental Fund (GEF). The GEF is a World Bank initiative and is a very beneficial source of cheaper funding for green programmes.

Common Platform Unit

analysts, a portfolio-monitoring sub-team, the core back-end middle-office team that does all the administration of the deals, post approvals, and a smaller unit that sets out frameworks that look at projects from their wider positive impact, called the Operations Evaluation Unit.” “This ensures we achieve our mandate to maximise the social and economic impacts of all the bank’s projects, and understand the deal from more than just a financial perspective, which is crucial to our reporting considerations as well,” notes Hillary.

Agencies and municipalities: partnering with the DBSA

Another unit looks at the common platform for the front-end businesses, comprised of environmental analysts, industry specialists and specialist engineers – who together look at the quality of finance in context of the technical aspects as well. “This is another capacity that makes the bank quite unique, in that, where typical banks would rely on independent assessors for these functions, the DBSA has them on board through all project stages,” elaborates Hillary. “Moreover, there are teams looking at sovereign risk issues around cross-border deals, a project finance team, and a distribution team that looks at involving other investors to in part finance the larger deals.”

The increase in disbursements over the 2013/14 financial year of 39% reflects the success of the DBSA’s strategic restructuring, and sustainable growth also means a steady flow of projects. “The ideal position economic contribution to optimising infrafor the bank is to have more applicants than structure project delivery, both economically we actively manage,” says Hillary. “Given and from a maximum benefit point of view,” the catalytic nature of our mandate, we Hillary deduces. The bank is thus ideally ideally want partners who have significantly positioned to add value in a number highly invested into a project themselves.” Other specialised ways, reinforcing its catalytic key components the bank looks at when role in the market. It achieves this, from an accepting a project include the wider and investment point of view, through gap fundthe peripheral benefits. “Increasingly, maining and stepping in to fill market failures. tenance and asset management projects are entering the discussion – these are areas Understanding the Financing with significant economic benefits.”

Operations Division While project owners can approach Within the Financing Operations the bank directly, the DBSA also “While we are a state-owned Division itself there are three entity we are also very close to our pays attention to obvious market core areas, or units: the Project gaps. Projects are also picked up share- and stakeholders, and this Preparation Unit, the Common through other state institutions, gives us access to projects at very Platform Unit and the Operations such as the Department of Energy Evaluation Unit. Understanding early stages of their development.” and the Department of Water and these units provides necessary Sanitation. “Smaller, specific cominsights for entities wishing to engage Together, this forms the common platform ponents of larger infrastructure projects, the bank. from which the bank supports more complex which otherwise would be an obstacle to projects. “What we see in practice in more the greater project, are of particular imporProject preparation complicated projects is the involvement of tance to the bank.” Catalytic investments, “The Project Preparation Unit plays the proa project preparation team, an investment within the bank’s social and economic ject development role and looks at deals that officer, some of the engineers from the midinfrastructure mandates, are an extremely are not ready to be financed and which may dle office and the structural finance team. important element for those working in require some enabling legislation, technical Together, the projects emerge as a whole establishing public infrastructure projects reporting, or environmental studies, before entity,” he says. Owing to the bank’s original and interventions. they are bankable,” Hillary explains. “The 1983 mandate, which was the implementaThe DBSA’s role as an infrastructure partbank may also look at financing these eletion of infrastructure programmes in the ner is unique in the local market, and is has ments with a view to getting the rights to former homelands, these sorts of interdisalready had a significant impact. Its level of finance the project as a whole, or possibly ciplinary teams have always been part and internal expertise, unique funding abilities to secure some equity pickup or cashing out parcel of the institution. and high level of internal technical capacat the time of project financing. This area ity highlight a return on investment that far Operations Evaluation Unit typically gets traction in the Public-Private exceed the actual figures, for its partners “The other quarter of the FOD looks at portProject space more than it would in the and the wider communities that benefit from folios and is comprised of a team of credit municipal space.” The bank does have a its participation.

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HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Mega housing delivery To Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, nothing is more fulfilling to the human heart than being able to contribute to the provision of a roof over a family that is destitute and has waited for the security and comfort a house provides.

By Liesl Frankson

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S MINISTER OF Housing, in 2009, Sisulu and her Portfolio Committee on Housing laid the foundation for the current National Development Plan (NDP). They launched the Comprehensive Housing Plan for the Development of Integrated Sustainable Human Settlements, or Breaking New Ground (BNG) as it is commonly known, that now forms the basis of the NDP. In her address at the Budget Vote of the Ministry of Human Settlements, the Minister pointed out research done by the South African Institute of Race Relations in 2012, which suggests that 20% of all protests the country experienced over the last five years can be attributed to issues with housing.

Furthermore, these protests have centred on the reality that promises made by the department are not being met and the public believes corruption to be at the root of the problem.

She also noted that the deliver y of houses has dropped drastically across all provinces. Some have dropped to a 30% deliver y rate and the housing backlog

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currently stands at 2.3 million families and growing. In an effort to address these issues, Sisulu has outlined a number of activities and actions that the department will undertake over the next year.

Databases, title deeds and mining towns At the top of the department’s to do list is the creation of a credible database of those legitimately waiting for a house. The minister aims to link this database to the population register and voters’ roll, to verify the validity of a housing application.

The municipality will use this database in the allocation of houses. “It will also protect councillors who are often accused of corruption in the allocation of houses, as citizens will be able to check their own details and place on the waiting list. It will also break down the concept of the backlog,” explains Sisulu.

The issue of title deeds has also been included in the department’s strategy, and it intends to prioritise the issuing of both pre-1994 and post-1994 stock. “This is important because these are other wise dead assets. Without the title deeds, the

owners are unable to revitalise the old townships, which are in a ver y sad state of decay,” she says.

The president has created an InterMinisterial Committee on the revitalisation of mining towns, for which the Department of Human Settlements has a major responsibility. In dealing with this goal, Sisulu notes that the department has interacted with the mining sector in the past, and has found that, unless they plan for secondar y industr y and related infrastructure, they would be unable to attract the necessar y investment capital into mining towns for continued economic activity after the last ore has been mined.

Through the IMC, the department has met with the Chamber of Mines, the banking sector and the provinces, and has mobilised municipalities to review their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) to pave the way for new-look mining towns.

It was decided that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) would lead the process of reviewing the IDPs of municipalities where mining towns are located to make a provision for town planning, among other things,

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

to not only build human settlements, but incorporate Special Economic Zones.

The biggest construction site in Africa Part of the department’s strategy is to embark on mega projects. In these mega projects, there will be a collaboration of all three spheres of government. Local government will ultimately inherit the projects once completed and therefore the responsibility of the allocation of units, the provision of infrastructure, and the maintenance of the project will be the responsibility of local government.

Incorporated into the mega projects strategy is the department’s goal to deliver 1.5 million houses over the next five years.

Sisulu hopes to do this in partnership with the private sector and all stakeholders and communities.

“South Africa is about to become the biggest construction site in Africa and, most probably, in the developing world. We will build close to 270 000 houses annually, as

“South Africa is about to become the biggest construction site in Africa and, most probably, in the developing world.”

Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements

a sector. It looks impossible, but we have been here before. At the height of implementing the BNG policy, we were building over 270 000 per year,” she explains.

She adds that the department came to the conclusion to change its approach to housing after reviewing housing delivery from 2005 to 2009 and 2009 to 2014. The department is now aiming to move from small projects of 200 houses to mega projects of integrated, mixed housing to cater for different incomes and needs.

These will include houses for the indigent, gap housing, rental units, social housing and serviced stands. “This will ensure integration of different income groups and races, and lead to the building of a South Africa that truly belongs

to all.” In order to achieve this goal, the department has embarked on a number of activities including identifying 50 National Priority Projects across South Africa that will deliver mega integrated and sustainable human settlements.

These projects will deliver BNG houses (30%), gap houses (20%), rental accommodation (20%), social housing (10%) and serviced sites (20%). These projects will also have economic and social amenities.

Ultimately, the depar tment aims to embark on and lay the basis for a Master Spatial Plan for Human Settlements so that all the necessary amenities can be directed to where human settlements are, allowing them to plan ahead for the provision of the necessary infrastructure and amenities.

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Balancing service delivery It is essential that municipalities fully appreciate their role in the implementation of the EPWP, the job creation potential, the challenges they face, and consider the key changes in EPWP Phase 3.

By Nontyatyambo Manyisane, Mfuneko Kango, Gamelihle Sibanda & Albert Uriyo*

S

UCCESSFUL DELIVERY models that factor in considerations for ensuring balanced service delivery are reinforced by recommendations to leverage the relationship between municipalities and consultants in order to exploit their full potential and achieve better outcomes.

EPWP Phase 3 In November 2013, cabinet approved the establishment of the Presidential Public Employment Coordinating Commission to coordinate and report on public employment programmes with the EPWP branch as secretariat.

One of the key changes in EPWP Phase 3 is the introduction of core universal principles:

• adherence to the EPWP minimum wage and employment conditions under the Ministerial Determination • selection of workers based on a clearly defined process and defined criteria • work provides or enhances public goods and community services • minimum labour intensity appropriate to sector.

There will also be increased community participation for more visibility and ownership of the EPWP in poor communities.

The scope of infrastructure maintenance will be enhanced in order to create longerterm work opportunities while preserving assets. Furthermore, more emphasis will be placed on monitoring created assets and their impact on communities, thus generating sustainable livelihoods. The Ministerial

Determination by the Department of Labour and the Code of Good Practice for EPWP will continue to provide guidance on labourrelated matters.

Converting problems into challenges While appreciating the progress achieved by municipalities in implementing the EPWP, several challenges remain. These are discussed below for the various stages of the project cycle, together with possible remedial measures.

Identification Most municipalities do not have a deliberate strategy to identify projects that are truly amenable to the use of labour-intensive methods. It is common to hear project managers state that all their projects are EPWP or for the projects to be declared as EPWP at the reporting or implementation stage.

The impact of this is that most projects are implemented conventionally, undermining the realisation of socio-economic objectives.

It is recommended that municipalities identify labour-intensive projects in line with the EPWP guidelines.

Planning Most municipalities have developed and signed an EPWP policy. However, full implementation of these policies remains a challenge. The implementation of the EPWP infrastructure projects is guided by the EPWP Infrastructure Guideline, which provides guidance on the roles of the

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HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

senior managers, from technical officials to those in supply chain management and legal departments. As the saying goes, “What gets measured gets done�.

Design

implementation bodies; the contract documentation for consulting engineers and contractors for labour-intensive construction projects; design prerequisites; required skills programmes for clients, consultants, and contractors; programme indicators; and additional sources for information.

The majority of municipalities do not have a balanced portfolio of projects throughout the year. Often during the first quarter, projects are designed; service providers are procured in the second quarter; project implementation commences in the third quarter; and peaks in the fourth quarter.

This boom-bust cycle repeats annually. The impact of this is a failure to achieve employment targets, low productivity and underexpenditure. Some public bodies opt for machines in order to spend within a short time. This is tantamount to fiscal dumping and should not happen. There are mixed perceptions regarding whether poor planning or supply chain management and procurement prescripts prevent planning, to ensure that at any one time there are projects at various stages of the project cycle. A steady stream of projects would also ensure workers are able to find employment when one project finishes.

Some project managers and their supervisors perceive the EPWP as an add-on to their normal duties. This tends to culminate in less effort being deployed to EPWP initiatives. It is important for EPWP champions to emphasise that EPWP is an integral part of normal duties of officials in public bodies that are financed by government resources.

A master stroke is to incorporate EPWP targets into the performance agreements of

The most sensitive stage of a labour-intensive project is the design stage, regardless of whether the design is done in-house or outsourced. The conventional design approach assumes work will be done using machine-based methods. It is therefore imperative that design specifications and particular conditions of contract are specifically aligned with labour-intensive approaches, if projects are to be implemented and reported under the EPWP. Some municipalities have hired consultants to enhance their delivery capacity. In such cases, the contract agreement between the municipality and consultants tends to be weak in terms of expected outputs related to the EPWP. It often becomes difficult for the municipality to enforce compliance with EPWP requirements if the agreement with service providers is not explicit about how deliverables would be measured. Municipalities are urged to sign agreements with consultants that go beyond just stating that the consultant must comply with EPWP requirements.

