Grinaker Gazette - December 1982, Vol 1 No.17

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airman's message for Christmas and New Year Ch

with us. The shared experieoces of the past no longer to be enjoyed and apprecjated. fu1y sympathies to those of you who experience this g

riel.

Christmas day and all the excitement it brings.

Santa Claus and presents, turkey and Chrisimas pud. New Year's Eve festivities and the dull thoughts next morning ol misgivings for partaking too well. Enjoy allthese th ings, make each moment last because you'll soon be back hard at work.

What ot the new year that lies ahead? What will it bring? My imp.essions from my recent visit to the USA and Canada, plus my reading oflhe European situation and lrom what I hear. it seems to me that we m ust all tighlen o ur bel'ts and prepare ourselves for probable leaner times ahead.

Nevertheless there are many opportunities for all of us to search for and to make happen; in our private lives and at our workplace.

I wish you all the best and that the new yearwillsee all your good wishes come true.

Due to ed iting and printing lime-lag lh is Christmas and New Year greeting is written long before you read it. The'Christmas break'is already beginning to enter our thoughts because it is someth;ng we all look forward to.

Your time becomes your own for a few precious weeks with no deadlines to meet. Relaxing wilh bare feet and light clothes with a beer or gin and tonic in your hand watching the fire get started for the lunch time or even ing b raai, awaiting the arrival of relatives and good friends. No need to hurry for anything. Golf, fishing, sailing and a lot more activities undertaken with more leisure time available to enjoy them. The late evenings when the children are allowed to stay up a little longer and no homework to help them wi1h.

Some will enjoy these pleasures at home, olhers at holiday resorts. Wherever it is, it's going to be f un. wish you all a happy and relaxing time.

There will be sorrows too lor those who lor the lirst time will miss close relatives and {riends no longer I

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ola W. Grinake.

Chaiman

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Gti1aket Aa.eae Dacenb't 19a2

Grinaker venture into black gold

Finished product. Crushed coal at Grinaker's Nonsana Mine

B"rryb{,4"c""

Georges open-cast colliery nea r Dundee. The men selected to undertake this operation were Angus N/laclean as site agent, Ras Venter as produclion f oreman and Piet Burger as workshoP foreman.

Jimmy, Angus, Bas and Piet later negotiated with the owner of an adjacent farm to mine his coal on a royalty basis. The new m ine was known as Solmar which supplied coking coal to lscor untillhe contract terminated in July this year.

t\4 ining Company (Pty) Limiled was registered in July 1981. This event extended the group's mining activitjes to include the mining of its own reserves in addition to mining on

Grinaker

a contract basis for other owners.

Grinaker Mining's activities are presently centred around coal mining in Northern Natal though expansion into the Eastern Transvaal is possible in the futu re.

The group's venture into coal mining began in 1978 when Jimmy Grinyer from G rinake r Natal negotiated a contract at St Gnnakq Gazete D6c6nbet 1982

Open-cast mining at Solmar

Since then the mine has been run

by Tim Swanepoel, assisted by Ras Venter as production manager and Chris Daly as

foreman, producing coal lor sale on the export market.

Burnside was the next open-cast m jne to open with Dean N/undy as manager assisted by G ert Scheepers and Roy Neuman with Chris Daly as foreman. This m ine supplied coal to lscor until January 1982.

Derek Louw then started the

GR!MKER @4.ZETTE The Grinaker Gazetle

is published as a house journal

by Grinaker Holdings Limited.

Viewpoints expressed are not necessarily shared by the publishers or the edilor.

Editorial olfices, 5 Ronbex Road, Elandsfontein, Transvaal. P.O. Box 8042, Elandsfontein .1406. Telephone (01 1)

tn the bucket. Geoff

58*8915

Whitf ield

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS: O.W. Grinaker H.M. Bush A. D. Sherwood ED ITOR:

Michael Sandrock PUBLISHING ASSISTANT: Diana Hallowes AREA.CORRESPONDENTQ: Peter Blofield, Amalgamated Beinforcing, Natal Toeks Botha, Bay Stone Sales

Andrea Nelson, Gwelu, Zimbabwe

Grinaker

Pla

n

t:

Bussell

Cowdrey, Harry Mahrai, Jack uenz Schalk Vorster, Grinel John Lucas. Durban/New

Skeen, Angus Maclean, Tim Swanepoel, Ken

Nonsana mine where a nth raci'te mined for local and export markets. Dean Mundy is now manager with Allister N/uir as production manager and Gert Scheepers and Glen Elstob as f oremen.

Plant for these mines includes a Poclain 600, possibly the targest back-acting excavator in the Rep u blic, th ree Cat 245s, and two Terex 57 tonne dump trucks

is

wh ic h

a

re the la rgest in the g rou p.

There are Cat 773 and 769 rock dumpers and a Jleet ol Ien 22 tonne Oshkosh horse and trailer u n its. There is also a conside rab le amount of drilling and crushing equipment. Ken Whitfield is plant

manager, King sley Williamson is plant agent and Piet van Zyl and

Manuel Nunes (brother of Amadeu ) are foremen.

Grinaker N,4ining s head office is in Pinetown with Peter Lait as

chairman, Jimmy Grinyer as managing director of the marketing and commercial d ivisio n and Geolf Skeen, newly transIerred from Grinaker Cape, as managing director of the prod

uction

d

ivision.

The 'f ront line'office at Dundee under Angus N4aclean is fully equipped for action Chief analyst Cavell Gravett runs a sophisticated laboratory and Dave

Germany

Nico Maas, S. A.

P

iled

Foundations

Jimmy Ouail, Elandstontein lan Friend, Grinaker (Cape) l\4

a

ry Warrior,

Grinaker

Precast

r

Barry Wiseman, Richards Bay

Front Covor: Construction on the spillway at Bushmans Krantz dam in the Transkei.

Picture by the Gazette.

2

Poclain 600, probably the largest back-acting excavator in the countty.

(see picture of people in bucket above ) G n.ket Gaiate Decanbat

1942

Thompson is resident geolog ist.

Coal is mined, crushed and raded then transported to

g

Grinaker Mining's own siding at Glencoe in the Oshkosh horse and trailer units. From there it is despatched for export or sent to internal clients. Coal is also bagged at the siding, in a Iully automatic bagging plant run by

Peter Lait

me.

The coal mining operation has come a lo ng way. Steincoal S pru it mine is next on the list and we are

planning to begin mining underground at Nonsana. Depend ing on an increase in export permits, future developments cou ld include u n derg rou nd operations in the Transvaal. We trust that the Grinaker diversilication into coal will prove to be a success and that more of our black gold willfind its way onto the world market.

Drilling rig in action

-Jimmy Grinyer

Geott Skeen

ln the bag. Anthracite ready for delivery to custorner.s

Derek Louw

Dean Mundy, Geolf Skeen, Klaas Mosho, Muntungani Zuma, Abednego Sibiya, Moses Zondo

John Mngadi, xhegu Mkhize, Elliot Ngcobo, Ras venter, Geoll skeen, Tim swanepoel, Angus Maclean Ken Whitf ield

.

DAN€ER

.

OpE* CAST MlxllitG OPERATIOIIS/ . uil unlurnontsED tllIRY

Mercedes made a midget by a 57t Terex rock dumper

Baddie Badenhorst

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Cavell Grcvett, chiet analvst

Deeprai Singh in the laboratory at Dundee Gtnak* Galette De.enbet

1982

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More attractive than the miners, the ladies of the Pinetown office. Back:Margaret Harvey, Julie Barker, Jenny Dias, Michelle Gauld. Front: Joan Fouquereaux, Suzanne Thomas, Carole van Eyssen.

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Plant team at Nonsana. Back: Manuel Nunes, Joseph Mabaso, Elliot Mthethwa, Aurbrey Naidoo, Robert Evans, Kingsley Williamson, Joeo Dos Sanlos. Frontr Ken Whitfield, Hezekia Ngwenya, Joseph Ndwandwe, Vincent Khumalo, Harris Khoza, Butnos Sikhosana, Phillip Ngema G naket

Gazett3 Oocenbet 1932

New dam at Bushmans Krantz

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Looking back along the spillway at Bushmans Ktantz

by joint authors Eric Hoppd and Peter Fraser

Ciskeian Department of Ag riculture and Forestry. Design was done by the South African Department of Water Aftairs and

the consultinq enqineers are Stewa rt, Sviridov and Oliver.

Value of the contract is approximalely

The Bushmans Krantz dam site is situated at the loot of the Katberg

Pass seventy kilo melres from Queenstown. The client is the 6

R6,1

2 million.

