Travels with Civils

Acknowledgements ii
Message from the SAICE’s 2013 President vii
Message from the Chief Executive Officer viii
Preface ix
The wonderful world of engineering
Other publications of interest 2
Introduction 3
Map – South Africa 4

Map – Eastern Cape Province 5

Chapter one: Eastern Cape Province 6
Introduction 6
Storms River Bridge 6
Van Stadens Gorge Bridge 7
The Tsitsikamma National Road and its three
iconic bridges Blaauwkrans River,
Bobbejaans River and Groot River 7
Mercedes-Benz factory
The East London or Buffalo City Harbour 8
Universities of the Eastern Cape 8
– Walter Sisulu University 8
– Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 8
Universities of the Eastern Cape
Sweets and pens 8
Cars in Port Elizabeth 8
Fish Water Flats sewage purification works 8
Coega Harbour 9
Port Elizabeth Harbour 9
St Francis Bay and marina developments 10
Railway lines 10
The Ugie – Langeni Pass, near Mthatha 11
Mthata to Port St Johns 11
Storms River Mouth and the Otter Trail 11
Plettenberg Bay pedestrian bridge 12
Hogsback Dam 12
Chalumna River Bridge 12
Fresh water at the seaside 12

Map – Free State Province 13

Chapter two: Free State Province 14
Introduction 14
Mines 14
Knellpoort Dam 14
Dams in the Free State 14
Roads 16
The Waterfront 16
Railway lines 16
Municipal buildings 16
Power lines 17
Old buildings 17
Railway workshops 17
The Central University of Technology 17
Bloem Water 17
Sport and civil engineering 18
– Phakisa Raceway 18
– The Free State Stadium 18

Map – Gauteng Province 19

Chapter three: Gauteng Province 20
Introduction 20
The Hartbeespoort Dam 21
The Voortrekker Monument 22
OR Tambo International Airport 22
The three communication towers 22
– The Sentech Tower 22
– The Telkom Joburg Tower 24
– The Muckleneuk Tower 24
The Union Buildings 24
The Lion Bridge 24
Zuikerbosch water purification works, pump
station and Reservoirs 26
Sewage purification works and pipe bridges 26
Universities of Gauteng 27
– University of Pretoria 27
– The University of South Africa
(UNISA) 27
– The University of the Witwatersrand 27
– The University of Johannesburg 27
– Tshwane University of Technology 28
– Vaal University of Technology 28
Harties Cableway 28
Blue IQ projects and a series of interesting
landmark projects 28
– Dinokeng Big Five Game and Nature
Reserve 29
– Apartheid Museum 29
– Nelson Mandela Bridge 29
– Gautrain 30
– Maropeng or Cradle of Humankind 30
– Kliptown 31
– Constitution Hill 31
– Newtown precinct 32
– OR Tambo International Airport IDZ 32
– City Deep Terminal IDZ 32
– Gauteng Automotive Cluster 32
– The Innovation Hub 32
Gold Mines in Gauteng 32
Ergo (Pty) Limited mining and new gold from
old slimes dams 32
South African Institution of Civil Engineering
national office 33
The Engineering Council of South Africa 33
The Vaal River 33
– Vaal Barrage 33
– Vaal Dam 34
Roodeplaat Dam 34
Trust Bank Basement 35
Carlton Centre Basement 35
Standard Bank hanging office floor building 35
Development Bank of Southern Africa building,
Midrand 36
Midrand Conical Tower Water Reservoir 36
Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic
Hospital 36
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital 36
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 37
Or CSIR 37
Corporate South Africa offices and
warehouses 37
Cullinan Mine 38
Rosslyn 38
Shopping centres, casinos and other
public amenities 38
– The Northgate Dome 38
– Cradlestone Mall 38
– Carnival City 38
– Cresta 39
– Eastgate 39
– Emperors Palace 39
– Menlyn Park 39
– Monte Casino 39
– Northgate 39
– Sandton City 39
– Southgate 39
– Westgate 39
Gauteng Freeway System 40
Johannesburg inner city renewal and
refurbishing 40
Gold Reef City 41
Sport and civil engineering 41
– Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge 41
– Om die Dam Ultra Marathon 41
– FNB Stadium 42
– Loftus Versveld 42
– Johannesburg Stadium 42
Wetlands system and acid mine water 42
Rietvlei Dam 43
Port of Johannesburg 43
The Joburg Market 43
Lanseria Airport 43
Pedestrian Bridge over the N1 highway at
Hammanskraal 45

Map – KwaZulu-Natal Province 46

Chapter four: KwaZulu-Natal Province 47
Introduction 47
Durban Harbour 47
Durban Harbour services tunnel 48
Durban Port Control and vessel tracking
systems building 48
Sewage purification and recycling 48
Solid waste management 49
Sand pumping along the beachfront 49
Universities of KwaZulu-Natal 49
– University of KwaZulu-Natal 49
– Durban University of Technology 49
Drakensberg pump storage facility and the
Tugela-Vaal Water Transfer Scheme 49
Lesotho Highlands Water Project 51
Shopping malls and casinos 51
– Gateway 51
– Pavilion Shopping Centre 51
– The Suncoast Casino 51
– Sibaya Casino 51
Roads, freeways, interchanges, passes
and bridges 51
The sugar terminal 53
Soybean terminal 53
Beer brewing 53
Piers and groins 54
Cement 54
uShaka Marine World 55
Sport and civil engineering 55
– Moses Mabhida Sports Stadium 55
– Comrades Marathon 56
– Duzi Canoe Marathon 56
– Kings Park Stadium 56
– Midmar Dam 56
Richards Bay and its industries 56
Nsezi Bridge 57
Dams and water pipelines 57
Buildings of various kinds 58
Dual marine outfall pipelines at Richards Bay 58
Beach facilities for tourists and bathers 59
Richards Bay 59