As contractors grow, they tend to acquire more capital-intensive equipment. In some cases, a single big contract is issued to a highly mechanised contractor whereas, if it had been packaged as smaller contracts, less-capital-intensive, smaller contractors could be used. If the objective is to create employment, there is a need to have a deliberate policy on how contracts are packaged.

However, there should be a reasonable balance in the distribution of work among contractors in various registration categories.

The scope of the project is generally known at the design stage. It is therefore important for municipalities to insist that each design should have indicative projections of employment that the project is envisaged to create and associated project durations.

The packaging of contracts to allow for ease of implementation is also encouraged in the EPWP Large Projects, which are infrastructure projects with a value of more than R30 million, involving the use of labour-intensive methods on a significant scope of work to maximise the creation of work opportunities. Large Projects should also be designed and

packaged to promote participation of smallto medium-term contractors.

By the time the procurement phase happens, consultations with the community should have happened regarding the target number of people to be employed, and the daily wage to be paid should be agreed on so that bidders use a common figure. It is important to harmonise wages for similar work in a locality in order to avoid social unrest. EPWP workers should be paid a wage that is not less than the minimum wage and not too high (compared to wages for similar work in the project locality) to attract people who are in formal employment or engaged in other sustainable income-earning initiatives.

Implementation Designing a project using conventional methods and then trying to convert it to an EPWP project during implementation is like a baker who decides to change from making bread to producing a cake when the dough is already rising in the oven. Sadly, there are some municipalities that label a project as EPWP during the implementation stage, thereby compromising the potential to create more employment.

In construction, the two most common bases for remuneration of unskilled workers are a time-based system and a task-based system. With the time-based system, workers are paid based on hours spent at work, with minimal emphasis on what they produced. With the task system, workers are paid a fixed daily wage for reasonable work of agreed quantity and quality that the slowest worker can finish within normal working hours. Faster workers may be able to finish within 75% of the normal working hours and are released to go home or attend to other matters of their choice.

Work studies have shown that task-based (or productivity-based) workers are generally twice as productive as time-based workers, who tend to work at the pace of the slowest member of the group. Most municipalities are using the time-based remuneration method. This means they could almost double their productivity without additional funding if they used the productivity-based remuneration system. Those wishing to switch from the time-based system to the task-based system are cautioned to apply it after consultation, as workers who are used to being paid regardless of what they produce may resist the change. International experience has shown that, where the task system

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HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

TABLE 3 Case study on success factors

RICHMOND MUNICIPALITY

CITY OF CAPE TOWN

Utilising labour-intensive activities in all municipal and grant-funded projects and programmes

Implementing environment and culture, infrastructure and social sector programmes

Success factors • EPWP champions • Targets included in programme plans • Targets included in performance contracts and work plans of employees • Timely reporting • Management committee responsible for overall coordination with quarterly reports • Capacity-building within various stakeholders to ensure common understanding and reaching consensus on targets • Involvement of all department and units

Success factors • Buy-in from the top • Structures established • Targets set • Responsibility and accountability • Capacity-building • Innovation • Wide-ranging • Involvement of stakeholders at various stages • Project documents require affirmation that they are compliant to EPWP

has been adopted, workers have refused to revert to the time-based system, provided the task is fair.

One of the EPWP universal principles calls for the selection of workers based on a clearly defined process and defined criteria.

This implies that there should be no discrimination based on attributes such as political or religious affiliation. The EPWP offers guidelines on social facilitation to ensure fair and transparent processes are followed.

Training is regarded as an important component of the EPWP. Each project should have a clear training programme for its workers to improve their work performance.

Training will focus on needs and will be implemented based on programme needs.

The contractor shall provide all the necessary on-the-job training to targeted labour, to enable such labour to master the basic work techniques required to undertake the work

in accordance with the requirements of the contract in a manner that does not compromise worker health and safety. Pre-project implementation training may be necessary if a skills audit reveals the project target area does not have people with the required basic skills.

Maintenance Some municipalities are investing a disproportionate amount in construction, compared to needful maintenance. This could culminate in early rehabilitation at a cost higher than that of early maintenance.

Maintenance provides longer-term employment than construction.

The ‘Study on Enhancing Labour Intensity in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Road Infrastructure projects’ showed that maintenance generally yields higher employment than construction. For example, 73% of all employment created under the roadworks component was created for road maintenance. The same study showed that the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provided the highest employment figures – mainly due to their high-labourintensity Household Contractor and Zibambele programmes.

Monitoring and evaluation The top challenges facing the EPWP include non-reporting and under-reporting (e.g. doing work but not reporting it) by public bodies, and reporting of data of inadequate integrity (e.g. inaccurate ID numbers). This creates a problem when the auditor general suspects

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IMIESA January 2015

ffraud, when it’s just a case of poor reportiing. Furthermore, non-reporting means some ppublic bodies will be considered to have ffailed to meet their employment targets.

TThis may even lead to the withholding or realllocation of the incentive grant. The EPWP, tthrough the municipal policies, provides for vvarious support structures including district fforums, steering committees, community lliaison officers, champions and reporting m mechanisms that facilitate effective delivery.

In EPWP Phase 3, it is mandatory for public bbodies to report on services rendered and aassets created, and the subsequent impact oof these on the beneficiary communities. If tthe data integrity is questionable, it would nnot be possible to assess the true impact.

Training and support Limited knowledge and orientation on labour-intensive and employment-creation methods among the technical practitioners impacts on its implementation, and has also contributed to the impasse. In recognition of this, the EPWP, in collaboration with LG SETA, has conducted training at NQF Level 5 for more than 723 local government technical practitioners. In addition, there have been interventions through providing labour-intensive orientation sessions to various municipalities based on demand, in which 438 officials have been trained.

EPWP facilitates the training resources and the municipality provides for logistics.

As a support mechanism, the EPWP has been availing resources including provincial technical consultants, ILO technical support (including dedicated deputy directors), guidelines and technical briefs. These resources can help facilitate the various processes in the project cycle. Success factors that have contributed to exemplary municipal performance are highlighted in Table 3.

The need for a balanced approach to service delivery It is well accepted that municipalities are a significant hub for transformation of development in the community, as they are the ultimate point of contact with the community. In this respect, there is a need to balance the delivery of infrastructure and services with the realisation of the social needs of the community. A mindset shift is therefore needed, particularly concerning technical practitioners, whose main considerations are usually quality, cost and time. Other aspects need to be factored in, namely the softer issues, including unemployment,

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

TABLE 4 Recommended interventions

AREA Design

poverty alleviation and inequality. With effective implementation of the above-mentioned steps in the project cycle, concerns on quality, cost and timely delivery are addressed.

There is thus an opportunity to seek a balanced approach that can provide the various aspects in a balanced manner.

An imbalanced approach of either the delivery of infrastructure or service, without taking into consideration the needs of the surrounding community or providing programmes without a tangible output, have led to cases of disgruntlement within the communities, increased poverty, inadequate services and ultimately service delivery protests and even the destruction of infrastructure and services. The absence of community involvement has led to a lack of ownership and maintenance culture, which leads to deterioration. This includes providing quality infrastructure at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner, while putting into place socio-economic aspects including employment creation, skills development programmes and enterprise development.

The maintenance of assets is an important aspect in ensuring effective service delivery. The thrust for construction without recourse for maintenance has led to the resultant lowering of asset condition and value. Projects could also be structured to include maintenance programmes, which provide much more sustainable employment creation.

There have also been challenges where communities fail to identify with the infrastructure and service provided, owing to the absence of involvement, which results in neglect and even sometimes the damaging or destruction of the facility during service delivery protests. The EPWP is a programme whose design and involvement allow for the community to participate in the implementation of programmes and have a resultant ownership effect, which results in the protection of the asset.

There is thus a need to rethink and approach service deliver y from a holistic angle, considering the balance between the infrastructure or service and the social needs of the people – in this respect, employment creation by embracing the EPWP.

A way forward

RECOMMENDED INTERVENTION • Hire designers competent in labour-based methods • Estimation of employment targets to be part of the design process • Align contract documents to EPWP requirements. Different documents exist for different municipalities, which is an administrative burden, resulting in higher charges by service providers. A common EPWP document adopted by the municipalities would simplify the process • Package contracts appropriately depending on the size of contractors being targeted and other socio-economic objectives; consider Large Projects concept Implementation • Conduct social facilitation with relevant stakeholders • Hire supervisors competent in labour-based methods • Ensure reporting according to EPWP formats and time frames • Adhere to the EPWP Ministerial Determination • Leverage the technical support provided by the EPWP branch Maintenance • Ensure you use an effective asset management system • Carry out effective asset maintenance while creating employment Monitoring and • Data to be signed off by municipal manager evaluation before submission to EPWP • Public bodies are encouraged to have an EPWP champion(s) to win the hearts and minds of colleagues • Put in place effective coordination mechanisms, e.g. district forums in some provinces • Incorporate EPWP in the performance agreements of senior managers • Conduct baseline studies where necessary in order to assess post-project implementation impact • Appoint dedicated EPWP technical/ coordinating officials

In addition to recommendations already made above, it is recommended that the public bodies implement several other measures, as shown in Table 4.

There is also room for ingenuity, innovation and convergence in developing EPWP programmes for municipalities that meet municipal objectives, which may vary. This is usually recognised through incentives and awards schemes, such as the Kgamotso Awards, which awards exemplary municipalities.

Making it your business There are no EPWP ‘people’ in any organisation. Every stakeholder is envisaged to play a part – from technical officials and those in supply chain management and legal departments, to service providers. Each stakeholder can make or break the EPWP by their actions or failure to take action respectively. One individual’s decision can make a difference between creating 100 or 1 000 work opportunities. The person you help employ may just be the person who would

otherwise turn crime in order to provide for their family. It is therefore imperative that all role players understand what their role is and do the needful.

While this article has focused on what is not working well and on recommendations for improvement, it should be noted that municipalities in general are doing a lot of good work in terms of service delivery, the creation of productive assets and contributing to employment creation.

For a full list of references, please contact nicholas@3smedia.co.za. *Article written by Nontyatyambo Manyisane, director: Large Projects, EPWP Infrastructure; Mfuneko Kango, deputy director: Technical Support, EPWP Infrastructure; Gamelihle Sibanda, chief technical adviser: ILO, EPWP Infrastructure; and Albert Uriyo, training advisor: ILO, EPWP Infrastructure

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Bringing Cornubia to the community Cornubia is among a handful of pilot integrated human settlement developments and embodies public-private partnership between the government and Tongaat Hulett. By Nicholas McDiarmid

T

HE HUMAN settlement component of Cornubia involves some 15 000 housing units for indigent beneficiaries. A social sustainability and innovation programme is a customised programme coordinated through a mixed incubation and empowerment centre. The centre coordinates inputs from various stakeholders, aimed at facilitating social cohesion between, and economic participation by, housing beneficiaries and neighbouring communities.

Underpinning the initiative is the zero unemployment drive. According to Tongaat Hulett corporate director Bongani Gumede, this incorporates community organisation as a prerequisite for empowerment. A detailed social demographic and skills database is used as a base tool for planning. “We design jobs around the capacity people have rather than design jobs for skills we don’t have,” says Gumede.

Local community work on the 1 ha vegetable garden at Hillhead Estate

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Key opportunity areas are: • open-space environmental restoration, landscaping nursery and commercial vegetable farming, through cooperatives • workforce preparation for construction, and various industrial, commercial and private-home maintenance services work opportunities • back-to-school initiatives that facilitate access to education at all levels.