The contract calls lor an earthwall dam with concrete lined spillway and spillway chute. Some of the more im portant quantilies are: Rock excavation for spillway and chute 80000m3, earthfill for wall 285 000m3, rock protection for earth wall 76000m:, filters coarse and fine 10000m3, concrele lining to spillway and chute 8000m3, and sh uttering 10 000m,. Completion of the dam wall is scheduled for November 1982 and the concrete work should be completed by Nlay 1983.

Due to the nature of the terrain it has been impossible to emPloY

normal flood diversion tech-

n iq ues. This problem was overcome by using a battery of four high-volume 159mm water pumps. They have p roved themselves seve ra I t im es,

running twenty-four hours Per ol uP to two

day for periods weeks.

Curtain grouting has been contined to a thirty metre length ol core trench with grout holes

going down thirty-nine metres.

Altogether 5 000 pockets of cement were used in the grouting p

rocess.

Temperature flucluations are a teature of the locality. TemPeratures have varied lrom a grilling Iorty-four degrees C in February to a chilling minus tive degrees C (plus snow) in July. lnnovation has been provided by blasting expert Riaan du Plessis.

He keeps chickens in the explosives magazine perimeter. The Gnnakat Gazotte Decenbet 1932

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At Bushmans Krantz. Back: Garcth

Evans, Disiniya Dyantyi, Samuel Mkrola, Richard Kaleni, Mei Gqoboka.

Johan Ercsmus, lsaac Koba. Front: May Stuurman, Samuel Blekiwe, Mtchael Hans. Philemon Yamani

result is an absence of weeds or vegetation in this area. The inspector of explosives is delighted and says: "Yours is the first site l've seen with mobile weed k illers." A usetulby-product

of this system is fresh eggs for b

reakfast.

The major earthworks units are:

Cat 633 self-elevating

a sc rape r

and a Cat 966 loader, tour Volvo 5350 dum p trucks and three N/ercedes 1924 tip trucks. We also have a Kato '1200 backhoe, an SP56 vibrating roller, a Cat 815

compactor and g

a Cat 140 G

rade r.

On the personnel side, Graham Browne is contracts manager, Peter Fraser is site agent and Brian Boyd is site agent, concrete. Eric Hoppe is engin-

eerjng technician and

N4el

Watson is the surveyor. Then we have Johan Erasm us and Disiniya

Dyantyi as earthworks f oreme n, GtinaRat Gaz6x6 De.ahb6t 1942

View along the old river bed towards the new wall

lvor N,lath ewso n as concrete general f oreman and Tiki Rossouw as concrele f oreman with Aubrey Stirling and Dan

Wiggett as learner concrele Joremen. Riaan du Plessis is the blaster, Garelh Evans and GarY Robinson are trainee tech n icians and site clerk is lsaac Koba

Handlr''rg the Plant are Blackre Swart as foreman, Francis Murphy, Graham Maxwell and Pat Collins as mechanics and Dave Bessinger welds the Pieces toqethe r again.

Simon Dayi, Tiki Rossouw and Obreey Sterling

Bennie Ntshikaniso, Eric Hoppd and lvor Mathewson

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plant team at Bushmans. Back: Blackie Swart, Pat Cotlins, Gtaham Maxwell, Francis Mutphy, Dave Bessinger' Middle: Raymond Miggels, Enoch Mosho, Reuben zakhe, william Marawu, Alf rcd Maf ilika, Lucas shoba Eric ih";;ey:i,'z*etinziii enartie. Front: Klaas Mati, Elias Dtudla, Eric Mthembu, witliam Lehula, Andrew Jada, John Mahlathini, Paulos Ngcongo Arnaket Gazette Decanbet

1932

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lvor Mathewson, Simon Mkhize and Dan Wiggett

Mel Watson, watchdog Satty and resid e n t engineer Stewart Brcdley

I

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At the King Williams Town ottices, Patrick Mthombo, Maria Plaatjie and Goodman Mzolisi Diliza Gnnakat 6azette Dec6nbot 19a2

Techton ics in PiPekor Project Tonybfo*"n

Pipekor, a subsidiary ol Everite, has a large factory at Chamdor in Krugersdorp producing a variety ol PVC pipes and associated

littings by the extrusion

and

injection moulding tech niq ues.

Towards the end o,f last Year

Techtonics was called in to assist

in

budget cost estimates lor

various possible expansion Prosu rveying leam, led by Roland l/cNamara, prod uced several estim ates which enabled Pipekor lo decide on a viable scheme.

jects. Our quantity

The principal items oI the final scheme included a 15000m2

terraced pipe storage area, with a

LJpper

lloor labotatoty in the extrusion hall Otlices below

2O0m long private siding; a new laboratory, oil stores and several structu ral steel Jramed bu ild ing s i

thermal insulation to the 1000m'? injection moulding hall, as well as extensive trenching and f loor

strengthening. Also P rov id ed were a 33m span overhead travelling crane and suPPort

structures, as well as a new transf ormer and sophisticated electri-

fication ot this hall.

The mechanical side consisted ol a circulating cooling water system and compressed air Package.

As can be seen, this represents a wide range of engineering disciP-

lines. the co-ordination ot which would be a client's nightmare.

Techto n ics was commissioned to carry oul this co-ordination as well as desig n and preparation of b ills of quantities, specilications and tender documents oJ all aspects ol the scheme which included civil and structural engin-

eerinq, architecture, and mechanical and electrical engineering. Our multid u

iscip lin ary service is wellgeared p f or th is type of P roject in wh ich

the client has the benelit of a single all-embracing design contract with on lY ourselves.

Techtonics executed all desig n

n functions for prolessionallY q ualilied stall, ap pointing outside cons u ltants only for the specialist work involving refrigeration and the railway trackwork. This Procedure Jrees the client of all the usual problems associated with separate desig n teams.

Techtonics slaff who did the design wo rk included JennY Pereira (a rch rtect u re ). Jrm lMc Fa rlane (structures), i,4elvern Wong (earthworks), Avram Pelunsky (electrical), with over a hundred d rawings produced bY Ron Labuscagne, Ken Middleton and Tony Edwards.

Five separate contracts were let

by Techtonics: civil & building,

and doc u mental wh

Part of the pipe storage area 10

io

ich we had

c'rna*et Gaze e Decenbet

1942

platelaying, electrical, crane and mechan ical. These were awarded after invited lenders had been received to secure the most competitive prices for Pipekor, who were kept fully inlormed ol all negotiations which Techton ics carried out on their behalf in this problematic contractual phase.

Construction began in February 1982 when the civil building contractor moved onto site, and the final commissioninq of the mechanical eq u ipm ent was completed in October 1982, Iess lhan ten months later. During th is

'l ' .1,'lt--

d

time, Techtonics regularly

reported to the client on programme and budgets, ably prepared by Rod Campbell (quantity surveyor). Techtonics also had the tricky task of co-ordinating the five independent contracts to achieve smooth progress on site.

From a client's point of view, a measure of success of any project is the final cost compared to budget. We are pleased to report that the final cost, inc lud ing escalation on all contracts, was wilhin two per cent oJ our early budget ol over R1,5 million.

Techtonics team on the Pipekor prciect.Back: Roland McNamarc, Ruth

Mellis, Ron Labuschagne, Jenny Pereira, Avram Pelunsky, Rod Campbell. Front: Jimm McFarlane, Tony Bowen, Tony Edwards, Ken Middleton

lniection moulding hall. Several installations were made including travelling crane

Looking towards the rcil siding in the pipe storage area

PE and PVC scrap rooms centre and lelt Gnnaket Gaze e Ddcembet 1932

At the storage pool 11

Piling at Lethabo Power Station -rfl XW nu illtt ttt l

J.I I -I

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An auger piling machine spinning off at Lethabo

formed by Grinaker Concrete Construction and Tilemans of London. The project is tor the construction of two 275m high

by Chris Long

ch im neys for one

ol Escom's new

power statio ns.

Augered, cast in situ piles are being installed. These piles are 1.65m in diameter and a little over 26m deep. Each pile has a work-

After many months of frustrating delay while desig n problems were

being ironed out, work eventually started on 13 September on the piles for chimney No. 1at the Lethabo Power Station on the

banks

of the Vaal River

near

Vereeniging. SA Piled Fou ndations have sub-contracted to Tilegrin, a joint venture company 12

Going down the hole Gtnaket Gaze e Dscenbet 1q2

ol 1400t. One of the major problems to be overcome is the effect of the heaving clays in the area. These clays are ing load

considered active to a depth ol 14m below the terrace level. The piles were isolated from this active material using a lightweight steel sleeve coated with a bitumen developed spec ifically lor pilinq applicatio ns.