Map – Limpopo Province 61
Chapter five: Limpopo Province 62
Introduction 62
The N1 toll road 63
Freeways and roads 63
Magoebaskloof 63
De Hoop Dam near Burgersfort 64
Power stations 64
– Matimba Power Station at Ellisrus 64
– Medupi Power Station at Lephalale 64
Rustfontein reservoirs 64
Peter Mokaba sports stadium 64
Mining at Thabazimbi 65

Map – Mpumalanga Province 66

Chapter six: Mpumalanga Province 67
Introduction 67
Freeways, toll roads and collapsing sands 67
Columbus Stainless steel factory 68
Gas pipelines from Mozambique 68
Mbombela sports stadium 69
Environmental awareness 69
Tourism and civil engineering 69
Paul Kruger 69
Dams 69
Coal Mining 70
Phalaborwa mines 70
Secunda and water pipelines from the Vaal 71
Gold 71
The Kruger National Park 72
Water reservoirs 72
Government buildings 72
Sugar and pulp and paper mills 73
Sappi’s Ngodwana Mill 73

Map – North-West Province 74

Chapter seven: North West Province 75
Introduction 75
Sun City and the Lost City 75
Royal Bafokeng Sports Stadium 76
North-West University 76
Mooi River Mall 76
Mines 76
Mmabatho green belt 77
Grain silos 77

Map – Northern Cape Province 78

Chapter eight: Northern Cape Province 79
Introduction 79
Sishen–Saldanha iron ore railway line 79
Upington Railway Bridge 80
Wine cellars, fruit packing store, grape sugar
concentration plants and a brandy distillery 80
Augrabies waterfall walkways 82
Veertienstrome Railway Bridge 82
Riverton 83
Kamfers Dam 83
Kimberley Telkom tower 83
De Beers diamond sorting building 83
Labour-intensive roads and canals 84
Irrigation canals, tunnels and pipelines 84
Kimberley electric tramway 84
Boegoeberg Dam 85
Upington Airport 86
Norvalspont 86
De Aar 86
South African dried fruit 87
Verneukpan and Mier 87
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) 88

Map – Western Cape Province 89

Chapter nine: Western Cape Province 90
Introduction 90
The Castle 91
Table Bay Harbour 91
The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront 91
Small harbours 93
Malgas Pont 93
Cape Town Abattoir 93
Cape Town Market 94
The South African Large Telescope (SALT)
Project 94
Hout Bay manganese mining 95
Table Mountain cableway 95
Bridges and viaducts of the Cape 95
– Jan Joubertsgat Bridge between Franschoek
and Villiersdorp 95
– Lourens River Bridge, Somerset West 96
– Salt River Voortrekker Road Bridge 96
– The Gouritz River Bridges 96
– Kaaimans River Railway Bridge 97
– The N2 highway viaducts and bridges at
Wilderness 97
Khayelitsha pressure control 97
Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment Works 98
Oliphants River Bridge on the Sishen–Saldanha
Railway line 98
Swartklip Interchange 98
Sishen – Saldanha Railway line and Saldanha
Bay Iron ore terminal at the harbour 98
Cape Town International Airport 100
Lighthouses 100
Dams 102
Wine Cellars 102
Sishen – Saldanha Railway line and Saldanha
Bay iron ore terminal at the harbour
Shopping centres, casinos and other public
amenities in around the Western Cape 102
– Canal Walk 102
– Cape Gate Shopping Precinct 103
– Cavendish Square 103
– Garden Route Mall 103
– Garden Route Casino 103
– Grandwest Casino and Entertainment World103
– Liberty Promenade 103
– Longbeach Mall 103
– Mountain Mill Shopping Centre 104
– Mykonos Casino 104
– N1 City Mall 104
– Tyger Valley Centre 104
– Victoria and Alfred Waterfront 104
Freeways 104
Koeberg Nuclear Power Station 105
Palmiet pumped storage scheme 105
Mossgas 105
Waste handling facilities 106
Universities of the Cape Province: 106
– The University of Cape Town 106
– The faculty of engineering at Stellenbosch
University 107
– The Cape Peninsula University of
– Technology 107
Mountain passes 107
Huguenot Tunnel 108
Sport and civil engineering 108
– Two Oceans Marathon 108
– Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour 109
– Berg River Canoe Marathon 109
– The Cape Epic 109
– The Big Walk 109
Newlands Sports Stadiums 109
Cape Town Stadium 109
Hartleyvale Hockey Stadium 109
Around our Borders – far and near 110
Index to sponsors 112
Profiles of sponsor organisations from
A–Z 113
Index to Sponsors’ Roll of Honour by
category 152
Platinum Roll of Honour 153
Gold Roll of Honour 153
Silver Roll of Honour 154
Bronze Roll of Honour 155
Photo Credits 160
Index 162