“Cornubia comprises 400 hectares of open space potentially hiding criminals, becoming a dumping zone, promoting new informal settlements, being a fire hazard, and promulgating alien and invasive plant growth polluting the Ohlanga River catchment. Managing the open space provides local employment,” he says.

Community members are engaged on the importance of environmental restoration and management, and their participation in an integrated greening programme. The programme includes eradicating alien invasive plants and, in declared open spaces, planting indigenous plants and trees, fruit trees

and vegetables. Gumede says the nurseries will become a base for coordinating openspace projects as Cornubia develops.

“Rehabilitating and maintaining the Ohlanga River catchment effectively promotes income security, which empowers residents to meet their financial needs, rather than solely depend on social grants.

Conducted in partnership with the Sukuma Sakhe, Wildlands Conservation Trust, eThekwini Municipality’s Environment, Parks and Solid Waste units, the alien invasive eradication project starts on Cornubia’s northern boundary at the Ohlanga River and sees community members eradicating alien plants and trees along a 10 km river route.

Gumede says community members work an eight-hour day and, in line with an integrated development philosophy of bringing work to the communities, live within walking distance of their work sites.

Launched a year ago, the Blackburn informal settlement pilot project trains local community members to grow vegetables later sold to the open market, including the local community. Tongaat had originally approached the local councillor to work with the community and a cooperative was formed to train them in permaculture.

Tongaat Hulett and eThekwini Municipality Business Support unit purchased the original infrastructure, equipment and pilot garden seedlings. Vegetables are currently harvested monthly and the money deposited in a fund for reinvestment.

The social sustainability and innovation programme’s philosophy remains ensuring every community is organised and members meaningfully engage in social development and economic participation to work for an inclusive approach to growth and development,” Gumede concludes.

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Capacity-building

guidelines Researchers from North West University, in association with IMESA, are in the process of compiling a capacitybuilding guideline. By Ilana Jansen van Rensburg

U

RBAN AND REGIONAL planning is included as one of the main role players in the vast multidisciplinary sector that is the built environment. The role of urban and regional planning is integral to the success of, among others, sustainable and efficient development.

Along with the democratisation of South Africa in 1994, the new government inherited the long list of spatial planning and development problems, which included segregation, a fragmented spatial system and various other problems with economic implications.

As a result of the implementation of ‘wall-to-wall’ municipalities after the 1994 elections, many new municipalities, whether local, district or metropolitan, came into being.

This development resulted in urban and regional planning responsibilities being assumed by newly established and existing councils, which often have not had the financial means to employ full-time urban and regional planners to manage these responsibilities.

Recognising the need for physical development planning at all levels, IMESA has proposed a plan to equip authorities with easily understood yet comprehensive user manuals, which are expected to assist in urban and regional planning, and associated responsibilities, through capacity building. The project is to be undertaken by Prof Carel Schoeman as the project research leader and Ms Ilana

Jansen van Rensburg as the researcher.

Schoeman describes the project: “The project consists of capacity-building guidelines to empower municipal engineers and engineering staff to have a basic understanding of the theory, concepts, definitions, practices and procedures underpinning the profession of planning. The point of departure is not to train engineering staff to become urban and regional planners, but to enable such members of staff to engage with planning specialists and related applications such as spatial plans and land development applications.”

Purpose and content The purpose of this document is to provide an understanding of urban and regional planning and associated practices, the

policy and legislative framework that it accompanies, and the implications it has for spatial development, transportation, environment, land development and layout planning, the provision of engineering services and housing, and sustainable development, among others.

A basic knowledge of this will build the capacity of staff working in related disciplines. It will also enable an understanding of the processes supporting statutory planning and the content of process documents required for the development of various categories of land applications, which are to be submitted to all municipalities and tribunals along with an understanding of the engineers’ responsibility FIGURE 1 Project contents

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HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Core URP focuses

Secondary fields supporting URP

Fields fundamental to URP

Fields related to URP (non-core)

NAT A URAL SCIENCES

Environmental Manag ag age ge g e nt and eme d Geog graphy

Geology

Biodiversity plan planning pla la anning n

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

ENGINEERING CAD/GIS Cartog grap aph phy

MAT A HEMAT A ICS, COMPUTER SCIENCE

Inform f mation Sy S ystems/ e / modeling mo el

Eng gineerin errin ring ing Planning l in ng

Statutory Plann an nning

Transp sp po p ortation Planning lan nn

Urban rba Ecolo olog log ogy

Urban Urban Regional Planning nn nin Theory Planning anni Theory

Bota any

Envi virronme onmen ntal Planning

Zoology

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Opera atti tions o s research

Archi c tecttu ure/ e/ Urban De esi s gn

Urb rb ban n Plann niing n Frame eworks o

Gov ve ernme rn ntal Admi dminist min mi iinist n nist istration Manageme a ag nt

POLITICAL SCIENCE PHSYCOLOGY, Y SOCIOLOGY

Place,, spa s ce ide d ntity and d experience

FIGURE 2 Micro and macro interface relationships between urban and regional planning, and other disciplines

regarding the scope and extent of their planning-related responsibilities.

The additions of the new Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) No. 16 of 2013, to the process of town planning within the municipal structure and the built environment, will also form an important focus of the project, as it will have great influence in town planning applications and associated processes. The goal will be to inform all parties involved of these changes and guide them through the transition from the old legislation towards the integrated approach of SPLUMA. As the interaction between urban and regional planning and engineering forms an integral part of this project, the project will attempt to not only guide the engineer dealing with town planning applications, but also the town planner in understanding the engineer’s role in the applications they present.

Urban and regional planning in the built environment The domain of urban and regional planning can be viewed from an interface perspective, with the inclusion of other disciplines

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IMIESA January 2015

Urban U rban Regeneration

Loc oca ation tion theory

Sttrategic Spatial Developme elopmen nt Fram ameworks

HISTORY

Planning l g Law

LAW AND LEGISLATI A ON

ECONOMICS

such as engineering, architecture and environmental management. Education and the interfaces within the academic and research environments are used to form the basis of residential developments and the like. Urban and regional planning, and its associated policy and legislative framework, ser ves as the foundation and integration between other disciplines.

There are also several challenges facing

the current urban and regional planning domain in promoting cooperation between professions in human settlement development. Looking at the micro and macro contexts in which urban and regional planning is included within a multidisciplinar y system also illustrates its close proximity to engineering, particularly engineering planning. Figure 2 clearly indicates that engineering is a fundamental and vital

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

A strong foundation for infrastructure success

aspect to urban and regional planning. It is also clear that engineering cannot stand on its own, and needs support from other disciplines. The result is an interdependent relationship between not only the two fields in question but also within the fields indicated as ‘Fields fundamental to URP’.

The project to date The project is well under way at the moment. The final result is expected to be announced during the 2015 IMESA Conference in Cape Town – with the most fitting theme: ‘Changing the face of the municipal engineer’.

Supporting data collection has commenced and several sources will be consulted on this. During the 2014 IMESA Conference, questionnaires were handed out to the attendees. This was a major success, resulting in the questionnaires being sent to the various IMESA branches. Several urban and regional planners were also included in the process, as questionnaires were circulated to them.

It is expected that the data collected will emphasise the need for this project, as predicted by IMESA in the past years, and that it will also give guidance regarding the information that should be included in the final product.

These questionnaires will furthermore be circulated through the IMIESA newsletter and will also be available on the website. The researchers’ contact details are included on the questionnaires.

The researcher

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Miss Ilana Jansen van Rensburg obtained her BArt et Scien (Planning) from the North West University in 2013, and is currently enrolled for her MArt et Scien (Planning) focused on the evaluation of the capacity-building guidelines in urban and regional planning for engineers. It is expected that her research will be completed by October 2015. She has also acquired a diploma in Advanced Project Management from the Potchefstroom Business School.

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HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Social franchising Could a pioneering franchising concept utilising unskilled citizens prove to be the answer to South Africa's sanitation woes? Amanz’ abantu's social franchising innovation suggests that the answer may well be yes. By Nicholas McDiarmid

I

TS PIONEERING sanitation servicing and maintenance model, launched under the name Impilo Yabantu, is now an established brand that does far more than simply provide a service – it is changing the landscape of sanitation in South Africa.

Oliver Ive is the managing director of Amanz’ abantu, a position from which he has developed unique insights into South Africa’s sanitation challenges. “We identified critical components that seemed to hamper the sustainability of emerging enterprises: financial viability, support in terms of running a business, and developing of skills.” The simple business case for the social franchising idea was to eradicate the need to pay large amounts of money for highly trained people to perform routine services that could be done by local entrepreneurs.

households as well. “Each franchisee is capable of providing sanitation services to a range of entities, from service stations to clinics,” explains Ive. “Their range of services can include fixing gutters and other water-harvesting infrastructure.”

“By keeping the infrastructure they service in working order and functional, the franchisees offer an indispensable support system to their communities,” says Ive.

Wealth from waste Amanz’ abantu secured a contract with the Department of Education to service schools with on-site sanitation and water systems, and thus secured a client with a broad enough footprint from which to develop the franchise.

“We look for entrepreneurs in communities situated in our target areas; we advertise,

The sanitation challenge The roll-out of pit-type toilet systems across South Africa happened very rapidly, but with insufficient consideration to managing the waste. Moreover, legislation and the tender system have placed significant barriers to entry when it comes to companies offering innovations and competitive solutions.

Some of the larger municipalities are making progress but rural areas don’t fare as well, with lack of capacity and constant personnel changes.

Support and innovation Impilo Yabantu manages 22 franchisees today all servicing the sanitation needs of schools, and some

The franchisees offer an indispensable support system to their communities

and people also approach us,” explains Ive. “We actively canvas for individuals with an entrepreneurial energy, and invite them to consider becoming trainee franchisees.”

Once the franchisees have been properly inducted, the work begins. “We provide close supervision, and a direct supervisor is appointed to work with up to five or six franchisees. There is great interest in improving collective methodologies around equipment, processes, pricing structure billing, and other components of a successful business model.” says Ive.

Keeping the flow “It is the financial and skills support that keeps the franchisees sustainable,” says Ive. “The franchisees are ultimately responsible for ensuring payments happen but, in the public sector, payment is often delayed.”

Amanz’ abantu effectively cushions its franchisees from this problem.

“We have taken on a lot of risks in this regard, but all based on enforceable, bankable contracts, backed by solid administrative and procedural principles.” Amanz’ abantu also reduces its franchisees’ administrative burdens. “The public sector is awash in administrative paperwork, and if the owner of the franchise is overwhelmed by this, they could lose touch with their teams, and put the business at risk,” explains Ive.

The public sector challenge The Department of Water and Sanitation has a key role to play: “The DWS must provide leadership to ensure maintenance and management of sanitation is handled effectively before we face a chronic situation,” says Ive. Safe and affordable solutions are needed to address critical national issues, including empowerment, skills and business development, transformation, and environmental sustainability. As a programme, it has proven itself on all of these levels, and the vision of a nationwide solution, based on these principles, should be pursued.

The essence of community “Collectively, we generally do better than as individuals, and the cross pollination of learning and innovation is truly vital to our brand, which stands for community development, improved standards and service delivery in South Africa,” concludes Ive.

IMIESA January 2015

43

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TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY

A trenchless future Durban Harbour is one of the busiest ports in Africa. The National Ports Authority needed to upgrade the port to accommodate larger ships. This required that the harbour mouth be widened and deepened. By Montso Lebitsa, Hatch Goba, and Frank Stevens, eThekwini Water & Sanitation and Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems

T

O PAVE THE way for this modernisation of the harbour, a new and deeper 4.4 m diameter Durban Harbour Services Tunnel constructed using a “mix-shield” slurry tunnel boring machine, the first in sub-Sahara Africa was built and commissioned in 2006.

The other developments in the area saw the emergence of a modern theme park Ushaka Marine World and the Durban Point Development Corporation (DPDC) up-market residential buildings. These developments contributed to a sharp rise in the value of land at the Durban Point Area.