The loremen on site are Lou van der lvlerwe and Dereck Shields with Sam Zulu looking after the drilling team during the nighl shijt. The plant is kept in good shape by And ries Douglas-Haw and his assistant. Johnson

Mnyamana. Jerry O'Sullivan gave a hand during the early stages ot the contracl and lam site agent.

The piling for the first chimney is expected to be completed by the end ol October, one week ahead

Coating a steel sleeve wilh

PoIring concrcte

bitumen

of a scheduled eight-week programme. Work on the second chimney is due to start on the completion ol the first which will be in the middle ol 1984.

Water level in an augered hole

Construction of steel reinforcing

The reinforcing in place Gnnaket

GaB

e Decenbot 1982

Hauling up a pump 13

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Louvander Merwe, Moses Sibiya Middle:Johannes.Moote' Phineas Pilino men at Lethabo. Back: Chris Long, "tiow"ru, ';';:;:;;z:, simon Masoka, Etphus Buthetezi, David rshabatata, Gitbert ii,"zrs, Mashasha, Elmon Nxumalo.

Marutha. Front: ozia Nxwanaii, Rulus Mapulane, Robert Mahasha, Alpheas Simon Ng ove ni

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lvan Matyalane, william Titeotin team at Lethabo. Back: Etliot Ndlamini, william Ndlamini, Gabriet Mthembu, Mphatudi' Moses Atbert setshe/e, Johannes Mavembeta, sation sivato, Einar iitv",tii", i'liZl,i,' peter Dolt oosthuizen. Alan Bill Evans, Pen. Kent, Louis Le uoii"ti. rrort, Nots vin den Bank, Chtis Jordaan, Kern ick

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14

Cnnaket Cazatte Decenbe' 1942

ooug?o*aen

Laying down the grey matter. Concrete road under construction at Sarnia

A concrete road Ior the Durban Corporation becomes a reality.

Late in August, Rand Roads, G rinaker's su b-contractor moved onto site and the first of 12 000m2 of conc rete was poured.

The type of concrete pavement being constructed is basically the

Californian Standard,

ie

an

unreinf orced concrele pavement

conlinually cast with transverse contraction jo in ts sawn to approximately quarter depth to introduce planes ol weakness.

These joints are reamed out and neop rene seals are installed.

A sideJorm paver was used to do

in half-widths of 3,75m and 3000m, of g lide-olls/inter45 000m2

chanqes done by hand. Once the

cement treated base had been placed, cut and pruned to fine

Stretch of concrete road at Sarnia Gnnak6t Gazett. Dacanbat 19A2

tolerances by Jimmy Ross and his very able team, the outside edges were staked and prof iled.

From the levels ot these profiles the cement treated base level was meticu lously checked by Porky von Berg, our surveyor, and any deviation f rom design measured.

These results were then run in a computer, which took all these diflerences and tolerances into account. With these results the Jinal level was regraded within the specilication and an accurate

on the amount ol conc rete required lor the construction ol the road could be

, Natal township proiect - under way

estimate

made. Using these reg rad ed levels on the profiles a great amounl of excess concrete was

Early stages at Shallcross in hilly Natal country

saved. A special word of thanks to

Hennie Klopper and his Hewlett-

Packard, their help

was

invaluable and also saved a great deal of time and rnoney.

conc rete volume was checked by d ipping trom the side forms by our quantity surveyor, Tony N4eyer, in fact some 13000 dips were taken.

The contract manager is Barry Willan, and lam presently site agent. The bridge engineer is Simon Cain who is assisted by Manuel de Souza, Joe Felton and two students Dave Bartholomew and Mike McTeer. On the kerbing, guard rail and clean up, jovial Dennis Kearney and student Jdrg Schultz keep surveyor John Higham on his toes. Last but not least we have Simon Tladi keeping the clerical side under control.

The

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1 Fred Mohring

Jimmy Ross 15

New plant for African Products by Terry Neal I

There is an old saying which maintains that the degree of difficulty oi a job is inversely p

roportional to the size oI the job.

This is well borne out with the relatively small contract Grinaker Co

n

c

rete Construction

are

currently completing

at

Meyerton.

The new Dextrin plant and boiler

house

for Alrican

Products'

i4eyerton mill was awarded late in N4ay this year and comprises a reinforced concrete lrame incorporating a complicated network ol downstand and upstand beams and slabs of irregular sizes and shapes to envelop the luture Dextrin plant machinery. A reinlorced concrete silo rises five storeys above ground floor ldvel with an array of internal support beams. Steelwork, f loor and access walkways fill the interior voids wh ile lull-height exterior cladding is patterned to match the existing mill.

Joe Carneiro was appointed general loreman for the contract and his experienced team from the Ciskei Stadium were soon well out of the ground. Apart from some slightly hair-raising events such as the placing oi the huge silo ring beam on top of its three supporting columns the in herent dilficulties in the formwork were overcome with deceptive ease. A tribute to the ability of Joe and h is site team.

The building side ol a contract this size is never easy but

Grinbou's James Draper and '16

G

ri n ake

r

Conc rete Co n stt uct ion si te

Hennie Brilz ensured its more than satistactory completion.

The role ol engineer cum q uantity

surveyor cum'mabalane' was

dropped on my lap and was quite an experience, made possible only with a lot of assistance from Rob Newberry and Hamish Anderson amongst others. N igel

at Meyerton Nilen as contract manager provided the necessary contractual and managerial experience and has been instrumental in the successful direction ol the contract th roug hout.

At the time oI writing the works are on programme and set tor completion by the end of the year.

I I

Men on site at African Products: Johannes Mafemu (leading hand), Phillip Mkhwanazi (leading hand), Shayinduku Zondo (gang boss), Benedict Shabangu (site clerk) Gnnaket Gazette D1cenbet 1982

1

t

At the signing of the University ol Bophuthatswana contract. Standing: G. Hewitt (director of works for the university), E.E. Gtover (chairman ol the university's building committee), Dr. K.B. Hartshorne (chairman ol the university council). Seated: Peter Nuyten, group chairman Ola Grinaket, Professor J.W.M. Makhene (vicechancellor ol the university), Sir Albert Robinson (chancellor)

Grinaker Bophuthatswana takes off Grinaker Bophuthatswana is involved in a major expansion programme lor the University ol Bophuthatswana (UNIBO).

Already staging the second siege of Mafikeng are Lou Gluckman as

to its credit. This latest contract was signed in September by rou p chairman Ola G rinaker and Professor J.W.M. Makhene, vice-

g

chancellor oI the University ol Bophuthalswana. Also present

we

re Sir Albert

Robinson,

chancellor of the university, Peter

Nuyten, Harry de Bruyn, Lou Gluckman and severa I represent-

atives from the design

and

construction teams.

director in charge, John N4cLaughlin as contracts manager and lan Decker as building manager. A strong supporting cast includes Don Brown, Gerry NIcKelvie, Alex l\4ilne, Peter van Staden and

Hennie Raal. Also much

I I

in

evidence are Raymond Wiam, John Coleman, NIala n Gerber, Glen Haworth, George Santana, Alan Peel and Hennie Erasmus The programme calls for an impressive central lecture b lock with a total capacity of 2 200 seats and th ree residences to accommodate 750 students in single study/bedrooms. The project is expected to cost nearly R17 million.

The group's build ing d ivision now has an impressive list of projects G

naket Gazoto Aoc'nbet 1982

Model of proposed new residence 't7

A team lrom Grinaker Engineerrng N4anagement (GEtvl) is involved in an intricate and soPhisticaled develoPment Programme for Epic Oil Mills at lsando. The p roiect includes extensive uPdatinq and revamping of existrng services plus the addition of certain new installations.

Considerab le expansion of lacilities has included the installation o{ new hydrogenation and marqarine-tyPe deodorizer P la nts ind a fats storage facilitY The programme has also included revamping ot the steam generating plant, installation of PiPing services and electrical reticu lation and several additional items such as a new weighbridge Th

is short

descriPtion hardlY

conveys the full extent or complexity of the undertaking. However, the combined management team comPrising Person nel lrom GElvl and EPic Oil has kept lhe proqramme on schedule and the R4,2 million Project is due tor completion in March 1983 GENI provides Proiect management embracing a rch itectural, civil and structural services p lus a certain amount of Process engineering while EPic Oil Provides in-house expertise on hyd rogenation equiPment and other specialized items.

Leading the GEtvl team is Project manager Dave Griffiths, with Rod Carr on site. Leslie Durston and Andre GeldenhuYs Provided arch itectu ral services while Derek Fuller did civil co-ordina-

tion. Andy Mccrae worked D

rocess

enq ineerin

Wilhinson provided

g.

e

Hoisting a pipe bridge into position at the Epic Oil site, lsando

on

John

lect rica

I

expertise and Eric Davis Planned the critical path networks "Overall," saYS Dave Griff iths,

"this is a challenging and satisfying job. lt is just the size and tYPe ol contract which GEM is Particularly su ited to handle."

