I-Civili Enjeneering
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I-civili Enjeneering October 2006 Vol 14 No 10 I-civili Enjeneering October 2006 Vol 14 No 10 IsiXhosa ON THE COVER ON THE cover Downstream view of the crump gauging weir/fishway at Lake Mzingazi, Richards Bay, showing fish chutes and baffles. A fishway can be broadly described as any Fishway first of its kind in South Africa 4 natural or artificial device that enables fish to overcome obstructions in streams in their migratory or other movements (see article OPINION on page 4) Of attitudes, ethics, and education 3 WESTERN CAPE Phase 1 of the Potsdam Road Interchange on the N7 now under construction 22 New lease on life for strategic landfill 24 Innovative bearing replacement techniques for Black River Parkway viaduct 26 Prestigious mixed land use developments October 2006 Vol 14 No 10 in the Western Cape 28 PUBLISHED BY SAICE/SAISI Meeting Cape Town’s housing needs 29 Block 19, Thornhill Office Park, Bekker Street, Vorna Valley, Midrand Private Bag X200, Halfway House, 1685 Rehabilitation of Trunk Road 9 Section 1 3 Tel 011-805-5947/48, Fax 011-805-5971 http://www.civils.org.za [email protected] EDITOR SoutHern CAPE Sarie Moolman Reconstruction of the road from George [email protected] Tel 012-804-2754, Cell 082-376-2652 to the Outeniqua Pass 33 EDITORIAL PANEL Elsabé Kearsley (chair), Irvin Luker (vice-chair), Sam Amod (president), Wally Burdzik, Johan de Koker, Huibrecht Kop, Jeffrey Mahachi, Jones Moloisane, Eben URBAN AND RURAL TRANSPORTATION Rust, Marco van Dijk, Michelle Theron, Sarie Moolman (editor), Barbara Spence (advertising), Verelene de Koker Intelligent transport systems being (secretariat), Dawie Botha (executive director) introduced on certain routes 36 [email protected] DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATE SA R525,00 (VAT included), International $110,00 ADVERTISING Engineering civilisation from the shadows 7 IN BRIEF 38 Barbara Spence, Avenue Advertising R34-million rail terminal completed British civil [email protected] Tel 011-463-7940, Fax 011-463-7939 Innovative model to mitigate the engineering professor lectures on new EC building Cell 082-881-3454 impact of disasters codes and innovative building technology The future DESIGN AND REPRODUCTION 11 Marketing Support Services, Menlo Park, Pretoria of tanks A winner – here and beyond our borders PRINTING Showcase project for North West 3 Contract awarded for expansion at Namakwa Sands Ultra Litho, Johannesburg Life-giving Ntimbale Dam nearing completion The South African Institution of Civil Engineering Traffic training centre for young learners 4 accepts no responsibility for any statements made or opinions expressed in this publication. Consequently nobody connected with the publication of the magazine, Health, safety and the environment in particular the proprietors, the publishers and the SAICE AND PROFESSIONAL NEWS editors, will be liable for any loss or damage sustained Business confidence continues to grow by any reader as a result of his or her action upon any are priorities at Coega 6 statement or opinion published in this magazine. amidst critical capacity levels 43 Linking nature with life – Ongoye ISSN 1021-2000 And the winners are … 44 Forest link road 9 LISH UB ER SAICE roundabout 46 P S E N I Z A G A A S Revolutionising the face of engineering 48 M Sanitation backlog in the Eastern F O N A I O S S O C I AT Cape being alleviated 2 Diarise this! 48 Civil Engineering | October 2006 Text Dawie Botha Executive director SAICE OPINION Of attitudes, ethics and education In January 2004 the ASCE Committee on Academic Prerequisites continue to escalate in complexity for Professional Practice received a document prepared by their and the civil engineering profession Body of Knowledge (BOK) Committee titled ‘The Civil Engineering must respond proactively. Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil A professional civil engineer Engineer for the Future’. needs more than knowledge and This interesting 120-page report focuses on three themes: skill to be fully functioning. A ■ What should be taught to and learned by future civil engineering civil engineer’s attitude, that is, students the manner in which he or she ap- ■ How it should be taught and learned proaches his or her work, will deter- ■ Who should teach and learn it mine how effectively he or she uses The main focus, however, is on what should be taught. hard-earned knowledge and skills. ASCE has for some time now been expressing the view For this reason, attitudes are an es- that current bachelor programmes at their universities are not sential part of the BOK. adequately preparing students in civil engineering. The new out- comes that are to be pursued are deemed to significantly increase And this is where there is a definite link to our Code of Ethics that the technical depth and professional breadth. This would be was mailed with the August issue of Civil Engineering. achieved primarily