To pave the way for the future expansion of the point Area for residential development, Mahatma Gandhi Road sewage pump station needed to be relocated and the incoming gravity sewer extended by 223 m. The close proximity of protected buildings dictated that the sewer extension negotiate a difficult radius before entering the reception shaft, in the Durban Harbour Tunnel launch shaft.

in Figure 1. In order to free this valuable land occupied by the existing pump station, eThekwini Water and Sanitation were requested to relocate the sewage pump station along the Mahatma Gandhi Road.

A new home for the pump station was found adjacent to the Durban Harbour Tunnel, some 225 m from the current location as seen in Figure 2.

To fulfil this objective, eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) appointed Hatch Goba to design and manage construction of the new, relocated pump station and decommission the existing pump station. The new works are adjacent to the newly expanded and deepened Durban Harbour mouth. They comprise 223 m sewer gravity extension under the Mahatma Gandhi Road, new underground

Project background As one drives down Mahatma Gandhi Road (formerly Point Road) at the Point Area of the City of Durban one would be aware of the odours from the sewage pump station, built some 50 years ago. On the left hand side of the road is the Transnet (National Ports Authority) yard and on the right is a line of protected historical buildings and further on and around the existing sewage pump station are a number of ‘up-market’ apartment buildings developed by the Durban Point Development Corporation (DPDC) as shown FIGURE 1 Durban Harbour mouth showing harbour tunnel and widening of entrance channel FIGURE 2 Point Area setting

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TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY

pump station and further rising main connections into the Durban Harbour Tunnel.

The new pump station was constructed underground, comprising a pump station dry well/wet well configuration, a screening chamber and a state-of-the-art odour control system. This relocation meant extending the sewer by 223 m, following the alignment of the Mahatma Gandhi Road, which is crisscrossed by numerous buried services. Along the relocation alignment, there were sensitive, protected buildings. Due to these, combined with the ground conditions (saturated sands), sensitive services and to minimise disruption to third parties and businesses in the area, a no-dig installation method was the most suitable for sewer extension.

Geotechnical setting The site was located at the mouth of the Durban Harbour, in an area previously occupied by the mouth of the natural estuary of the rivers draining into the south Durban basin, and prior to that by the mouth of the Umgeni River. A total of five boreholes were drilled along the sewer extension alignment. Extending from ground level to depths ranging from 1 to 2 m is a layer of fill material which comprises the road layer works.

Underlying this are marine sands, slightly FIGURES 3 AND 4 Services along the alignment of sewer extension; alignment of microtunnel sewer extension

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IMIESA January 2015

gravelly sands and gravelly sands that are almost indistinguishable from the in situ sands below.

Underlying the surface fill horizon was a consistent layer of light brown to brown, generally medium dense to very dense, fine to medium grained sands up to a depth of 5 m, with occasional layers of silty to clayey sands below 5 m depth. In some areas the sands become medium coarse-grained and contain shell fragments. Holocene marine sands, which extend to depths in excess of 10 m, typically comprise a poorly graded fine to medium grained sand with a minimal amount of fines. Measurements using a standard dip-meter, showed groundwater levels of approximately 2.5 m below the road level. Permeability test results based on pump tests carried out during the investigation indicate that the in situ permeability (‘k’), of the sandy materials underlying the proposed pipeline route ranges between 5.16 x 10-2 and 5.8 x 10-1 cm/s.

Design considerations The objective of the initial study was to evaluate the various sewer pipe extension installation techniques available by taking technical, financial and social-environmental aspects into consideration upon which the selection of the method would be based.

Some of the objectives of the study were to: • investigate installation options within the constraints of the site and alignment

• investigate known construction risks and implications thereof • provide the suitable recommendations based on the conditions.

Socio-economic impacts The following considerations were addressed during the study: Economic Issues: The detailed impact of the preferred method and potential risks associated with the project, were determined including economic implications. There were few businesses around the project area, including the entrance to the harbour mouth.

A detailed economic impact was undertaken for the selected installation methods, including engaging affected third parties.

Geotechnical Issues: Further ground investigations were undertaken along the pipe extension route. Several onsite and laboratory tests were conducted to confirm the ground conditions and their geotechnical properties. The water table levels, groutability of the sands and the frictional resistance between the pipe and soil mass (skin friction) were determined for the design and construction. The records indicate that a lack of information on ground conditions could lead to the encountering of potentially costly, unknown construction hazards.

Environmental Issues: It was established that the use cementitious grouting to stabilise ground would likely cause some contamination of groundwater. In sandy soils,

TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY

grout generally tends to follow a path of least resistance, which could end up undesirable places. However, this was not expected to be a major concern in the project area, due to proximity of the harbour channel.

The other major environmental impact and concerns would emanate from material excavation, haulage and disposal; mess caused by open-trench installation method.

Sociological Issues: The single most significant sociological impact identified at the time would be disruption of road traffic, which in turn would cause disruption to businesses, during the construction of the connection chamber or during trench excavation in the case of open-trench method.

The other indirect disruption could be caused by disruption of utilities serving businesses and communities. The impact these cannot be quantified during the study.

Installation options Various construction methods for the sewer extension were investigated, such options as open-trench, conventional/traditional pipe jacking” with dewatering or ground improvement, horizontal directional drilling(HDD) and microtunnelling were considered.

The options are listed below: • microtunnelling • pipe jacking • horizontal directional drilling (HDD) • open-trench • pipe ramming.

The report highlighted the merits and demerits of individual sewer installation methods.

Each method was evaluated in detail including the evaluation of cost and socio-economic impacts and benefits. The complexity of the project required a thorough determination and examination of all risks, pros and cons.

Many of the risks have been identified and discussed above. All options were assessed for “potentially fatal flaws” and the identification of such flaws relating to individual options were summarised in the table below.

In essence, all of the options were technically viable – but clearly with varying degrees of construction hazards, the delimitation of which were mostly related to the project capital cost. The options evaluation and subsequent conclusions were summarised as follows: Pipe Ramming: a simple to use method, but cons outweigh the pros, as indicated in the summary table below. In short, the method is suitable for jacking up to 100 m lines. Longer jacking distances require intervention shafts or intermediate jacking stations. In addition, the sandy soils would almost certainly require ground stabilisation and the potential presence of obstructions would likely to cause pipe to bend. All the above issues made this option unfavourable.

Open Trench: most widely used and accepted method in South Africa. Whilst its use in the First World has fallen to near-zero in urban areas for obvious reasons. Although

still used in build-up areas and city centres, it is generally ideal for shallow, countryside projects. In deep pipe installations (6 m deep in the case of Mahatma Gandhi Road Project) and soft ground, the trench sidewalls would generally require sheet-piles and props support on sidewalls. Numerous services criss-crossing the road would also prove this method very difficult, unless the service were relocated or trench was dug in the third party’s land (NPA granite yard).

Dewatering of the trench would cause potentially a degree of ground settlement. The other factor making the method unfavourable was the socio-economic impact (extended disruption of traffic, likely disruption of services and local businesses, indirect costs associated with cutting and repair of the road surface, etc.). The Open trench method was therefore disqualified on the basis of this endless list of risks and disadvantages.

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD): relatively cheap in comparison with pipe jacking and microtunnelling. The HDD has limited drilling capacity in terms of pipe diameter (maximum 900 mm); therefore in order to compensate for (or to match) the incoming sewer pipe size, two bores would have been required. One on the most difficult items of the HDD would be to control and hold a constant grade of the drilled pilot hole and to maintain the alignment of the drill head and reamer, which made it not a very popular method for installation of gravity

IMIESA January 2015

47

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TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY

FIGURE 5 MicroTBM before launch

sewer mains. Hence steeper grades exceeding 1:100, are preferred when using this method. The consequence of this “necessity for very steep grades” is the effect it has upon the depth of the proposed sewage pump station sump in which the sewer pipe would discharge. To overcome the problem of alignment control, watch pits/manholes would be dug along the route to expose the drill head and confirm the levels or adjust as necessary. Digging these watch pits within the busy, services criss-crossed Mahatma Gandhi road would not have been an easy and cheap task. As a consequence of above arguments, the method was not very favourable for the project.

Pipe Jacking: a favourable method for sewer pipe installations for short drives.

The cost estimate, availability of expertise and technological application (suitability for sewer pipe installations) made this option very attractive. This method is normally suitable for used in all ground conditions but in saturated dense sands (below water table).

Stabilisation of ground (in soft soils below water table) would be a prerequisite for the safety of personnel and equipment and also to minimise potential ground settlement due to volume losses.

Of all the considered ground stabilisations methods (dewatering, bentonite/cement grouting and ground freezing), none seem to be flawless, particularly when there was no track-record of use in similar circumstances.

The risk of these methods proving unsuccessful on-site was appreciable. The selected process would take a long time to attain

100% effectiveness and as a consequence could be very costly.

Microtunnelling has the highest cost and the lowest risk rating of the options considered. Without much detailed analysis of options, It was established that the shorter excavation duration, in comparison with other options, this would compensate for higher upfront cost in the long-term and would make this option more comparable/competitive or even more attractive than the second-best (pipe jacking method), in terms of cost.

On the bases of analyses and arguments discussed above it was concluded that the microtunnelling option was the most suitable sewer installation method for the Mahatma Gandhi Road Sewage Pump Station incoming gravity sewer extension and having least negative impact on the known constraints.

Alignment optimisation As areas increase in density, space becomes cluttered with supply lines. One way to accommodate the growing demand for conduits and services, including sewer lines, would be to place them in tunnels freed from the general plans on the surface. This was

typical along the Mahatma Gandhi Road and the Point Area in general.

The sewer pipe extension alignment had to be curved to avoid tunnelling under the protected, historical ‘Harbour Master’s building’. This made it challenging to designing and choosing suitable installation method and equipment. Such curved microtunnels are apparently very difficult to negotiate, particularly if the alignment control was critical, such as in flat grade sewers. In the Mahatma Gandhi Road case, the break-in to the pre-opened existing reception shaft had to be very accurate, within a few millimetres of accuracy. Deviation from line meant that the machine would drill in the heavily steel reinforced concrete wall.

To negotiate the curve, an experienced operator had to carefully work the sensitive steering rams in the machine, ensuring the desired angle was maintained to avoid overstressing the jacking concrete pipe, by way of inducing point load on the concrete pipe and also maintaining the alignment.

See Figure 3 and 4. The tunnel length was approximately 225 m, consisting of: • 115 m straight section from the jacking pit • 105 m arc length with 350 m radius, curved section to bypass the protected historical, Harbour Master House • 5 m straight section, breaking into the existing harbour tunnel north shaft.

Jacking pipe design The ground conditions dictated that only a closed face, pressurised slurry type MicroTBM was used for pipe installation. Due to the Length of the tunnel being in excess of the desired length for the conventional hydraulic drive from container to machine, Herrenknecht AVN-2000TC type machine, owned by Coleman Tunnelling (Ireland) was used, the type “AVN 1200TC”. See Figure 5.

FIGURE 6 HDPE-lined concrete

jacking pipes

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TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY

FIGURE 7 Micro TBM and pipe installation in the jacking pit

The client required that due to difficult construction conditions, restricted access to the sewer-line and the importance of the sewer system, the 1 200 mm internal diameter concrete pipe was to be designed for a 100-year life span. The reinforced, 145 mm wall thickness concrete pipes with characteristic strength of 40 MPa were designed, taking into consideration the known fact that the Durban marine environment is highly corrosive. This, combined with the fact that the concrete sewer pipe would be below the saline groundwater table and corrosive nature of sewage, required high durability concrete to be specified. Although the extrados of the pipe will be permanently submerged, measures had to be put into place to minimise material attack by salt water. These materials included duplex

50

stainless steel collars and rubber seals for pipe joints. A special grade (AISI 32507) stainless steel was used for its resistance to pitting corrosion. To eliminate chemical (sewage gases and hydrogen sulphide) attack to the concrete, the pipe intrados was lined with ‘cast-in’, continuously welded HDPE. These considerations and protection measures will enhance material durability to achieve the intended 100-year design life and beyond.