18

lnstallation ot sleam generation plant cnhaket Aazotto Decenbat 1932

Claude Neon switches on

Consttuction on the new

fa

ts

storage build ing

The new Qlaude Neon factory and oflice complex in Dutban

factory, office block and ablution

facilities of approximately 2 200m2 got under way in lvlarch 1982 and was successfully

witrc f/ccanan

completed by m id-Aug ust wh ich enabled our client to be in full production by the end of September in the new premrses.

The factory structure com prised a tive-bay twin extended portal lrame. clad in asbestos with windows on three elevations,

giving good natural light distribution.

The management team con sisted oJ myself as contracts manager,

Grina ker Projects was commiss-

ioned to contract the new regional complex tor sister

company Claude Neon Part of the hydrcgenation plant Gmakot Ga26 6 Docembot 1982

Lig

h

ts

Limited at Glen Anil, Durban. Our turnkey contract to construct the

Rowan Griifin as site engineer, Phil Smart as architectural assistant and, as we regard our tunction as an extension of the client's own organ ization, "Digs" Power-Wilson, general manager ot Claude Neon. Natal. l9

New Grinaker building is taking shape ,tonn L,iLaugntin

Construction of the Grinaker Engineering office block bY Grinbou is qaining momentum daily under the guidance of site agent, John McCormick. Our 'building'civil man assisting Joh n on the project is general foreman Manuel Dos Santos. with Jock de

Almeida and Frikkie

de

Beer

push ing the conc rete.

The decision to use the Grinaker Concrete Const ruction hYdraulic climbing shutter system in the construction oI the iilt shaft and stair well has been benelicial to

the building team. TheY

have

acquired an experience that will help them in similar Projects to come. Appreciation must go to Augusto Verrisimo who Passed on his knowledge and enthuslastically assisted our Jorernan, Nlanuel Franco, in the Practical application of the sYStem Emphasis is now on the floor slabs to allow the various burld ing trades. which are being handled

by Tony Wilcox, to get the bit between their teelh.

James Draper is supervising the b ric kwo rk with Mike BarclaY measuring the quantities along with Peter'HawkeYe' Hawkins who is responsible for certiticatron on the Proiect. Costrng is being monitored by Young Danre Venter who is becoming verY adept at watching the rands and ce

n

ts.

With the project comPletion date at the end of APril 1983, the Grinbou team are conlident that their Grinaker colleagues will be moving into the new ollice building on time.

20

Glnak6t Gazette Decambet

1932

Un i Decor

is more than a brick Grinaker Precast, always in the forefront of their field, have recently introduced to So uth Africa an exciting new paving

product. Uni Decor is a b lock with a unique shape which combines the structural advantages of a fully interlocklng con crete paver

with the rustic, textured

appearance usually associated w th brick. lt is being produced in a variety ol colours including an earthy multi blend which Precast experts predict will be the most popular.

Uni Decor has been patented and is being manufactured under

licence from West Germany at Precast's factories in Du rban, Brakpan and Virginia. ln Durban, lactory manager Andy Teller and production manager Terry Vahl

ol the manufacturing side while marketing is handled by marketing manager Keith Cowling and sales manager Liam Clarke. ln the Transvaal, prod uction at the Brak pan factory proceeds under the supervision of factory manager Chris van den Heever and production manager Phil N4arais. Divisiona l manager are taking care

l\4alcolm Eastment and sales

One of the applications

ol Uni Decor

manager Peter Swart are 'esponsible Ior marketrng. N.4en in charge at the Virginia factory are factory manager Mike Carnell and production manager Hans du

Plessis, with Ren ier Ecksteen taking care of sales and marketing.

A wide variety ol applications is envisaged for Uni Decor. Besides being suitab le for park ing a reas, it

Co ncrete Mason ry Assoc iatio n

ol

South Africa. After a slide

presentation by Malcolm Eastment. Mr Lane drew the winner of a competition for architects held prior to the launch. Lucky winner of

a

television set was l\,4 r Fosen of Messrs Radomsky, Rosen and Goncalves.

is an allractive choice for as shopping malls, etc. and commercial developments s uch

townhouse sche mes where both aesthetic appeal and d u rab ility are important. For domestic applicalions it is an attractive alternative to clay brick paving.

Uni Decor was launched in Natal at the Pietermaritzburg Royal Show in [,4ay. ln the Transvaal, a

butfet lunch was held at

Uni Decor blocks were Iaid as part

ol the display at the Ttansvaal prcss launch ctrnakct G.7ete De.enbet 1942

the Sunnyside Park Hotel on Friday, 1 October to launch the product.

Members

of the

press

were

invited and guest of honour was Mr John Lane, director of the

The block has a unique shape 21

Big new contract

Advertising skills rewarded

at Ulco

f rom Howard Jones

Grinaker Concrete Construc-

tion in a joint venture

with the awarded been has Concor contract to build a cement

factorv

lor Anglo AlPha

in

Ulco, baPe Provtnce The crvil

contract is worth over Acme Mashego Creative trio. Janet Smit, Vivienne Gray,

Big money changed hands

at

Grinaker EquiPment ComPanY

on Friday 17 SePtember when the

winners o{ the comPelition to invent a name and an advertising

slooan tor the new grader

rec6ived their prizes A party with drinks and snacks was held at the

ollice in SPartan fhe iudges had a difficL'lt trme choosrnq trom names such as Kerb-crawler, Grinaker's lron Horse and Rudi Roadhog' but

theV finallY settled

on

Road-

ranger, a name made up from two

ol the entrles. Janel Smit lrom Grinaker EquiPment ComPanY office and Acme N4ashego"who

assembles graders in the workshop, shared the P(ize ot R100.

The winning slogan, 'You set

th e

standard, we make the

grade,' was comPosed bY Vivienne Gray,

rteen-Year-old schoolgirl lrom Krngs'nead College TonY Cooke-Tonnesen Presented her with the B lOO Prize "As soon as I saw vour slogan I knew it was the one,i he said, "but we didn't

a

f

R40

million and is to be comPleted before the end of 1984 Howard Jones is to be Proiect manager

ou

and site agent will be

Dave wellManY Kino f rom Concor'

Co n crete Construction Personalities will be parttciPating in the Project under the firm hand of general f oreman JohnnY Zatemba.

knJwn Grinaker

imaoine it came f rom a Young g irl We ihougnt it must be the work of an old, exPerienced co nstruction man who knew graders and what theY did."

Sky-bridge by GEM

The comPetition, which was adve rtised in the J u ne issue of the Gazette, attracted 41 entries Many were from PeoPle on scattered sites Grinaker

EqLrprrert ComPanv wot ld like to thank evervonP lo/ lheir interest and helP

*3q

ln

mine in Tanzania was All the civil work at Wiltiamson's f amous diamond was ote inii- e,iraker group trom 1s52 to 1956 Engineet ]'Ji" ord Lilf Bill and Piessls tir"."n *6r" tianiet du

ii

bliiu/uiJ 22

October the Gtinaker Enginee ng Management team on the TV2lg project suPervbed the placing ol a walkwav between Brcadcast House and welf are House in central downtown Johannesburg. It was a faultless operation.

Gtnakot Gazette Decehbat 1932

lntrod ucing'CADADIGS' the group's latest computer acquisition

Errot r!{sendorf

An lntergraph CAD workstation

you then read no further. lf not, then spare a brief moment's commiseration for two colleagues

capture, storage and manipulation facilities for graphics data at speeds and accLrracies rntr insic to computers. The familiar draw-

personal comlort, in the far bleak wastes of Southern California to uncover the inner secrets of this

a

ll the above acronym

is

f

amiliar to

who are at this very moment labouring, with no thought to

cult.

CADADIGS

sta nds

Ior Computer

Aided Design and Drafting lnteractive Graphics System and

is something we just made

up.

The system is, however, very real and very exciting and will soon become a familiar aspect of our

lives in an engineering environment.

ln early September this year

Grinaker Holdings, in line with th3 company's traditionally progressive approach to m odern tech noioq ies, qave the

g

reen lig ht

lor the purchase of an lntergraph CAD system at a cost ol almost R1

million. This decision was the of over one year's investigation into CAD, conducted primarily by Techtonics under the auspices of Basil culmination

Gilbert.

