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Of the R22-million spent on just one project for the
design and construction of over 20kms of roads in
Soweto in the last few months, fully a quarter – over
R5-million – has been ploughed back into the community
through the employment of local labour and small
business, plant and equipment hire and the stimulation
of local business.
“There are many more kilometers of roads to be built
and upgraded in Soweto, which means millions more
rands can be generated for the community in this way,”
says Edwin van Rensburg, a road design technician with
the engineering consulting firm, Potgieter Hattingh
and Raspi. “It is a double benefit for the community –
better roads, work, and an injection of wealth.”
PHR was consultant for the recently completed project
to surface old gravel internal and feeder roads in
Soweto, a scheduled six-month assignment which was
completed with more than two weeks to spare. Van
Rensburg puts that achievement largely down to a
smoothly run consortium operation – and inter-active
computer technology, specifically the Civil Designer
software which is in common use by engineers to design
roads.
“It was probably the most important tool in the design
process,” says van Rensburg. “Without it, I don’t see
that we could have completed the project in such quick
time.”
The Siyakha Umgwaco Consortium consisted of PHR,
Semenya Furumele Consulting, KTW Consulting Engineers,
Macadam Franchise Co., Stefanutti & Bressan Civils,
Civilcon and Boxani |
Building & Construction, with PHR responsible for the
design work on the upgrading and paving of 20kms of
roads. This took two months, and involved the
intensive use of Civil Designer, an advanced
interactive design and modeling system developed by
software design house Knowledge Base.
“We were designing at the same time as the contractors
were building – it was like a typical production line
process,” says van Rensburg. “I have been using Civil
Designer since it was first developed and it is truly
ideal for this purpose. Its beauty is the ease with
which you can change templates of different designs
and change horizontal and vertical alignments in a
road design, and the ease of simulation of storm-water
channels is another great advantage.”
Civil Designer’s quantities calculation capability is
a feature which van Rensburg finds of especial value.
“It settles any disputes that might arise between the
contractor and suppliers,” he says. “It is very
accurate and analytical, and it cannot really be
challenged.”
About 80% of the roads were surfaced with macadam,
which answered the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s
requirement that the project be as labour-intensive as
possible. The heavier traffic-density feeder roads
were asphalted.
Van Rensburg sums up: “A lot of work has still to be
done to upgrade Soweto’s roads, and as far as I am
concerned, Civil Designer will continue to play a part
in seeing that they are built quickly and well.” |