See Figure 6.

Emergency preparedness A contingency rescue shaft was allowed for in the unlikely event that the MTBM encountered an obstruction, such as old ship anchors or timber piles and stoppage of the tunnelling operations. In that case the position of the machine head and all known services would be marked on the surface.

Various available options were investigated, including sinking a cassion shaft in front

of the machine head to recover the MTBM or remove the object from in front of the machine. While the obstruction was being removed, bentonite would continuously be pumped around the pipes to limit potential ground settlements.

Conclusions The Mahatma Gandhi Road sewer extension micro-tunnelled pipejack was the first use of a slurry machine and the first to do a curved alignment in sub-Saharan Africa.

This machine demonstrated the capability of technology to overcome the challenges of tunnelling through difficult ground conditions and negotiating curves and achieving tight tolerances. According to the records, this was one of the most successful curved microtunnel projects in the world.

For a full list of references, please contact nicholas@3smedia.co.za.

IMIESA January 2015

Trenchless Technology Specialist

Our range of services include: • Pipe Bursting • Horizontal Directional Drilling • Pipe Rehabilitation

• Pipe Ramming • CCTV Inspection • Dewatering

• HDPE Welding • Deep Excavation and Shoring • Underground Service Detection

• Slip Lining

• Industrial Pipe Cleaning

• Close-fit lining: COMPACT PIPE

For more information you can contact us: +27 (0)21 761 3474 F +27 (0)21 797 1151 E info@tt-innovations.co.za www.tt-innovations.co.za

PIPES

Fiberpipe announces

BBBEE deal Fiberpipe, a Southern African GRP pipes manufacturer, has recently announced changes in the management of the company through a BBBEE transaction. What do these changes mean for the business of Fiberpipe?

By Hein Momberg, managing director, Fiberpipe

T

HE CURRENT ownership of Fiberpipe comprises an 82% shareholding by Fiberpipe Holdings, with the remaining 18% held by nine of the senior personnel in the company, each allocated 2%.

The shares of Fiberpipe Holdings are held 51% by an investment company and 49% by the new BBBEE company.

Momberg says he wanted to build a business that would be here for many years to come. “To achieve this, one needs to expand and, in order to have a sustainable business, a strong management team is essential,” he explains.

Nizaam Hendricks and Vanessa Khathwane, shareholders of the BBBEE company, have been appointed as directors alongside two of Fiberpipe’s most senior personnel, Anton Joos and Hein Pieters. As a result of the BBBEE deal, both Fiberpipe and Fiberpipe Holdings now have a team of five directors.

In addition to this, Fiberpipe has appointed two non-executive directors, being Lawrence Saville and Peet van der Westhuizen. While the BBBEE deal has been underway for some time, the actual directorship changes were effective from 1 September 2014.

Shareholders that make it happen In making the decision to have a BBBEE partner, Momberg explains: “We chose not to go the route of a BEE investment company that just provides us with points. It was important to have shareholders that actually work in the company and contribute to the growth of the business.

“We chose not to go the route of a BEE investment company that just provides us with points.

It was important to have shareholders that actually work in the company and contribute to the growth of the business.” Hein Momberg, managing director, Fiberpipe

“Both Hendricks and Khathwane, as part of the management team, work in developing Fiberpipe’s new business, where they are responsible for identifying new areas of opportunity and for interacting with government and municipalities. Where we previously focused our efforts on targeting the consulting engineers exclusively, this is a relatively new field for us in terms of our development. We realise that the market is changing and so are the decision-makers.”

From a strategic point of view, Momberg says the company now has a much more effective means of doing business with government departments, such as the Department of Water and Sanitation, municipalities and water boards.

“The municipalities and water boards are now deciding themselves what pipeline technology they want to use on a specific project and are no longer relying on what is recommended by the consulting engineer. This

has changed the game in the sense that we need to educate the various parties about our GRP product and the significant contribution it can make in Southern Africa’s development,” he adds.

Fiberpipe’s vision Momberg says the company has moved away from merely being a pipe supplier and would like to become the preferred supplier of piping solutions in Southern Africa through its GRP/Flowtite range.

“Fibrepipe offers a total package to our clients, from assisting with the design of a pipeline, through to after-sales service and maintenance. We now offer a much wider spectrum of services. We have further strengthened our vision through the expansion of our field services. The product that we manufacture can play a critical role in the development of our country’s infrastructure.”

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PIPES | COMPANY PROFILE

FIBERPIPE

Corrosion-free GRP Fiberpipe is the sole Flowtite™ glass reinforced pipe (GRP) manufacturer in subSaharan Africa. The advantages of Flowtite™ GRP pipes and fittings are increasingly appreciated in markets that reach beyond South Africa’s borders, including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi and widely used in Europe and the America’s.

CHARACTERISTIC

ADVANTAGE

Corrosion-resistant

• long, effective service life • no need for linings, coatings, cathodic protection, wraps or other forms of additional corrosion protection • low maintenance costs • hydraulic characteristics are essentially constant over time.

Lightweight (1/4 weight of ductile • low transportation cost (able to nest pipes) iron pipe, 1/10 • eliminates need for expensive pipe handling equipment. weight of concrete)

F

LOWTITE™ GRP PIPES are a costeffective piping solution as the pipes are corrosion free, have a proven resistance to acidic environments in water and sewage systems, and are lightweight and therefore easy to handle. The advantages of Fiberpipe’s Flowtite™ GRP pipe systems go far beyond its light weight and resilience, as the table illustrates.

Advantages of GRP Hein Momberg, managing director of Fiberpipe, has placed significant focus on ensuring customers get the most value from the company’s products: “Fiberpipe’s combination of manufacturing and sales engineering services enables us to deliver value-added services based on the requirements of its customers.

Through partnerships, we find workable solutions aimed at achieving maximum utilisation of pipe systems where operational effectiveness is sought.” The company provides training in installation and maintenance, free of charge to South African customers, among other value-adds.

Flowtite™ GRP pipe and fittings are used in potable, raw and industrial water applications, as well as in seawater, wastewater, bulk water and sewer applications. The GRP products are manufactured according to the following local and international standards:

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IMIESA January 2015

Long standard lengths, 12 m

• fewer joints reduce installation time • more pipes per truckload means lower delivered cost.

Smooth bore

• low friction loss • lower operating costs.

Superior hydraulic characteristics

• extremely smooth bore • Hazen-Williams flow coefficient of approximately C=150 • low friction means less pumping energy needed and lower operating costs • Manning’s flow coefficient n + 0.009 • minimal slime build-up means lower cleaning costs • excellent abrasion resistance.

• tight, efficient joints designed to eliminate infiltration or exfiltration Precision Flowtite • ease of joining reduces installation time coupling with • accommodates small changes in line direction or differential elastomeric gaskets settlements without additional fittings.

Flexible manufacturing process

• custom diameters can be manufactured to provide maximum flow volumes with easy installation for slip lining projects • custom lengths can be manufactured to provide maximum flexibility for ease of direct bury or slip lining installation.

Advanced technology pipe design

• multiple pressure and stiffness classes to meet the design engineer’s criteria.

SABS 1748-1 (glass-fibre reinforced thermosetting plastic pipes), AWWA C950 (fibreglass pressure pipe for water services), ASTM D3754 (fibreglass sewer and industrial pipe), ASTM D2996 (filament-wound fibreglass pipe) and AWWA C950 (fibreglass pressure pipe). The 114-employee company’s 13 500 m2 factory, located in Germiston South, boasts a continuous filament winder for the manufacture of Flowtite products.

t +27 (0)11 065 2300 • www.fiberpipe.co.za

WATER STORAGE

Supporting mines with water infrastructure Meyerton-based Structa Technology, a member of the Structa Group of Companies, is proud to be of service to the mines by assisting to provide much-needed water storage to mining companies throughout South Africa.

By Rodney Cory, Structa Technology director, Prestank

O

UR 40-YEAR brand namely Prestank has over the years proven itself as a hygienically safe, cost effective and reliable way to store water for communities, commercial sectors, private sectors and even for personalized storage. We are one of the preferred suppliers of water storage tanks to municipal authorities and mines because we are known as a supplier who always strives to deliver our water tanks on time, within budget adhering to the best quality standards," says Cory. Recent notable prestanks that were fabricated and installed by Structa for mines are as follows: • Venetia Mine A recent water tank was provided to the De Beers Venetia Mine in Januar y 2014. This is an elevated water tank on a 22 m stand 200 000 ℓ capacity. This tank has been fabricated according to the strict quality specifications of Anglo American.

• Kriel Colliery Two ground-level water tanks were provided to the Kriel Collier y namely a 500 000 ℓ and a 55 296 ℓ • Sishen Iron Ore Mine A 155 296 ℓ ground-level tank was provided to Sishen iron ore mine • Impala Platinum Two water tanks both 103 000 ℓ were provided to Impala Platinum shaft 20 • Anglo American Structa provided a tank of 10 000 ℓ to the Isibonela collier y in Witbank.

Prestank may be used for various water storage applications from temporary or permanent installations at mines, power stations, building sites, hospitals, water affairs, municipalities, rural communities and agriculture. The Structa Prestanks are fully customisable, high quality water storage solutions that are manufactured according to SANS guidelines and meet South African hot dipped galvanising requirements.

Hopetown specially designed L-shape tank

There are many benefits to choosing Prestanks: • It facilitates construction of an infinite range of sizes and configurations to meet the specifications and needs of the client: Handrails, walkways and lightning protection are just a few examples of the features available to our clients.

• The profile panel sections provide excellent strength properties and are structurally sound for storing water. The stand is designed strictly in accordance with SANS 10160 for wind and SANS 10162 for structural steel work. Tanks mounted on steel towers above ground level have an aesthetically pleasing appearance.

• Another major advantage of the sectional tank design, is that it facilitates easier handling and transportation over long

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WATER STORAGE

• Minimum maintenance is required because the galvanised steel panels resist weathering from the elements, while maintaining the integrity of the water within from contamination of most forms.

• Access to the water tank can be restricted by means of a lockable, ventilated access cover, providing safety and peace of mind to our clients.

Structa’s pressed steel sectional tanks are hot-dip galvanized for corrosion control in accordance with the requirements of the SANS 121 (ISO 1461) galvanising standard. The thickness of the hot-dip galvanising coat is applied within a range of 80 to 100 μm. This is more than five times the thickness of zinc on pre-galvanised corrugated steel cylindrical tanks. The purpose is to ensure extended maintenance-free life in situations where water with aggressively corrosive properties is required to be stored.

The Structa Group of Companies consists of nine subsidiaries active in the manufacturing and supply of structural steel products for water, infrastructure (electrification and telecommunications), mining, petrochemical and industrial sectors.

ABOVE Medupi 3.5 million litre tank BELOW Rockdale, one million litre multi-column tank

distances to remote areas, regardless of the final dimensions of the assembled unit.

• Assembly on-site is quickly achieved without the need for sophisticated tooling methods.

Specialists in the manufacturing of domestic and industrial water storage

Water

Storage MEYERTON 0861STRUCT (787828) Fax: 016 362 3608 rodney@structa.co.za www.structa.co.za

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IMIESA January 2015

WATER & WASTEWATER

Chemical construction

solutions eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality recently approved the rehabilitation of the KwaMashu WasteWater Treatment Works, situated about 25 km north of Durban.

T

HE CRUCIAL ROLE of chemical treatment of the construction materials is reflected in the specification of half a dozen chemical products, applied in three separate phases of the project.

The first application of the chemical products involved waterproofing the roof slabs, which measured approximately 900 m2.