In a sentence, CAD promises to do tor graphics what computerization has for decades done Jor commercial data processing; that is to provide almost unlimited ct)nakot Gazqre De.enbet 1982

ing board which, in various f orms, seems to have lorever been associated with engineering and architecture is now su p planted by

graphic workstation and

a

plotting device, both of which are linked to a mini-computer and associated peripherals. Communication with the system has been designed to be extremely use r friendly for use by draJtsmen and desrgners and is primarily via

a cursor device, menus and digitised tablets or table. The degree of keyboard input has

been limited in cognizance of a universal allergy to this device by eng ineering types. ln its most basic usage mode, that is as a two-dimensional drawing device, the system otters a host of aids to increase drawing productivity and to virtually elim inate the many tedious aspects oJ drawing.

These include commands such as mirror, copy, rotate, scale, zoom, pan, automatic d imension ing and cross-hatching, to name but a few. A symbol library facility is particu larly powerlu l. lt allows f or the storage and repeated re-use ot any standard detail, component or catalogue item. These items may be as simple or

complex as desired and obviously as the library builds up so the be neJits accrue.

Another of the many such Powerful features available is layering.

A plan or drawing detail may be split into areas such as building outline, dimensions, notes, etc. on the various d isciPlin es such as

architechtural, structural,

mechanical, aiectrical;each to be drawn on a separale layer wrthin

the computer memorY. These layers may then be overlarn. viewed on plotters in anY combination. with obvious

benefits for claritY

and

interle rence chec kin g.

The system, however, is not de-

signed merely to increase d rawing productivity. lts more

esoteric featu res include: Three d imensional modelling.

Over lour b illion addressable points are available in all three X, Y and Z axes to allow for the creation of 3-D models of any complexity. The models, o nce created, can again be subjected to a variety ol maniPu-

lation commands such

as

rotate, zoom in or out, scale, section, view from any Point and locatron of lrght source: rn fact anything but hold them rn your hand - Jor that one needs to link up to numeric control

manufacturing devices, which are also available in the ind

u

st

ry.

Associative data base. The system olfers large data base facilities which allow for the linking of non-graphic data to the graphic image created. Any

catalogue item or standard detailcan have associated with its graphic image items suc h as size, make, colou r, manufac-

turer, supplier, cost,

availability, etc. Any such item can

arou nd the Grinaker Engineering

group of companies, Grinaker Engineering Management (GEN4), Techto

n

ics and Grinaker

Projects. but the facility

is

obviously intended to service the

group as a whole.

Four

workstations have been ordered initially, one colour and two monochrome for Techtonics and one monochrome {or G rinaker Projects. These companies are naturally enthusiastic about the improved service they can now otfer their clients and are eagerly awaiting their lirst enquiries. The installation date is planned for late December 1982 at Bedfordview and switch-on lor the start of operator train ing will commence first thing in the new year.

Control ol the central facility will be via Grinaker Computing

Services with workstations

Dave Fellows

located with the user comPany.

further be broken down into sub-sets, all with their own assocratron attributes. This dala can then be sorled. listed and gene rally manipulated as desired. A q uantily surveyor's d

usage has been structured

ream.

As the system ordered can accommodate eig ht to twelve wo rk st at io n s, Co m p u t in g Services will utilize the reserve

Com pute

computer capacitY, in the inilial period, Ior thPir exPanding data processing needs.

To date more than 125 CAD systems have been sold in South Africa at a value in excess of R30 million and it is Predicted that bY 1985 m o re than fifty Per cent of all drawings produced in the USA will be done on CAD systems.

Other lntergraph users in SA include Escom, Anglo American, ElvlS,

Un

ileve r and Westing

h

ou se

Bellambie. The trend is therefore clear and it is Grinaker's intention

to stay abreast, and

PreferablY ahead, of the pack. lt is to this end that the writer and Dave Fellows are currently visiting expe rignced

i-d isciplinary lntergraPh CAD users in America to learn as m u lt

much as possible from

therr

experience and procedures and thereby to avoid most of the pitfalls intrinsic to the introduction of new systems and technologies. Failing that, the unstated implication is clear. We should stay on in the USA and apply for posts at Disneyland.

r lrain ing

Design. As a general purpose

computer, any software

packages that run on the DEC VMS operating system may be run on this computer. The g raph ics interlace provides the lacility to create, for instance,

tinite element models and to plot their dellected shapes alter analysis.

Drawing output lrom the system

will

primarily be through

an

electrostatic plotter which has a plotting speed of l square metre per minute, regard less of d rawing complexity.

Grinaket Computer Servlces training depattment: Kerry Lawrie, Allan Bailey and Ella Greenop

Of particular interest to conslruction engrneers will be the terrain

model applications which analyze landscaping, cross sections, profiles, cut and fill volumes, drainage, effect ol site modifications etc. lt can do this using data input from regular grids, or non-unilormly spaced points and even from contour maps.

These are, brie{ly, some of the features of our CAD facility to whet you r appetite for more inlormatlon.

The system feasibility and initial :

bv Kerry Lawrie Grinaker Computing Services has developed a training department to deal more efficiently with the large n u m be r of ap plicants fo r t

rain ing.

It is headed by me with

Allan

Bailey and Ella Greenop giving specialist assistance.

At the

moment the courses

offered are the word processor course, the labels course and two microplan cou rses.

These courses are bein g registered with the Department of lvlanpower Utilization, and will be registered u nder the ln-Services Train ing Act. Reg istralion of the courses enables the company to claim a rebate ol eightyjour per cent on all expenses incurred whilst on the course including the cost of the course, salary, transPorl and any incidental costs.

Anyone who would like to attend or obtain Jurther details should contact Kerry at 58-8915.

Grinaker Concrete Construction yard wins safety award

uy"!(uotro,

Neat, tidy and safe. The Concrete Constuction yatd at Kelvin

Kelvin Yard has excelled

in

internal and external safety competilions during the year, having obtained eighty-seven per cenl for our internal National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) Management by Objectives Competition. The yard also obtained a NOSA three-star grading in June

1982. and this at their first attempt. They entered the Allied Trades Competition held by the Building lnd ustries Federation of South Alrica (BIFSA) and duly won the Witwatersrand section, wh ich auto matically qualilied them for the national finals.

During the final judging of the yard, the BIFSA judges seemed very impressed by what they had

seen and we eagerly await the results of this competition. NOSA re-graded our yard in Oclober 1982 and we are pleased lo say that we are now the proud owners of a NOSA four-star grading.

We extend our congratulations to

the men behind the

scenes,

namely Peter Kent, Tommy Overmeyer, Gert van den Berg, Jurgen Aweh and all the yard personnel

Men responsible for a sale yard. Back: Renias Malapane, Michael, David Mohlabatase, Mahlotyeni Atosi, Samuel Makhubela, Sam, Ernest Tshilo, Jantiie Khanye, Promise, Jackson Mlombeli. Middle: Tommy Overmeyer, Jurgen Aweh, Peter Kent, Aaron, Albert Batlang, Mtanzi Mazibuku, Peter Kgoroyaboco, Leonard Mfekaye, Simon Ndlovu, Kaletshile, Freddie, Philip Smith, Gert van den Berg, Myer Wolson. Front: Wilson, Johnson Thango, Samuel, Ezekiel Maoka, Eliot Khoza, Herbett Ntlola, Alton Sixakaza, Johannes Magabe, Edward, Moses Maoka, Sekhupha Mzwandile, Stanley Moeng. Between front and middle rows: Frans Ramatu.

Unlortunately some ol the surnames were unavailable.

Gnnakqt Ga26tt6 Decambqr 1942

for a job well done and we

are

crossing our fingers in anticipation of the attainment of the coveted NOSA five-star grading some time in the near future.

Tribute to Jimmy Quail

---.---s,AF-EIY n v'Fo *tu o,"

----l-retw

"1ffi{4ia

- o"

^'"*o

"*fr#'," ilr**l**O Hsjdw

ryptNrs ay

caa" * Grinaker Transvaal's managinq director, lan Johnston cong ratu lates Transvaal on winning the Chairman's Safety Shield for the third successive year and says: "Obviously this achievement is the result of everyone working towards the same goal but nevertheless ieel it is appropriate at this point to pay tribute to the tremendous contribution made by J immy Quail towards our I

safety record in the time he has

Four-star board at Kelvin

been the Transvaal safety

South Africa's'

health and personal

top

safety

.

award Grinaker Plant's workshops at New Germany in Natal have

made it to the top. On 28 October they were presented with the National Occupational

Safeiy Association's national safety award for their category.

The New Germany workshops have held a tive-star satety rating for a number of years and have previously won the Natal award. Once betore they came second in the nationals but this time there was no mistake. They made it right to the top and, littingly, group chairman Ola Grinaker flew to Cape Town personally to accept the award.

