Industry INSIGHT
Always staying ahead The days of consulting engineering firms simply offering a design and construction management service are rapidly being replaced by the demand for a new, multifaceted skill set that embraces technology and the community. Dinesh Chaithoo, managing director of Chaithoo, shares his perspective. Dinesh Chaithoo, managing director of Chaithoo
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ounded in 2013, Chaithoo is a visionary consulting engineering, project management and transactional advisory leader committed to bridging the skills and infrastructure gaps faced in South Africa and Africa. This vision is based on years of experience, which have proven what works best in theory and in practice. In refining its capabilities, Chaithoo has supported this approach by recently attaining ISO 9001:2015 accreditation. That ensures that every process implemented by the company has a systematic and verified execution model. The company is focused on local and international expansion. Within South Africa, projects include design services for road and bridge infrastructure, combined with asset management condition assessments, geotechnical studies, bankable feasibility analysis for public-private partnership initiatives, forensic infrastructure reports, and renewable energy proposals.
Key services - Consulting engineering - Project management - Transaction advisory services - Training and development
Recent local project examples include the design and construction of a new Gauteng river bridge and the demolition of the old one at an approximate value of R30 million. The existing low-level river bridge was under-designed in terms of its hydraulic capacity, resulting in overtopping during flood conditions. Also in 2019, Chaithoo concluded a comprehensive asset management and bridge condition assessment for the City of Ekurhuleni. A total of 171 bridges were assessed, with an in-house geographic information management system developed for this purpose. Past work within this metro includes assisting project owners for the Ekurhuleni Gravel Roads project, where roads were upgraded in areas such as Etwana, Leachville, Daveyton and Watville. “Providing accurate reports on ageing transportation infrastructure is vital in terms of assessing future capex budgets for new construction and maintenance. It’s also a major safety consideration,” Dinesh
explains. “These are all areas where we have extensive experience.” Demonstrating its project flexibility, Chaithoo also works extensively in the property development sector. Past examples include the City of Tshwane’s 400 unit Akasia Place social housing development.
Cross-border market Cross border, one of Chaithoo’s major strategic moves has been its registration of a company in Cameroon. Key developments to date have focused on providing transactional advisory services for government departments in the country. This includes the groundwork for the country’s hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations in February 2020. In Botswana, Chaithoo also provided the transactional advisory services for the Botswana Green Housing Solution initiative, which is investigating the widespread adoption of rooftop solar power. “Across Africa, renewables and cogeneration are the future, and in both respects there are abundant resources,” he asserts. Another African market with great potential is Mozambique, where Dinesh sees growth in the transportation, mining and allied industrial sectors. “The cyclone events that swept through Mozambique