Contractor Industrial Linings Natal prepared the surface area by grinding and pressure-cleaning, prior to an application of Sikalastic-EP Primer II, a two-part, lowviscosity epoxy-polyamine resin. This multipurpose primer is easy to apply, with short waiting times, and provides good penetration and high bond strength. It is suitable for internal and external use, and

can be used as a primer for all PUR and polyurea systems.

Material enhancement This was followed by a 1.5 mm layer of Sikalastic-841 ST, a two-part, very-fastcuring pure polyurea membrane designed for machine application only. This versatile product is suitable for waterproofing and anti-corrosion applications on concrete, steel and many other substrates. It is 100% solids with zero VOC, is UV-resistant and provides excellent crack-bridging properties.

After diamond-grinding the roof surface, a preparation layer of Sikadur-30 (8 kits) was applied. Based on a combination of epoxy resins and special filler, this structural two-part adhesive is easy to mix and apply, and offers high creep resistance under permanent load. The shrinkage-free hardening of Sikadur-30 is not affected by high humidity – a significant factor for this particular project. It provides high initial and ultimate mechanical resistance and is impermeable to liquids and water vapour.

Calling in the reinforcements Making it stick The second application of Sika products, for strengthening the roof slabs, was awarded to AMFRA Maintenance Services.

To complete this phase, a layer of Sika CarboDur Plates (S512 x 11 m) was applied KwaMashu Wastewater Treatment Works

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WATER & WASTEWATER

WATER Water Supply | Water Treatment | Industrial Water Management Minesite Water Management | Water Reuse & Recycling Chemistry and Geochemistry | Numerical Modelling

Water management

over the adhesive. These pultruded, carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer laminates are designed for external reinforcement of concrete, timber and masonry structures.

This internationally approved product is used worldwide in a wide range of applications including load increase, damage to structural elements as in earthquake damage, service improvements such as stress reduction in steel reinforcement, as well as for changes to a structural system. Supplied in lightweight rolls, Sika CarboDur Plates are very easily installed, while their high strength and outstanding fatigue resistance provide excellent durability.

Sealing the deal

for sustainable business

The third and final stage of the project involved joint sealing on the five digester tanks. Fakazi Construction applied 80 m x 2 mm of the Sikadur-Combiflex SG system, which consists of a modified flexible polyolefin waterproofing tape with advanced adhesion, to each tank.

The tank surfaces were prepared by scabbling, prior to a coating of Sikadur-31 CF Normal, a moisture-tolerant, thixotropic, structural two-part adhesive based on a combination of epoxy resins and special fillers. This high-strength adhesive and repair mortar offers very good chemical resistance.

When fixed to a joint, the versatile Sikadur-Combiflex SG sealing system allows for irregular and high movement in more than one direction, while still maintaining a high-quality seal. It is easy to install, extremely flexible, weather- and water-resistant and is suitable for use in many difficult situations.

The main contractor on this project, Icon Construction, coordinated the three subcontractors so that each Sika application was done according to a scheduled programme. After receiving the best possible rehabilitation, the KwaMashu Wastewater Treatment Works is set for a structurally sound future.

After receiving the best possible rehabilitation, the KwaMashu Wastewater Treatment Works is set for a structurally sound future WorleyParsons has a strong track record in delivering innovative solutions utilising pipelines, groundwater and membrane technologies and sustainability modelling for cost-effective water solutions.

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IMIESA January 2015

WATER & WASTEWATER

Unlocking future water sources South Africa is facing a water crisis. Widely reported on and a dominant conference theme, there is really only one question that needs to be answered: given the depletion of surface water in our country, where will our future water be sourced from?

T

OP OF THE agenda is wastewater reuse, desalination and potable water quality. The standard solutions tend to entail massive infrastructure capital spends and long-term implementation. This focus on centralised water catchment and treatment solutions is largely based on an assumed economy of scale: The bigger, the better; the cheapest and the easiest to operate.

Local resources; local needs While we are looking for the mega projects to solve the entire South African water crisis we tend to forget about the smaller easier projects that can assist with water supply.

The philosophy of decentralisation of water treatment is based on a local water source availability linked to a local need. With failing infrastructure which includes bulkwater pipe lines, transporting water hundreds of kilometres across the country, decentralised water treatment starts making sense for remote, smaller communities and industries.

water treatment. Quality Filtration Systems (QFS) have localised leading global technologies and made them affordable for South African market applications. QFS have represented Evoqua (formerly Siemens Water Technologies) in South Africa for over 14 years and have successfully implemented potable and wastewater projects.

QFS is strategically positioned to provide equipment through its in house manufacturing and implementation capabilities, all of which are supported by its personnel’s expertise and knowledge of all of the technologies required.

Global technologies for the South African economy Advanced technologies have a smaller footprint, require less operator involvement and are less dependent on chemicals for

Water Treatment Solutions for the Future

Wastewater reuse South Africa has many small wastewater facilities (1 to 5 MlPD) scattered throughout the country and most of the water at these facilities is viewed as an environmental contamination risk rather than as an actual resource. Rural wastewater facilities have typically been neglected, with insufficient maintenance and incorrect operation, and have, in essence, become liabilities.

These facilities compete with many other services on the budgets of local authorities and come with the additional expectation of producing water of a good enough

FIGURE 1 Design of compact treatment facility with all relevant technologies included

www.qualityfilters.co.za

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IMIESA January 2015

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WATER & WASTEWATER

quality to return to a natural water source, like dams and rivers. Unable to deliver, these plants have become liabilities. The proper implementation of correct technologies can transform these liabilities into income producing assets, able to deliver water of a high enough quality for use in irrigation and industrial applications.

Predesigned systems and processes Biological treatment of raw sewerage is a prerequisite for processing water for reuse.

The biological process must be able to produce water to acceptable limits for the reuse process to accept this for further treatment.

QFS provides modular, pre-designed systems that can be installed with minimal site work which are comprised of the following technologies: • flocculation/clarifier • 20 micron drum screen • ultra filtration (UF) • advanced oxidation • granular activated carbon.

Flocculation/clarifier Installation of the clarifier allows for flocculation to be included in the pre-treatment

process. Chemical dosages are confirmed during final design phase but normally include three dosing stations for the addition of chlorine, pH correction and flocculants.

The clarifier combats high solid carryover from the treatment works and also provides the option of organic flocculation. Carry over solids enter the clarifier and settle out with assistance of the installed tubular settlers. Tube settlers utilise individual, isolated tubular channels, each sloped at 60 degrees to expand the settling capacity of water clarifiers.

The modules are engineered with the individual tubes rising in the same direction to eliminate mixing currents and unstable flow patterns. In plant design and upgrading, less settling area is required as a result.

Structural ribs provide considerable vertical loading structural strength and this unique design ensures a solid interface during installation. The sheet forming and bonding processes provide tremendous strength and long-term durability.

Grating panels are installed on top of the tube settler packs, providing UV protection from extended exposure to sunlight. The grid replaces a possible mobile walkway for access to the tube settler packs, providing

a protective layer from foot traffic and the repeated hydraulic impact which occurs during routine wash-downs. The top of the tube settler modules should be submerged approximately 450 mm to 750 mm below the water surface.

20 micron drum screen Clarified water overflows to the drum screen in a concrete channel. The drum screen filters from the inside of the drum to the outside using only gravity pressure. The drum can be installed as channel mounted in a concrete structure. The drum starts rotating automatically when a high water level is reached, which in turn initiates cleaning, which is done with a set of nozzles. Screened water automatically falls into the UF buffer tank.

Ultra filtration The core component of the UF membrane filtration module is the Memcor (model code L20), which is proprietary technology. Each L20 module is made of a bundled group of hollow fibre membranes surrounded by a protective plastic screen and sealed with polyurethane ‘pots’ at both ends. The pots allow filtered water to pass from the hollow inner core or lumen of o the membrane fibres to the filtrate pipe sets. se Each module is placed inside a module module housing. Each L20 module becomes a serviceable s filter element that can be removed rem mo from the CP Unit housing for repair or replacement. re Th he L20 module housThe in ing acts as a presssure vessel for each m membrane filtration mod du Each L20 module module. housing has two headpieces, hea two outer sleeves and a centre centrre tube. Valves in the headpieces isolate both bot the inlet feeds and the filtrate outlets. The Thhe valves are operated using a Memcor designed dessig filtrate isolation valve tool. O-rings create cre watertight seals between the different differennt components at connection points.

FIGURE 2 Ultra filtration module housings

Water Treatment Solutions for the Future

www.qualityfilters.co.za

t +27 (0)21 853 5248 | f +27 (0)21 853 3870 | email info@qualityfilters.co.za | P.O. Box 212, Somerset West, Western Cape 7130

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IMIESA January 2015

WATER & WASTEWATER

FIGURE 3 Filtration in hollow fibre membrane

Flow rate is monitored by the feed flow meter and VSD controlled feed pump. Filtrate pressure is indicated on a pressure gauge and by a filtrate pressure transmitter on the filtrate side of the module array.

documented. The H2O2 is dosed after the carbon filters before the UV light. Considerable information is available about the UV- and UV-oxidation-based formation of by-products such as nitrite, assimilable organic carbon (AOC), and bromate.

The formation of biodegradable organics is related to the nature and concentration of dissolved organics in the water. These organics are measured as dissolved organic carbon (DOC). GAC filtration appears to be an effective means of reducing the AOC level of the UV/H2O2 treated water producing biologically stable water; thus the suggested installation of the GAC after the AOP.

Advanced oxidation

Granular activated carbon

The advanced oxidation process of ultraviolet radiation in combination with hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) is well known and

The granular activated carbon media filter consists of modified steel pressure vessels.

Water enters the vessel from the top and

In filtration, feed water enters the module array through the feed ports in the end pipe sets, passes into the filtration modules, and through the membranes. Filtrate exits the module array through the filtrate ports and pipework flowing to the filtrate storage tank or service discharge point.

All valves and pumps are controlled by the Master PLC.

What is the master PLC?

This solution is without doubt one of the most effective processes for water reuse projects worldwide and QFS has geared up specifically to extend the product into the South African market

exits at the bottom. Backwash is performed by a flow reversal and 4 x filtration flow rates used for proper fluidisation of the media bed. The granular activated carbon is made of selected virgin coal, produced under high-pressure extruding and strictly controlled steam activation processes at a high temperature. This carbon is characterised by large surface area, uniform porous structure, high hardness, enhanced filtration and regeneration able.

Conclusion This solution is without doubt one of the most effective processes for water reuse projects worldwide and QFS has geared up specifically to extend the product into the South African market. Its reliability, ease of installation and operation and tried and tested results make it a compelling answer to the immediate challenges faced

by South Africa.

Transformation of a liability into an asset is always a win-win scenario, and by re-using and repurposing what was once simply a contaminant into a resource for agriculture and industry is a compelling part the country’s water solution puzzle. QFS not only designs and supplies the solution; it has invested in its own resources to offer the support and expertise required for sustainable solutions – notably at municipal level.

This hands-on approach makes QFS agile enough to support bespoke changes that might crop up at final design stage, delivering the economy of pre-designed modular technology with all the benefits of tailored design.

IMIESA January 2015

Industry Leaders in Water Storage ^ŽůƵƟŽŶƐ

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info@sbstanks.co.za +27(0)860 482 657 www.sbstanks.co.za 5382

Concrete was there‌

New and independent, The Concrete Institute, created for concrete and related industries, incorporating the original School of Concrete Technology, the Information Centre and Technical Advisory services.

www.theconcreteinstitute.org.za

CEMENT AND CONCRETE Data shows a significant steady growth in cement consumption, indicating a continuous increase in the use of concrete in general construction and infrastructure. As cement and concrete markets become increasingly dynamic, the need for innovation is important, while precast cement has seen some important developments.

IMIESA January 2015

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CEMENT & CONCRETE

Concrete industry

gets tough Tightening specifications for readymix concrete has led to a substantial growth in the membership of the Southern Africa Readymix Association (Sarma) from companies seeking to obtain formal accreditation of their plants and processes.