26

off icer." An ind ication ot th is is the fact that the injury rate has dropped trom 9,23 in 1978 to 4.13 in 1982.

He qoes on to say that due to reaso ns

Jimmy will be relinquishing his duties as full-time Transvaal safety ofticer but willcontinue to be employed in a part-time capacity as safety advisor and co-ordinator for the group and to provide liaison between the company and the inspectors of

both mines and explosives. "l am sure," he says, "we are all u nan imous in than kin q Jimmy not on ly for the contribution he has made to safety in our company, but also Jor the personal example he has set in demanding lhe highest standards oI work and performance." lan Johnston concludes with the assurance that J immy's successor as Transvaal safety otficer, Rowan Burns, will have the h elp and co-operation of all concerned in the difficult task of m aintain ing the present high saJety standards.

Jimmy Quail's August newsletter begins with the news that only one accident occurred on Grinaker Transvaal sites in the month. This happened at Modderf ontein where an artisan fell off a scaffold inside a silo.

J immy suggests that closer supervision may be needed. He says: "The d uty of ou r su pervisors rs to p lan each as pect of the job in such a way that these hazardous conditions are eliminated and to provide the necessa ry equipment to ensure safety at all times."

He goes on to advise us allto give some thoug ht to safety standa rds at home as well as at work. Safety hazards in the home include laulty electrical equipment, loose mats on highly polished floors, glassware in the hands of small ch ild re n and swimming pools. We should all take a close look around our homes to recognize potential hazards.

The newsletter reports another accidenl-free month for G rinaker

Plant. The last accident

happened in N,4arch this year.

Elandsfontein Yard has really been improving and a National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) grading survey is due to be carried out there soon.

A number ot accidents involving molor vehicles are mentioned. A foreman at George Goch was unable to avoid an accident when d river ot an other veh icle failed

the

to stop at a stop street. lt transpired that he was an unlicensed minor

d

riving without

hrs parents permission This could result in a complicated

legal wrangle as the insurance company may not accept respon s ib i lity.

Jimmy mentions two accidents which were caused by carelessness. At Secunda a driver drove into the rear of a veh icle stopped at a stop street. The driver was ined. At Bolan d Collieries a more serious accident occurred when the driver of a Foden cul a corner around some trees and collided with another Foden lravelling rn the opposite direction. "This was an act ol carelessness," he says, "and the result was damaqe of about R11 000 of which the f

ct'ndr.t

GaTcttc D6.cntbet 1932

contract will have to pay R5 000."

The driver has been given a written warning that he will be dismissed instantly shou ld there be any fu rther incidents.

Jimmy notes an improvement in

Grinel Data

Concrete Man of the Year

Systems

markets

Transvaal's recent accident perlormance, the rate having

dropped from 9,2 accidents per million kilometres in June to 6,2 in

July. Plant also had

a

a

good

month.

winner Grinel Data Systems has been pointed exc lus ive South Atrican distributor for Lee Data Corporation, a young and jnno-

Ladies of

ap

distinction N4argaret Harvey

of

G

vative American company which m an ufactu res emulations of IBM 3270 equipment that out-perJorm the originals from which they have been evolved.

rinaker

Mining recenlly completed a diploma in business management. She obtained an

Says Grinel Data Systems

overall pass mark of eighty-six per cen't which entitles her to a

Eugene Sadie

distinction.

ln

addition to beating the examiners she overcame the further distinction of being the only woman in a class of twenty-three.

Allyson Armstrong, who has recently joined the Gazette,

e ig hty seven percent in a public relations and communications course run by Damelin Management School in Johannesburg. She came first in a class of twenty-five.

ave raged

At a banquet held on 8 October 1982, Eugene Sadie, managing director of Grinaker Precast,

received the Transvaal 'Concrete Man of the Year' award.

This award, introduced this year by the Concrete Society, is presented to the Transvaal person who ann ually makes the most signif icant contribution towards the interests ol concrete, whether in the form of design, manufacture, construction, raw materials or resea rch

-

The design and manufacture ol

in South Africa by Grinaker Precast has resulted in th is country becorhing one of the world leaders in concrete sleepers. Precast now exports technology and know-how to various countries throuqhout the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Malawi. No other sing le company worldwide prod uces more concrete concrete sleepers

sleepers per year than Grinaker Precast.

ln accepting the award, Eugene Sadie said that although he had the honour of receiving the award and his name was on it, much oi the credit was due to his Grinaker Precast team.

C

naket Gazatte Dacambot 1932

maf keting manager Fred Ph illips: Lee Data we believe we have

"ln

once again associated

ou

rselves

wrtn a manufacturer who producing the finest

available

an

is

eq u ipme nt

ywhere. The combin-

ation ot powerjul features and product quality allows us to approach the 3270 market knowing we have a superb alternative for the end user.

"The Lee Data Corporation philo-

is to make the 3270 they have to offer. The end sgphy

emulation only the start oi what p

rod

uct is definitely 3270-plus.'

Grinel Data Systems la u nc hed the Lee Data Corporation IBMplug-compatible term inal system in South Africa in June. at Johan-

nesburg's Carlton Hotel. The launch was attended by guests

from twenty-one of the country's major IBM users and thelr reaction to the new range of 3270 enhanced emulations was extremely positive.

Lee Data, although only three years old, is already making significant impact in the United States with its innovative and unique desig ns.

Bob Pasquarella, international marketing director of Lee Data, travelled to South Africa to assist with the product launch.

Reprinted with permission from the Grinel Data Systems publication DATA. No. 13.

briefs

Tom LundY Bulawayo station for a shilling'

He worked with Ken Solensen,

Oom Charlie de Beer and JohnnY Beukes. "ln those daYS we never knew what a tower crane was," he savs. we used qum Poles a'ld quy'opes. We built the whole ol the suqar refinery at Ndola that

*ay and it was a beautlful JoD He was sent to Malawi to work

with 'Van' van der Walt and Dave Marais. ln 1960 he came back to South Af rica and has been involved in a number of major contracts. "l was at Phalaborwa," he savs. and the Shell Refi.rery in DLrrban. I was on the Standard Bank b u ild ing in Johannesburg with Dennis Cowell. I've d one just about every tYPe of construction except roads, but I suPpose that I m primarily a bridge man He rs currently general foreman on the massive viad uct at Umkomaas.

He met his wife Linda in Phalaborwa and they were matried in '1966. They have two children "We knew everyone in the grouP in those days," he saYS "Things are iar more imPersonal now." He

Tom Lundy, also known as'Duck-

tail', is one of the grouP's out-

standing foremen. His name has featured in maior contracts for almost thirty years.

He was born the son of a construction man in Durban in 1929 He went to school at Addington and then became an aPPrentice carpenter/joiner. "ln mY fourth year of apprenticeshiP I was made a toreman," he saYS, "and was earning more money than a journeyman.

I

"lcaught

a train to J oh an nesb u rg in 1954 and was interviewed in the Grinaker offices at Crown Mines I had wanted to travel and work

my way

a

rou nd b ut Jo

h

n Ellis said

that if lstarted with Grinaker

I

would stay. He was right and that was twenty-eight Years ago " He was on the train again that same dav, heading tor Krtwe in zambia. to work under Mlke Bush. The train journey took frve days," he says. " I had a bath on 28

has always been a keen deeP sea

fisherman. "l love ooing out on a ski-boat," he says, "but ldo other thinqs too and at the moment l'm busy on renovations at home "

He has seen a great many in the construction

changes indLrstry

lvlod er n equiPment is very efficlent," he sayS, "but it's expensive. One must never forget how to improvise in order to save costs.

"Construction has tremendous scope for people who don't want

an eight to five ollice job. You have to be keen on Your job to stay in construction, particu la rly at Grinakers, but you do some-

thing worthwhile. You can look at a nd say with worked on that'. ln a sense one burlds monuments and that's the reward."

a

bu

ild ing or a b ridge

pride,

'l

Patricia Day, who was educated

in Kenya, ioined

Grinaker

Concrete Construction in

September as secretarv to HarrY de Bruyn. "EverybodY ls so nice here," she says, "that I think I'm going to enioy it." She is married and has tried her hand at Painting around the house and sewing She a/so enioys the delicate cralt of pressing flowers. She is a keen squash player and willbe going to Durban with the Ttansvaal ladies' team. She used to swim lor Kenya. "But no more comPetitive

swimming

for me, she saYs,

"nowadays I lust enloY our Pool at

home."

