Most will be forgiven for not knowing exactly where Wittewater is on the West Coast and indeed up until now it has been a hard place to get to - linked only by a small gravel road from the R29 between Piketberg and Velddrif. And while, by all accounts there is not really much going on in this hamlet that consists of about ... read more

"A road linking Hout Bay and Noordhoek along the coast was impossible". That was the view of the commissioner of public works in a letter to the Cape Peninsula Publicity Association dated March 1910. Such a road, he insisted, would present "features of extreme difficulty, there being in one section... read more

"When I was still at school I couldn't make up my mind as to whether I wanted to be a make-up artist, an air hostess or a spy!" The road that Madeleine Sonnekus of Jeffares & Green in Sandton followed however went in a dramatically different direction to those childish dreams... read more

There's a rousing song belted out by Billy Ocean that proclaims the tough get going when the going gets tough. Hannes Kotze and Eric Haughton are the kind of men the songwriter had in mind when penning this foot-stomping motivational anthem. Going it alone is daunting enough - prospecting for work in Africa is... read more

"Analysing the financial feasibility of toll projects can be quite intricate. To make it easier for all concerned, we developed a financial model for private investors based on the BOT principle; Build Operate Transfer," says Pieter Goosen, Director of the Toll Infrastructure Development Business Unit at Tolplan Consulting... read more

"When we applied for additional budget, the answer was an apologetic, but emphatic, no. So I applied my mind as to how I could still meet the objectives but with inadequate funding." The emergency storage dam that Tiaan de Necker designed in Barkly East is a wonderful example of just how creative... read more

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The new South Africa continues to pose challenges for engineers. In the old days, water supply lines were often added on “as required” with little or no long term planning. Chris Brand, head of the Water Section at Jeffares & Green... read more

“You can only succeed on a project of this size and complexity when the team makes it work.” The project is one of fastest growing residential townships in Africa – Parklands - situated just north of Tableview outside of Cape Town. The words belong to engineer Sampie Laubscher of NHL who started on the project at ... read more

“I don't think there are too many people who have designed such a complex road in such a short time”, says Donovan Hugo of Hawkins Hawkins Osborn in Cape Town. The road in question is a 54.4km road with 312 horizontal curves and more than 200 vertical curves. The road joins two villages in the southwestern... read more

Have you ever wondered what happens to the rubbish in the plastic bag once it is collected from your pavement? The challenges posed by the Visserhok Solid Waste Landfill Site got a young engineer at Arcus Gibb is Cape Town thinking about something most of us take for granted... read more

Malcolm Biggar limps past a painter perched on scaffolding and into his new 'being renovated' office in Sydenham, Durban. He waves a dismissive bandaged hand, “some guy in a car didn't watch the marshals in my cycle race in Pretoria over the weekend,” he explains. “It could've been much worse,”... read more

"The challenge was always to get as close as possible to ground level at all times, draw a line down the centre, and then drop no more than 2% either side of the line. Following this maxim saved the Department of Public Works... read more

"Climbing mountains is an incredible catalyst for teamwork - up there, someone else is always holding your rope," Mike Aldous nods his head slowly as he affirms the importance and benefits of teamwork. The pinnacle of mountaineering achievement is to climb the highest mountain in each of the seven continents... read more

Nevil Tyler is an unconventional and caring visionary, but also a man of compelling action. He doesn't take no for an answer - he is rather inclined to make it work. He puts his money where his mouth is as well. "If I take on a project, I will deliver. Some problems in South Africa need bold and unconventional solutions... read more

Taxis using a "detour" through a disused quarry in Cato Ridge to avoid police roadblocks hit a dead-end when Martin Koekemoer of Moore Spence Jones (Pty) Ltd was tasked with rehabilitating the site. "We solved a number of problems with a single solution," says Martin ... read more

"Working in the new South Africa as an engineer requires six things, what I call the 3L's - and the 3P's. Look, Listen, Learn, Process, Process and Process!" The quietly spoken words of Wiero Vogelzang of Arcus Gibb in Durban words carry the conviction of his own highly successful experience of growing a R24m project... read more

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