S

ARMA ADVOCATES using quality concrete only from suppliers that have been audited and accredited to have adequate safety, health, responsible road usage, environmental protection and quality systems in place. This would ensure that concrete delivered on-site is of a sufficient standard, minimising the risk of future failures. Recent high-profile concrete failures, building collapses and the dismal state of certain low-cost housing developments have caused the construction

Sarma-approved readymix on their sites. A positive effect of this is that more and more companies are joining Sarma and undergoing our separate annual audits for environmental compliance, as well as safety, health, quality and road safety compliance.

“These systems are based on ISO standards and are therefore internationally recognised and sufficient grounds to establish minimum standards for our industry. In addition, Sarma has its own unique requirements and all members are bound to uphold

our codes of conduct, as well as abide by all relevant legislation governing the industry."

year, with approximately 50 producer members. The increased collection of levies has assisted the association to reach out further to spread awareness of the importance of dealing with accredited members, as well as continuing to work with government and other structures to make Sarma-accredited readymix the construction material of choice on all projects within Southern Africa.

The introduction of unannounced audits on member sites would also be instituted from next year to ensure plants run in compliance with requirements year-round and to prevent any ‘window-dressing’ that may occur around audit times. Training workshops for members will also be stepped up and skills development of workers within the industry will remain a top priority.

Rising quality

Always improving

“As a result of this, the standard of readymix concrete delivered in South Africa is higher than ever before and, provided they make use of Sarma-accredited members, users are assured of receiving concrete that complies with, and often exceeds, our very high minimum standards. Unfortunately, there are still a number of unregistered readymix companies who do not want to abide by these standards and the quality of concrete in these instances can be a hit-and-miss affair,” says Van Wyk. He continued that membership of Sarma had grown to nearly 200 readymix plants this

“We are also looking at other initiatives to join global readymix bodies in the USA and Europe, to begin fast-response teams to clean up concrete spillages and to become the registering authority for concrete technologists in South Africa.

“We will also continue working with bodies such as the Construction Industry Development Board, municipalities, engineers, institutes, and member organisations to ensure that the quality of concrete delivered is raised to a level where it can compete with the best in the world,” Van Wyk concludes.

We will continue working... to ensure that the quality of concrete delivered is raised to a level where it can compete with the best in the world industry to become increasingly aware of the importance of dealing with accountable suppliers and insisting on procuring concrete from accredited suppliers only.

Working together Speaking at a recent Sarma regional meeting in Gauteng, general manager Johan van Wyk says that the association had begun engaging member organisations within the construction industry, as well as government and local government structures, to work together to make the specification of Sarmaaccredited readymix concrete mandatory.

“This is beginning to pay dividends and already a number of these industry organisations, several municipalities, mines etc. have begun to stipulate the use of

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Johan van Wyk, general manager of Sarma

CEMENT & CONCRETE

Preparing for a busy 2015

T

HE 2015 EDUCATION programme of the School of Concrete Technology (SCT), operated by The Concrete Institute, is now available.

John Roxburgh, lecturer at SCT, which is based in Midrand, says the need for skills upliftment in the construction industry has never been more vital, as South Africa prepares for the long-awaited roll-out of tenders for government’s strategic infrastructure projects in 2015.

“We are expecting a busy year. Companies in the construction and civil engineering industries, in particular, should use this opportunity to invest in their employees’ skills and career development by enrolling them for a SCT course. Using the SCT’s stepped approach to concrete education, an employer can map out a progressive career path for the employee, who could then start his or her concrete education at a level matched to individual competencies,” Roxburgh states.

The School of Concrete Technology is South Africa’s leading provider of education in concrete technology, with a broad spectrum of courses, and caters for a wide variety of educational needs within the construction, mining and concreterelated industries.

“A SCT certificate is instantly recognised and highly regarded across industries. A qualification in concrete technology will open doors in many different fields of employment at a critical time in South Africa’s infrastructural development,” he adds.

The SCT will present ‘the pinnacle in concrete technology education’, the Advanced Concrete Technology (SCT50 ACT) diploma, in 2016. This internationally acclaimed qualification is locally presented by SCT on behalf of the Institute of Concrete Technology in London.

Matthews Magwaza is one of the team of lecturers at The Concrete Institute’s School of Concrete Technology, which is facing a busy 2015

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CEMENT & CONCRETE

Transparent materials Associations representing the main materials used in the construction of houses have thrown their weight behind Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s call for cooperation within the construction sector, by signing a number of pledges on behalf of members.

T

HE MINISTER of Human Settlements called on all involved in the industry to work together to build 1.5 million houses within the next five years. In order to do this, the department had committed to addressing a number of key issues that had stood in the way of closer cooperation in the past and had taken various steps to unite the industry.

These included working more closely with financial institutions to obtain loans for home owners, to procure land, establish a dedicated unit to ensure payments are made on time, establish an office of an Ombudsman to deal with disputes, create forums to deal with bottlenecks, use the Cuban model of youth brigades to train young people to build houses and partake in the economy, as well as speed up the issue of granting title deeds.

support the initiative of the Minister of Human Settlements to let all South Africans have a home of their own and uplift the dignity of the entire population.

“While Aspasa quarries are regulated by the Department of Mineral Resources, there is no such oversight on the side of Sarma members. That is why the association plays such an important role in self-regulating the industry and ensuring that we uplift the standards and quality of readymix concrete delivered in South Africa.

“Already our members are subjected to annual audits for safety, health, road transport, environment and quality. This means that they already have their eye on quality and high levels of service delivery. As a result, the pledges that we are making are not a distant aspiration, rather they can (and will) be achieved with the cooperation of the government and other role players,” Pienaar says.

Support for initiative In response, the Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa (Aspasa) and the Southern Africa Readymix Association (Sarma), representing companies that supply sand, stone and readymix concrete, produced a combined list of pledges on behalf of members.

According to Nico Pienaar, a director on the boards of both associations, they

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IMIESA January 2015

ABOVE Aspasa quarries are regulated by the Department of Mineral Resources OPPOSITE Aspasa members are subjected to annual audits for safety, health, road transport, environment and quality

business for the building of infrastructure or other large-scale projects, these dishonest business dealings put a strain on the country’s economy. It also has the potential to derail any meaningful efforts to build sustainable and competitive industries in future.

“We are committed to ending corruption affecting our industry and appeal to any of our members who suspect dishonest dealings to take decisive action. As an association, we want to set the groundwork to make it extremely difficult for anyone to be involved in corrupt activities. That is why we need to join hands and become active members of the association and begin to act on behalf of everyone within our industry,” Pienaar adds.

Putting a stop to corruption Included in the pledge is the need to stamp out corruption in the housing and related industries. Aspasa has called on its members to help eradicate the scourge of corruption at all levels within the quarrying and construction industries.

Whether corruption is experienced at the point of mining minerals, or to procure

Committing to closer cooperation The pledges put for ward by the associations include: • To strive towards supplying quality aggregate, sand and readymix concrete to human settlements projects • To work with the provincial Departments of Human Settlements to reduce payment

CEMENT & CONCRETE

delays for material supplied to the industry, to allow companies to be paid within an acceptable period i.e. a maximum of 60 days. • Member companies are to work with national and provincial departments, as well as municipalities, on issues relating to housing and thereby supporting the government’s initiative to build 1.5 million houses in five years. These houses should be built with quality materials and products. • Once payment and issues of transparency within the department have been resolved, to support and lead issues and advise on plans that are drafted to build more houses. (The industry has spare capacity to supply aggregate, sand and readymix.) • All members will be requested to report cases of corruption to the Ombudsman and the minister. Members will also be requested to not in any way be involved in paying bribes or any form of business that is corrupt.

• To attempt to work with the National Home Builders Regulatory Council (NHBRC), thereby ensuring that quality, professionalism and standards are met in the housing sector in South Africa. • To involve local communities where individuals or non-profit organisations want to assist individuals to build their own homes with quality materials. • To serve on an advisory group to advise the minister on issues relating to achieving the goal to build houses for all South Africans.

Government must help In addition to the pledges, the two associations had some of their own input and concerns that needed to be addressed by government.

Aspasa requested that the department assists with the eradication of illegal mining of sand and aggregates, while Sarma asked that government ensures that substandard readymix concrete (including substandard cement imported into South Africa) should

not be used on any government projects in future. “As suppliers of key building materials on almost every building site, our members are committed to working with government and role players to meet the needs of the population. We also wish to deliver only quality materials so that our people – many of whom have waited so long for houses – can have houses they are proud of and can call home,� concludes Pienaar.

IMIESA January 2015

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CEMENT & CONCRETE

Accelerated housing Delegates at this year’s Readymix Conference by Sarma were able to witness first-hand how tilt-up construction can be used to speed up the delivery of houses or infrastructure such as hospitals or police stations.

T

ILT-UP CONSTRUCTION is an established type of construction in which floors and exterior walls are cast in concrete and lifted into place once they have been sufficiently cured. The walls are then simply fastened and roofing and other elements are affixed.

While this building practice is used extensively on shopping centres in South Africa, it is only recently that contractors and government departments have begun looking at the method for quick construction of housing developments.

Faster, simpler, stronger Charles van Eck of Tilt-Up Construction says the main reason that this type of construction is becoming popular is its speed of erection, as well as improved construction quality. “There is a massive skills shortage, and the quality of work and speed of deliver y of standard bricks and mortar construction can no longer be guaranteed.

LEFT Walls are cast ABOVE Cured structures are lifted into place

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IMIESA January 2015

“The tilt-up method overcomes this by using moulds that simply need steel reinforcing and ser vices (plumbing electricity) to be put in place, and quality readymix to be poured in and settled. Construction can be done within a small footprint with walls cast on top of each other using bond breakers between each layer.

“Within a week or two (depending on curing times), the walls can then be erected, the roof put on and ser vices connected. The construction can be semi-industrialised and manufactured in a production-line type process. That means you can pour walls for several houses at a time, and while they are curing you can be doing foundations for the next batch and erecting others,” says Van Eck. Benefits of tilt-up construction include: • high-quality finish • speed of construction • super-strong, hard-wearing/durable walls • cost-effectiveness • efficient use of labour.

The process also requires less specialised skills and consists of setting a perimeter formwork on a sacrificial slab, applying bond breakers, fixing, reinforcing, positioning and securing lifting bracing inserts, casting and floating panels, curing, erecting and temporarily bracing the structure, and finally connecting into the unified structure.

Van Eck concludes that it can be cast to suit needs, including multistorey for university hostels, mines, affordable living etc.

“Tilt-up has evolved to meet shortfalls and delivers a high-quality product that is gaining acceptance throughout the countr y and is destined to become a building method of choice.”