,t ^.\ l'

'rI

r

Barry Wiseman is an accountant who joined Grinaher Zululand tn 1979. "ln 1981 I started uP a services department," he sars. "We became involved with sec uritY, buying, training, pe rsonnel work, tndustrtal relations. PUblic relations and the rest." He also runs a literacy school, Producesa newsletter, serves on several committees and is a llvewire correspondent lor the Grinaker Gazette. He is married, with three children. He and his wile Dentse

sL/ccessf u/ Comrades runners. He does canoeing and canoe kicking ("when we blew uP in the Duzi last year"), squash, skin -d iving, spear fish ing, hockeY and soccer. it3 lmposslb/e to

are both

Gtnakot Gazere Deconb 1982

tmagrne a nyone being more

active but he says: "One of these

days I want

to

/essons. "

Manf red Taiwe

take

f ly

ing

ioined Grinaker

time," he says, "but I have a pipe dream: lthink about that yacht and a cottage by the sea when we build a dam near Cape Town one day."

Transvaal in 1967 as sile clerk in Saso/burg and has worked on many diflercnt sites around the country as well as in Swaziland and Botswana. ln 1972 he joined

secretary, joined Grinaker Zululand in 1977 as secretary to Bean Bornheimer. She now

train ing

other directors. "At one time I was

olficer at Brakpan and since 1979 has been petforming the duties of personnel, training and safety ofltcer at Virginia. Manlred is married and has two young children, a boy and a girl. He plays soccer fot the Grinaker

typing lor eighteen people," she says. "but I love my i ob. She /s maffied, with two child ren. One of them, Kevin Rocher, is a Grinaker Bur'sar. She enjoys music and used to play the piano. "We're a sport-mad tamily," she says. "l used to run, play softball and tennis and l've played hockey for Zululand. And my husband won the Natal veterans' title for squash this year."

Grinaker Precast as

team every weekend and is also a keen golfer. He used to box but now prefers to watch boxing.

Table tennis and gardening are among his other hobbies and he is vety fond ol mustc. Jazz is his favourite and he plays it on the piano.

Denise Rocher, a trained privale

works for Roy Bennett and the

Bashf ie ld Jakeni (Hlati)matticulated in the Transkei and joined Grinaker Transkei !n 1976. He is now wages cletk at the Sandile dam. He is matried, with one child. and is mad about soccer.

He is manager and star centre lotward of the victorious Sandile Eleven. "l like music," he says,

"and I'm well into pop. llike

travelling too and l've seen most ol South Africa. What I would

really like to do is to take

a

Grinaker soccer team overseas. I reckon that with enough practice the Sandile Eleven would be a certainty for the World Cup."

1.11

F rancis (Fransie) van Niekerk joined Grinaker Zululand as a

lan Friend attended the University of Cape Town as a Grinaker bursar and gradualed tn

civil engineeting in 1975.

He

began his practical carcer on the Geldenhuys lnterchange proiect then went to Techtonics. "l've been a dam builder ever since ' he says, there was LJmtata dam, Libode and Cata. then lwent to Europe and the USA and became a travel addict." He is currently concrete agent on the Sandile

dam. He is maffied. with one child, and enjoys squash and

skin-diving. "l'm on site six d ays a week so there's not much .ree Glnake'

GazottB

D6dnba'

19a2

Alex Milne qualif ied as a quantity surveyor in Scotland and came out to join Grinaker Concrete Construction in May this year. "lt seems a long time ago," he says, "and I'm being sent to the Unibo contract in Bophuthatswana. I'll have ta get used to lhe yastness ol

the countryside." He is

credit clerk in 1977 and is now a su pervisor in the accounts department. She sees a big future for computerized accounting. " lt makes t hing s a lot easier and it's a big improvement on manual systems," she says. She does gardening, sewing and caoking.

"Mainly because lhave to," she says, "but I really enioy Chinese cooking. I play bowls at club level and lwant to devote a lot more time to it when the children have finished sc hool."

an

accomplished sportsman having plaved soccer lor Scotland while at school and as an amateur. "l haven't kicked a ball since I've been here," he says, "but I'll put that tig ht and do some sailing and water skiing too il lcan." He likes music but it has to be contefitporary, the vety latest. He is not married yet. "l want to make my fortune first," he says.

Ampie Fourie joined the group in 1970 as a grader operator. "l've 29

worked on many of the big contracts, he says. Mttchell s Plain, Mooi River, Umtata, the Coal Terminal, iobs in Botswana, everywhete. we have thtee children. one born in Bethlehem in the Free State, one in Estcourt and the other in Somersel West. " He is currently grader expert/ foreman tor Grinaker Zululand on the Suncrush contract. He enjoys reading thrillerc and is addicted b Country and Western mustc. "l'm a keen fisherman too," he says, "surl or rocks. l've caught a lot but I'm still waiting for that really big one."

tract. He is married, with two children. One of them, Howard Wafson, ls with Grinaker Natal.

He and his wif e own a small f arm with a cotlage which was buill in

1823. "l'm building up a good herd of cattle," he says, "and I'm keen on tock and surl fishing. I'm an outdoor type. I played a bit of cricket and lmade it into first league rugby. But the only sport I get now is running up and down the hills doing survey. "

and club cricket," he says, "and I like fishing. ln other words, ball games and sea games and I'm also a great bath singer." He is a nature lovet and is a keen collectot of birds'eggs. "l like being on site," he says, "because I'm a farmer's son and lenioy the open outdoot life."

Gerry McKelvie is a qualilied building technician lrom John Mccormick is a civil engineer from New Zealand who came to the Republic to join Grinaker Vivienne van der Watt went to school in Zambia and came to South Af rica in 1963. She ioined Grinaker Concrete Construction in 1981 in the personnel and salaries department. "lt was hard going at lirst," she says, "but now I like it.." She is a widow with one daughter and has bought a tQwnhouse in Fairlands. "l do a lot of

crccheting and knitting," she says, and of course cooking

who else would f eed us? With my

re's always hdmework and at the moment it's silkworms. Fottunately lhave lots ot lriends and there's always something on the go."

daughtet

the

, -'

I

J

Mel watson ioined the group in Tarhaslad as a learne r su rveyor tn 1965. He has become one of the

most experienced and respected

surveyors in the gtoup and currcntly handles engineeting survey for Grinaker Cape Ciskei on the Bushmans Krantz con30

Concrete Construction in April 1982. He is site agent for the new

Grinaker office buildtng tn Doornlontein. He is married and says: "For a New zealander I'm not all that interested in rugby but I like watercports and skiing and I'm mad about motor racing." He olten won his class in a hot Escort 1500 in New Zealand. He also holds a pilots'licence but has yet to f ly in South Af rica. "l'lllly when lget time," he says, "and I'd like to get back into motor sport. But I

Scottand. He came out to iotn Grinaker Concrete Construction in June this year and says: "fhe South Af rican winter was watmer than the Scolltsh summer. He ts marned wtth one son, and ts heading lor the Unibo conlract in Matikeng. "l'll do whatever they. do there," he says, "but I like hockey, table tennis, badminton and swimming." He also plays the guitat with a preference tor contemporary folk music. "l used to play in the pubs back home," he says. fhls should guarantee him an active social life in Grinaker c

irc les.

doubt if anyone can pay me enough to race cars in lhis country. South Atrican drivers are c razy. "

,t

/,

Graham Watermeyet

is a

civil

engineeting technician who

joined Grinaker Cape in 1980. He worked on the Cata dam and the Panmure reservoir and is current-

ly eatthwotks site agent

at

Sandile where the earthworks are

worth R13 million. He is married, with one daughter, and is keen on sport. "l played league squash

Magda Buys ioined Grinaker Zululand in 1981 as a creditors' clerk. She is married. with one child, and is an expett in korfbel, which she says is closely related to basket-ball but not exactly the .same. She won Natal colours this year. She also enjoys gardening and is well travelled in the Republic. "But kotfbal takes a lot of time," she says. "Now that l've played for Natal I should look ahead. You have to be very, very good to get Springbok colours. I don't know how old l'll be when I do it, but one day I'll get them. ,

Gtinak't Ga2eue De.6hbet

1sa2

,il--

-,1

Petros Makoena, Jeremia Mkhohliso, Charl Botes (transport manager ), Simon Nkambule and John Mashego area. After the presentation there

was a braar at the Elandsfonlern yard, and a good time was had by all.

unable to come but managed to see us off from the lnns.

Food foLthe journey was provided by our own Mrs. DixonSmith and was 'par excellence'.

Thanks, L4rs D. Copious amounts ol beverage were consumed, which helped keep certain people in voice for the duration of the trip. Piet Wolmarans, what would we do without you? Don't answer that We arrived at the Sun City Cabanas at about 4 pm and aller checking in, most of us repaired to the pool and lake where several chaps tried lheir hand at wet biking, whereupon a new dance was born, called slpway jive, performed in bare feet on a 1 in 1 slope ol wet rubber matting.