by adding four new outcomes to the current When reading the ASCE BOK document, I realised that what eleven as regulated by the Accreditation Board for Engineering they say about attitude says it all. Maybe we should call our Code of and Technology (ABET), which is the equivalent of our ECSA. Ethics our Code of Attitudes. An important aspect is that they produced the following thought- I believe that to many people ethics remain an elusive and provoking paragraphs: somewhat vague term that could apply to someone, somewhere, somehow. But ATTITUDE is something that we all have already. A new skill set and mind set Our attitudes are made, influenced and developed from the minute for a new century we are born – we mirror and ape behaviour, we flex our attitude We must prepare for Civil engineering must restruc- muscles. ture its 150-year-old educational This is why it is so important to grow up in an environment the world that will be, model to meet the challenges of the where good behaviour and the right attitudes are not only taught 21st century. Future practitioners but are also lived and practised. not one that is or was must be prepared to recognise In our professional development the civils role model there- and manage increased complexity. fore becomes of great importance. I believe that in our case we Education beyond the current four- constitute a group of highly creative, individualistic pioneering year bachelor’s degree will provide and leader types. In this environment we also display strong wills the next generation with the knowl- that are not easily influenced or changed. This makes it even more edge, skills and attitudes necessary difficult to change or influence attitudes. It is well illustrated by to ensure the high standards of the Architect Richard Murphy who said, albeit tongue in cheek, that profession and protect public safety, ‘sometimes a client has a really good idea – which is rather off- health, and welfare. putting!’ Where the BOK document talks about who should teach, Education for a complex future it states: The current four-year Today’s world is fundamentally chal- The who recommendations identify success factors for full- and lenging the way civil engineering part-time faculty. Teachers should be scholars, teach effectively, bachelor’s degree is is practised. Complexity arises in have practical experience, and serve as positive role models. every aspect of projects, from the Also addressed in the who recommendations are student ob- becoming inadequate pre-project planning with varied ligations and expectations and matching students to the civil stakeholders to building with engineering profession. formal academic minimum environmental and com- Of course, since our learning never stops, after graduation teachers munity disturbance. The 2001 ASCE are replaced by mentors, coaches, senior and not so senior col- preparation for report ‘Engineering the Future of leagues, employers, clients, governance structures, and so on. Civil Engineering’ (www.asce.org/ Our Code of Ethics charts a way of life – it’s an attitude map. the practice of civil raisethebar) highlights the signifi- It will therefore be not such a bad idea if our members read my cant and rapid changes confronting Opinion piece in the August magazine again and then really make engineering at the the profession, while recent events the double-page insert featuring the SAICE Code of Ethics their have demonstrated our vulnerability own. professional level in the to human-made hazards and dis- A good dollop of discipline at the right time can remarkably en- asters. The risks and challenges to hance an attitude and our societal behaviour and level of personal 21st century public safety, health and welfare will responsibility. Civil Engineering | October 2006 3 Text Ian Muller Commercial manager Rumdel Construction (Pty) Ltd Danie Badenhorst Divisional director BKS (Pty) Ltd ON THE COVER Fishway first of its kind in South Africa Downstream view of spillway structure, showing steel pipe diversion alongside the pedestrian bridge lake to meet safety standards, BKS (Pty) Ltd was appointed by the City of uMhlathuze for the design, drafting of contract documents and site supervision for the construction of the new sand-cement protected embank- ment, spillway structure, fishway/gauging weir and appurtenant works. FISHWAY A combined crump gauging weir/fishway has been incorporated into the design. This was developed by Dr Pieter Wessels of DWAF, assisted by Dr Anton Bok of Anton Bok & Associates, who provided specialist services regarding the biological require- ments of the fishway. A fishway can be broadly described as any natural or artificial device that enables fish to overcome obstructions in streams in their migratory or other movements. To be effective, a fishway should be designed to provide the hydraulic and physical character- istics (water depths, current velocities, turbu- lence levels) which suit the range of species for which it is intended.