I M E S A A F F I L I AT E M E M B E R S

IMESA

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATES AECOM vanessa.partington@aecom.com AJ Broom Road Products ajbroom@icon.co.za Arup SA rob.lamb@arup.com Aurecon danie.wium@aurecongroup.com Aveng Manufacturing Infraset cgroenewald@infraset.com Bigen Africa Group Holdings otto.scharfetter@bigenafrica.com brian@bmkconsulting.co.za BMK Consulting Bosch Munitech info@boschmunitech.co.za Bosch Stemele bsdbn@boschstemele.co.za Brubin Pumps sales@brubin.co.za BVI Consulting Engineers marketing@bviho.co.za Civilconsult Consulting Engineers mail@civilconsult.co.za Corrosion Institute of Southern Africa secretary@corrosioninstitute.org.za CSIR Built Environment rbapela@csir.co.za Development Bank of SA divb@dbsa.org.za DPI Plastics mgoodchild@dpiplastics.co.za EFG Engineers eric@efgeng.co.za Elster Kent Metering leon.basson@elster.com Engcor Engineers masham@engcorengineers.co.za Fibertex South Africa (Pty) Ltd rcl@fibertex.com GIBB yvanrooyen@gibb.co.za GLS Consulting nicky@gls.co.za Hatch Goba leratom@goba.co.za Herrenknecht schiewe.helene@herrenknecht.de Huber Technology cs@hubersa.com Hydro-comp Enterprises dan@edams.co.za I@Consulting louis_icon@mics.co.za ILISO Consulting hans@iliso.com INGEROP mravjee@ingerop.co.za Integrity Environment info@integrityafrica.co.za Jeffares and Green dennyc@jgi.co.za Johannesburg Water rtaljaard@jwater.co.za KABE Consulting Engineers info@kabe.co.za Kantey & Templer (K&T) Consulting Engineers info@kanteys.co.za Knowledge Base info@knowbase.co.za Lektratek Water general@lwt.co.za Makhaotse Narasimulu & Associates mmakhaotse@mna-sa.co.za Malani Padayachee & Associates (Pty) Ltd admin@mpa.co.za Maragela Consulting Engineers admin@maragelaconsulting.co.za Marley Pipe Systems info@marleypipesystems.co.za Martin & East gbyron@martin-east.co.za Mhiduve adminpotch@mhiduve.co.za Mott Macdonald PDNA mahomed.soobader@mottmac.com

Much Asphalt john.onraet@murrob.com Namela Consulting (Pty) Ltd melissa@namela.co.za Nyeleti Consulting ppienaar@nyeleti.co.za Odour Engineering Systems mathewc@oes.co.za Pumptron info@pumptron.co.za Pragmaa nicojobe.mabaso@pragmaworld.net Royal HaskoningDHV francisg@rhdv.com SABITA info@sabita.co.za SALGA info@salga.org.za SARF administrator@sarf.org.za.co.za SBS Water Systems terri@sbstanks.co.za Sektor Consulting cradock@sektor.co.za Sight Lines sales@sightlines.co.za SiVEST SA garths@sivest.co.za Siza Water Company tionette.bates@sizawater.co.za SMEC capetown@smec.com SNA stolz.j@sna.co.za Sobek Engineering gen@sobek.co.za Southern African Society for Trenchless Technology director@sasst.org.za SRK Consulting jomar@srk.co.za Sulzer Pumps Wastewater sales.abs.za@sulzer.com Syntell julia@syntell.co.za Thm Engineers East London thmel@mweb.co.za TPA Consulting roger@tpa.co.za UWP Consulting craign@uwp.co.za Vetasi south-africa@vetasi.com VIP Consulting Engineers esme@vipconsulting.co.za VOMM commerciale@vomm.it VUKA Africa Consulting Engineers info@vukaafrica.co.za Water Institute of Southern Africa wisa@wisa.org.za Water Solutions Southern Africa ecoetzer@wssa.co.za Wilo South Africa marketingsa@wilo.co.za WorleyParsons chris.brandsen@WorleyParsons.com WRP ronniem@wrp.co.za WRNA washy@wrnyabeze.com WSP Group Africa dirk.hattingh@mbs-wsp.co.za

CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT

Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm gets a lift Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape recently had a tall order to be completed when a rotor from a wind turbine had to be removed in order to repair a damaged blade.

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IMIESA January 2015

T

O COMPLETE this challenging task, Johnson Crane Hire deployed its Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 (750 t) allterrain crane, for client FairWind Installation. The LTM 1750-9.1 was added to its fleet towards the end of 2013 due to an increased demand for specialist lifting in the local wind energy sector.

“We have had a number of enquiries for repairs to wind turbines in the Eastern Cape after completing the FairWind contract,” Janet Barnes, key account manager, says.

Johnson Crane Hire has already erected four wind generators at Darling Wind Farm in the Western Cape.

The rotor was replaced in July, with Grant Parker from Johnson Crane Hire’s Heavy Lift division overseeing the set-up and stripping of the crane. The estimated time for repairs to the damaged blade was about seven

The hub and blades weighed 62.5 t, while the height from ground level to the centre of the hub was 80 m

days. However, strong winds delayed the repairs to the damaged blade as well as the replacement of the rotor.

Scope of the work Each turbine comprises an 80 m high tower, three 49 m blades, a nacelle with the generator and gearbox, and a transformer box on the ground. The weight of the hub and blades totalled 62.5 t. The height from ground level to the centre of the hub was 80 m.

“The crane was configured with a main boom of 49.1 m, an insert of 19 m and a 28 m luffing section, totalling 96.1 m, allowing for a hook height of 90.19 m,” Parker explains. He adds that the LTM 1750-9.1

CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT E

Johnson Crane Hire deployed its Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 (750 t) all-terrain crane for FairWind Installation

is perfect for this application as it is able to move quickly between the various hard stand areas due to its ability to be set up and stripped fairly quickly.

The nine-axle crane has the advantage of its complete telescopic boom remaining attached during transportation on public roads. Its maximum lifting capacity is 750 t, at a 3 m radius, while its operational weight is 108 t and its total counterweight is 204 t.

Johnson Crane Hire operates across South Africa with a fleet of hydraulic and crawler cranes ranging from 8 t to 750 t on both shortand long-term projects. The company works in conjunction with its customers to design optimum lifting solutions, ranging from supplying professional operators and full supervision, to all necessary rigging equipment in a single-source-supplier approach.

IMIESA January 2015

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Cat ®. Excellent at Groundwork.

Barloworld and Caterpillar are committed to sustainable development. This will require unprecedented levels of resources, changes of attitudes and an insight to a greener future. That’s why the Cat people are hard at work developing innovative products, services and solutions for the future.

KEEP IT REAL. KEEP IT CAT® For more information contact our call centre on 0800 21 22 48 or visit www.barloworld-equipment.com

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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Geotextile drainage solution An area already bustling in infrastructure required a novel solution to managing the impact of a new hospital on its water table. A geotextile solution proved to be the answer to this hydro challenge.

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HE SITE FOR this new Mediclinic Hospital in Midrand Estates has undergone extreme excavation operations to accommodate basement parking. The vast Midrand Estates in Gauteng, which comprises the Midstream, Midfield, Midlands and Midstream Hill estates, boasts not only upmarket residential properties, but also private schools, shopping centres, sports and recreational facilities, fuel stations and churches. To add to all these facilities, a new hospital was constructed on Midstream Hill by main contractor Basil Read. Jodan Construction undertook the earthworks, including the installation of the subsoil drainage systems.

it was imperative to install an effective drainage system. This is when consulting engineers Endecon Ubuntu proposed that a specific Kaytech geotextile would be the most suitable product for the problem faced.

The difficulty in this area is the vast amount of different in situ soils, ranging from sandy material to black clay and, of most concern at the hospital site, the presence of residual granites and ferricretes. These subsoil conditions could result in clogged drains, by means of ferric oxide build-up on conventional woven and nonwoven continuous filament geotextiles. Thus a drainage product with larger openings was a necessity.

Fit for purpose Soil conditions The site for this new Mediclinic hospital in Midrand Estates has undergone extreme excavation operations to accommodate basement parking. With the natural flow of ground water having been altered, resulting in a high water table being exposed in the cuttings,

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The engineers specified Kaytech’s Geomesh, a dimensioned, PVC-coated, multifilament woven polyester, designed for soil reinforcement and as a high-modulus separator in composite drains. The conventional method of drainage would be to utilise washed river sand dimensioned as backfill over slotted

Midstream MediClinic – various in situ soil types posed a challenge for effective drainage

pipes. However, this sand may also potentially clog over time and the engineers proposed that a select, suitable geotextile would be the most practical solution for the problem at hand, since its installation is similar to that of a conventional subsoil drain, which is more familiar to the site labour.

Natural interactions Other factors in this decision were the cost implications of importing washed river sand and that the structure of Geomesh is very similar to the retention characteristics of medium- to coarse-grained river sand. The final product consisted of the installation of a conventional shaped drain: 300 mm x 300 mm, with a 110 mm slotted pipe, and 19 mm stone; all of which was wrapped with 2 500 m2 of Geomesh.

Although it is expected that some fine material will wash through the Geomesh, it will eventually create a natural reverse filter at the interface. The larger openings in Geomesh are known to retain grain sizes of 0.4 mm to 2.0 mm, which will definitely assist to prevent the system from becoming blinded or clogged by the extremely varied subsoils.

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Measuring up

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Multitasking at its best The 1586A can measure thermocouples, platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs),

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A new precision temperature scanner has been introduced to the market.

HE SCANNER, which is ideal for applications such as thermal mapping, process sensor calibration, quality control testing, life-cycle testing, process monitoring and environmental testing, will prove useful for various industries including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food processing, aerospace, and automotive.

Comtest, Fluke’s local representative, has introduced the 1586A Super-DAQ precision temperature scanner, which features up to 40 analogue input channels and scan rates as fast as 10 channels per second.

With the flexibility of both internal and external input modules, the 1586A is designed for use both on the factory floor where channel count and scan speeds are important, and in the calibration laboratory where accuracy and quick input connections are required.

‘When the Bottom Line counts’

The 1586A Super-DAQ precision temperature scanner

thermistors, DC current, DC voltage, and resistance.

It offers best-in-class temperature measurement accuracy of plus-or-minus 0.005°C for PRTs, 0.5°C for thermocouples, and 0.002°C for thermistors.

The Super-DAQ has a colour display with channels that can chart up to four channels simultaneously. It features four modes of operation (scan, monitor, measure and digital multimeter) and alarms that indicate when a channel measurement exceeds an assigned high or low limit.

It has 20 MB of onboard memory for storing data and configuring files, a USB port to collect and store files to a USB drive and a LAN interface for easy connection to PCs and networks. It also includes a dedicated RS-232 interface to control Fluke Calibration dry-wells or temperature baths for automated tests.

IMIESA January 2015

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info@precisionmeters.co.za www.precisionmeters.co.za

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS ALCO-Safe

68

PHB Civil Engineers

33

Amanz’ abantu

42

Precision Meters

71

Quality Filtration Systems

57

Ammann Construction Machinery South Africa

OFC

AnyWay Solid Environmental Solutions

23

Rocla

41

Argus Africa Bitumen

26

SA Readymix Association

63

SBS Water Systems

59

Aveng Manufacturing Infraset

2

Barloworld Equipment

69

Sika

11

Barloworld Equipment Metso

IFC

Sizabantu Piping Systems

44

Development Bank of Southern Africa

29

Structa Group

54

ELB Equipment

48

Technicrete

65

Fiberpipe

52

The Concrete Institute

60

IMESA Call for Papers

28

Tosas

14

TT Innovations

50

Jan Palm Consulting Engineers

72

Vital Engineering

24

Krohne

18

Water & Sanitation Services

Much Asphalt

27

WorleyParsons

National Asphalt

19

WRP

Incledon

72

4

OBC 56 IBC

IMIESA January 2015

Specialist Waste Management Consultants

JPCE

Tel: +27 21 982 6570

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www.jpce.co.za

Jan Palm Consulting Engineers

High Municipal Water Account?

Zednet provides a complete GPRS/SMS based data acquisition, control, monitoring and reporting system for: • • • • • • •

Auto Reporting

Flow and pressure logging Water level monitoring Pump status (on/off) monitoring Rainfall monitoring Identification of leakage through Minimum Night Flow analysis Real time data monitoring Identification of pressure problems

Leak Identification If the leak had run undetected for 2 months: Volume of water loss = ± 2 000m³ Cost of water loss = ± R78 000

Additional features: Leak occurs Leak Repaired

3

Leak @1,4 m /h

• • • • • •

Provides live data to aid network management Automated reports Alarm notification with data import AMR and daily consumption monitoring Store and display all historical logging data Data can be exported in to any required format

For further information contact Tel:+27(12) 346 3496 • Email: info@zednet.co.za or visit the Zednet Demo Site at: www.zednet.co.za Username: VISITOR123 Password: VISITOR123

Developed and supported by:

A Miya Group Company

Water and Sanitation Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd (WSSA) is a specialised provider of sustainable water services in Southern Africa