By 7.00 pm we were gathering at one of the hotel function rooms for our bi-annual dinner. which

commenced at 8.00 pm. After words of welcome from Messrs Knight and Nunes, and a few unwelcome words frem Bill

William Mlombo. should

Eaglestone, we tucked into a feast

have

lit for a king.

been in picture above

ner man replenished, it was This exce llent production was marred only by a Plant man's nightmare The

On Tuesday 21 September a party

was held at Grinaker Plant yard, Elandsfontein. The occasion was the presentation of insc ribed watches to the five transport drrvers of Grrnaker Transvaal in

recognition of the manner in which they have operated the

vehicles in their care. During the past Iour to six years these men have driven mileages of between four and six hundred thousand kilometres each, with rema rkably low maintenance costs. An outstanding safety record has also been maintained, with only one minor accident being recorded d u ring this period.

Further cause for celeb ratio n was the Jact that the old lady of the fleet, a 1975 Mercedes model 1921 mechanical horse and th irty-six foot trailer, was approach ing her half-million kilometres. She is due to be pensioned of{ soon and her replacemen't has arrived. Rep resentatives from the suppliers ot the new vehicle were invited to the party, which was also attended by the manage-

of Grinaker Plant and Grinaker Transvaal, Pla nt perment

sonnel, trainers from the training department and representatives ol the site works council for the Gtinaket Gaze e De4nb.t 19a2

in

off to the Extravaganza.

Retiring alter halt

a

million

kilometres

Sun City Safari

by Jack Denz

What better place Jor Sunshine Motors to host this year's Grinaker Plant loremen's party than Sun City?

At 1.00 pm on Friday 15 October nearly sixty of us letl the Airport Holiday lnn aboard two ageing Nissan buses on loan lrom Putco.

(The luxury jobs didn't turn up.)

Our colleagues Jrom Plant Coastal and Grinaker Mining had already done some travelling, but were in high spirits for the trip to Bophulhatswana. Our managing

director

Em

il

Gebhardt was

'down time' when we were le{t sitting in the dark. Star of the show was N/!arti Caine who gave us a splendid performance and managed to silence the dreaded Bill Eag lestone.

Alter the show we went our own ways, mostly to the gaming areas where not so few gave so much to so many - one-armed lhat rs.

Fortunes were made and lost mostly lost and for some it was off to bed tor two or three hours' kip. The die-hards made it right through the night and were easily identified on the return trip: head back, mouth open, eyes closed

like the ever hungry fruit

machines they had fed the night belore.

The relurn trip on Sa'iurday was a much more civilized affair. as the luxury buses actually turned up and at 10.00 am we were whisked back to Johannesburg in air-conditioned, lowjlying style, an hour laster than the journey up.

Yet another foremen's party to be remembered, and in closing may I than k the management of Grinaker Plant on behalt of mysell and my colleagues for a party most justly deserved.

31

'14

A 8.. test could be putting you in a trance (8) 15 The Australian bush around at the rear (7) l9Tessa comes up for the property (5) 21 Sea bird ls justly rewarded, we hear (4) 23The road surlacing is obtained, thanks to the right (3)

The hard way to Durban

Solution to Crossword No 14

ffii:ram aI"l"E{ X^

E A C R EIb

*Iq

Grinel's gold medallists Pietet Baymin and Jackie Stander

EF

o

L

Two brave employees of Grinel dared the road from Pretoria to

L

Durban in a charity run lor the Eersterust Child Wellare Society, and raised F2 000,00 lor this worthy cause.

Jackie Stander, Pieter Baymin and three other marathon runners started this relay race on Friday 24 September 1982 from Eersterust and reached Durban on Tuesday 28 September at 12h15, after 55

The lucky winner was bursar Martin Probert of P.O. Box 360.

Boksburg 1464.

hours of hard running. They were escorted by the Durban tratfic department from Pinetown, and were received in Durban by the

Ladies'squash tour On Saturday 13 November the

R10 crossword No 15 Please send entres to: Crossword PO Box 8042. E andsfontein 1406

Pork dish for the radio enthusiast (3) 14Add spice four times a year 13

(6) 16

Either way, father is bursting (3)

17

With smoke rt makes

a

chimney (5) '18 Use 6 down to get rid of the oute r sk in (5) 20

State emphatically

it's

an

average start (4)

Gawks at the steps by the sound of it (6) 24 The generous type? (4) 25 Erect a piano (7) 22

DOWN

'1 AC

R

OSS

1 Small road and a new deal can carry you to new heights (6) 4 Grinaker's first half brings a smile (4) 7 Little America n the Argus archipelago (3) I Leave at the end of the tango

5 6

tide (4) Two bees in regulation building site tunk (6) He's the boss in 7 across (6) Tchaikovsky's suite will help get to the core of the matter (1

0)

A wager n South Africa up-

(2) 10 Curse the explosionl (5) 11 Secure home for horses (6) 12 A song about the IRA (3)

Low density res dence used by seafarers? (10 ) Controlled eating turns the

11

risrng assists the criminal (5) Sufficient from the south but

it's only a specimen (6)

Disk Bowl squash courts on the Durban beachJront will be the venue for a new group cha llenge, with a tea m of n ine lad ies lro

Transvaal taking

on a

m

the

Natal

squash team. Flemingo Planl Hire

have kindly clfered to donate a trophy {or the winning team as well as nine small cups lor indivi-

ual win ners.

The organizers of this event are lrene Roland of Grinaker Concrete Construction, Jeni Roug h of Brakpan training centre and Nladeleine Clark of Grinaker Precast in Durban. Ladies from all Transvaal and Natal companies have been invited to take part.

The Transvaal team will Jly down to Durban on Friday 12 November in the evening and will stay at the Blue Waters Hotel. The tournament will take place on Saturday, followed by a Chinese dinner at the Edward Hotel and a cabaret crawl for those who jeel strong

d

enough. The Transvalers

are hop ing tor a sunny Sunday on the

beach before they catch the even-

ing f lig ht home.

Both teams are looking forward to a happy weekend and hope that th is may become an annualevent.

Cn.akat Caze(e Dec6nbot

19A2

Special award

for Grinel soccer su

bV

Arthur Heynolds

persta rs

Transvaal caught

the

biggest

barbel.

We are grateful to Roger Dawson,

Dries Olivier, Charl Botes, Jaap Bester and Rowan Burns for their Forty-eig ht keen but incompetent

tishermen pitted their skills against the carp and barbel at Vaal Dam on Saturday 25 September 1982, at the inaugural o rga n ized very competently by Sue Coertse oI head office in Braamfontein.

lishing competition

The

com

petitors and their

Jamilies thoroughly enjoyed the o u ting and conge n ia I company.

The inland anglers, better known

genero us su pport and assistance.

Thanks go to Grinaker Holdings for the trophies and to Grinaker Transvaal lor trophies and cash donated. Finally cong ratulations to Sue Coertse lor arranging an enjoyable competition which we all hope will become an annual event in the Grinaker sPorting calendar.

--:, , -

.-.

as 'pap gooiers'achieved reason -

able success by landing lifteen hungry lish weighing a total of 15k9. Because of the prolonged d roug h t the fish a re either getting smaller or keeping their mouths sh ut.

Roger Dawson presented The award given to the Grinel soccer team tor winning the

group soccet tournament three limes in a row

Grinaker Cape excels Energy flows strongly in the East London area. Grinaker Cape/

trophies to Lucas Du Preez ot the Brakpan Training Centre for the heavies't scale fish (3,4k9) and to Cecil Coetzee of Grinaker Plant, for the heaviest bag (5,2k9). Not to be outdone, lvlrs. Pop Olivier wife of Rugter Olivier of Grinaker Transvaal, walked otf with the lad ies trophy for her catch weighing 3,3k9. Gordon Pearson oI

Ciskei holds fierce inter-site

ruqby and soccer competitions and js well to the jore in general sporting eve nts.

The Daily Despatch mini marathon over ten kilometres attracted no less than 1000 entries this year. Grinaker mustered more than sixty men, wives and children to provide the largest single company entry. This is remarkable when one considers the small number of Grinaker people in East London.

More than filty of them com pleted the race and tirst Grinaker man home was Edmund Ndlovu from Plant who recorded a highly respectable thirty-nine minutes lor the run. Second was Comrades veleran and managing director Des Wearne in approximately forty minutes.

Gtinaker Gaz6n6 Decenbdt 1982

Roger Dawson congratulates Mrs. 'Pop' Olivier on winning the ladies trophy

We have been unable to trace the name of this comqetitor

It's tough out there where the big ones are biting

G/.ZETTE