The Mlungisi road in Queenstown was nothing more than an old neglected lane that required a major upgrade and stormwater drainage service. More than 7000 individuals and over 1000 erven were affected by the road’s condition, creating the need for an urgent upgrade... read more

When farmers in the Moamba/Sabie district of the province of Maputo visited the Nkomazi area in Mpumalanga, they were greatly impressed by the activities and success of these small-scale sugar cane farmers. From this visit an idea was born to work together to develop a similar project in the district of Moamba... read more

"Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives any challenge or any occupation, no matter how frightening or difficult, a new meaning." Motivational speaker Og Mandino may have had Althea Povey in mind when he came up... read more

"We were busy moving this river just outside Witbank. The project was on an opencast mine and we had to divert the river around the 2km area to be mined. Someone then strolled in and announced that there would be a 'controlled flood' in five days. They said it was a regular occurrence... read more

The experienced eyes of André Spies twinkle with a ready smile. "I have to determine the level where the cut and fill are properly balanced, or for example balance a site using a 20% bulking factor and leaving about 5000m³ excess fill for later use. If I mess up here, the whole job starts on the wrong foot... read more

After spending only a short time in the offices of Engineering Advice & Services, it is obvious that here things are handled very differently. At this company, it's all about the people and the flat management structure ensures that no hierarchy exists in the work place... read more

Surveyors are the first people into the green fields to prepare the landscape for future development. People tend to take the hidden parts of infrastructure for granted. Turn on the tap and water just comes out... read more

“THE Addo Elephant National Park project is perhaps one of the most challenging yet rewarding ventures that I have had the privilege to work on,” says Africon PE engineering representative, Graham Webster. The project was recently completed with funding received from the Department of Environmental Affairs... read more

For the people in the Insika Yethu Municipal area, collecting water is very hard work. Approximately 75% of the population relies on rivers, springs and small open dams for their water supply. This figure is likely to drop to 55% with the... read more

Back to top

“The breathtaking beauty of the Ugie and Langeni areas is unknown to the rest of the Eastern Cape because the difficult terrain has restricted access to this vicinity. With the completion of the Ugie Langeni Project, this problem will become a thing of the past and entry into these areas will no longer be a concern,”... read more

The amalgamation of Tifflin Purchase & Associates and Eyethu Consulting Engineers gave rise to the birth of Masuku Dube Tifflin (MDT) in the Eastern Cape. This was a proud day for Linda Nama from MDT as he explains the company’s... read more

The Central University of Technology (CUT), in the Free State, has seen many successful graduates land top positions in the Civil Engineering Industry. According to Nico Grobbelaar, lecturer in Civil Engineering, the incorporation of ... read more

The Harrismith office is bustling with activity as the Phuthaditjhaba and Qwa Qwa areas are placed in the spotlight for development projects. The design and implementation of the venture was re-quested by the Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality in the beginning of 2003 and Ninham Shand Consulting Engineers... read more

Port Elizabeth is certainly the place to be with the development of a new deep-water port and the related Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) at Coega – not to mention the possibility of a mammoth statue in celebration of the life of Nelson Mandela... read more

Philip Howarth of Jeffares & Green Consulting Engineers has been involved in the conceptual planning and detail design of several major arterials and freeways in the Western Cape. One of these roads includes the Cape Flats Freeway (R300) extension from Prince George to Vanguard Drive ... read more

Liebenberg & Stander was commissioned by the City of Cape Town (Tygerburg Administration) to handle the design, construction monitoring and contract administration of the Mfuleni Bulk Earthworks contract. Marthinus Retief, a Candidate Engineer who worked closely on the project, describes his involvement ... read more

A clever software package is playing a key design role in one of the biggest civil engineering and infrastructural development programmes ever under-taken in South Africa – the Coega harbour project in Eastern Province. The software’s facility for speeding and simplifying the design of complicated earthworks ... read more

In this township of Tikwana in the Free State, dongas which they called roads and which ran like flooded rivers in the wet season, are now being turned into proper roads. It is a transformation, which sees one of the most sophisticated pieces of First World civil engineering design technology being harnessed to... read more

Five years ago Cape Town may have been the boomtown, but now the Eastern Cape is growing at an astronomical pace and civil engineering technicians like Dallas Dewey of Arcus Gibb are thankful for the advent of modern technology such as computer-aided design and draughting... read more

Back to top

The assignment: design and produce construction drawings for a network of more than 120 kms of sewerage lines and main collectors linked into 13 000 homes and fanning out over an area of more than 1 000 hectares. Not too much of a problem for the well-crafted experience of engineers from BCP Engineers (Pty) Ltd... read more

With a new office opening in Umtata during August, NzeleNzele, Preston & Medcalf, is continuing to display the strong growth that they have experienced over the last few years. Now with offices in Port Elizabeth, East London, Queenstown and Port St Johns, partner Mike Medcalf says that they are ready to service the... read more

Building highways has more than just a practical or economic value in sub-Saharan Africa. There's also a symbolic element to it in the cross-boundary co-operative efforts which are increasingly involved in Africa's growth and rebirth. Modern technology - much of it sourced from South Africa - is being used in these enterprises ... read more

It's said to be the fastest-developing area in South Africa - a broad stretch of gently undulating land running more than 20kms across, from the foothills of Gauteng's West Rand to Midrand in the east. Its appearance changes almost daily as it is transformed into a sprawling urban grid of residential... read more

Back to top