Bosch Holdings Enginuity December 2006 | Page 3

In the fast lane The Nelson Mandela Municipality has appointed SBA to provide consultancy services for the rehabilitation of the William Moffet Expressway, a dual lane highway in Port Elizabeth that can no longer efficiently cope with the increased volume of traffic. “ Joining hands with Dedini T he number of vehicles using the William Moffet Expressway, which connects Cape Road and Buffelsfontein Road, has increased over the last 20 years and although the road has been upgraded to two lanes in each direction, it has now reached its capacity and desperately needs an upgrade,” says Greg Cummings, director of SBA. “Recent floods in PE have also resulted in closure of many alternative routes, which has increased usage of the William Moffet, resulting in significant traffic congestion.” SBA has prepared a detailed assessment report which highlights the limited structural life of the existing pavement in many parts of the roadway. Many new large commercial sites are being developed along this expressway, it is therefore important that the master plan for new roadworks fits in with the long term spatial development plan. The master plan proposes three lanes in each direction and deals with land issues, as well as future lane configuration. Phasing has also been recommended, with Phase 1 expected to commence during 2007. At the signing ceremony in Brazil recently were (from left) Bill Yeo, of Bosch Projects, Jose Davos, vice president of the sugar and alcohol division for Denini, Mike Gibbon, managing director Bosch Projects, Ivan Voigt and Martin Welch, Bosch Projects. Bosch Projects and Dedini Industries de Base have recently signed a memorandum of understanding in terms of which Dedini will exclusively use the patented Bosch Projects chainless diffuser technology in Brazil. D edini is the largest supplier of equipment to the Brazilian sugar and ethanol industry, with a 55% market share and projected revenues of US $ 964 million in 2006. Brazil, the world’s leading sugar producer, manufactures about 26 million tons of sugar per annum, with the lowest costs of production globally. The industry is expected to grow some 47% in the next six years, with 73 proposed new factories by 2011. By 2021, Brazil expects to process one billion tons of cane annually. The Bosch Projects chainless diffuser replaces many high value items in a conventional diffuser. This means systems can be constructed at substantially lower costs and can be easily expanded in capacity. The chainless diffuser can be widened, almost without limit, by simply adding moving floor sections. Contact Greg Cummings – [email protected] Contact Mike Gibbon – [email protected] Save the water in Soweto Johannesburg Water has appointed the Londa Madi Consortium to implement ‘Operation Gcin’amanzi’ (save the water) within Superblock 12, situated in Protea Glen, Soweto. J ohannesburg Water adopted a ‘design and build’ approach to address water loss problems in Soweto, which includes the upgrading and rehabilitation of the existing water reticulation system in the area. The Londa Madi Consortium, which was appointed to design, construct and manage this project, comprises consulting engineers, SBA and contractors, Ilima Projects and MIS Pipelines. Nemai Consulting are subconsultants who assist with the identification, screening and training of local SMME contractors. Technical intervention requires that the complete network, comprising existing secondary and tertiary reticulation, be surveyed with regard to condition and leaks. Each Superblock is to be divided into discrete blocks, not exceeding 5 000 sites. Block discretion of the reticulation system is designed to create smaller manageable water loss control zones. Post intervention consumption monitoring will be carried out on each block. SBA has completed a comprehensive hydraulic design and compilation of the ‘block design plan’ which includes pipework, bulk meters, pressure reducing valves, isolating valves, hydrants, saddles and other fittings. Pre-intervention property to property plumbing surveys have also been conducted in order to establish the condition of on-site plumbing. Once the ‘block design plan’, which encompasses comprehensive scheduling and costing of the upgrading and rehabilitation requirements is approved by Johannesburg Water, construction work will begin. This will include the installation of secondary and tertiary reticulation where required, secondary mains leak detection, bulk meter installation, domestic meter installation, on-property plumbing repair and retrofitting and decommissioning of current secondary midblock mains where necessary. This R19.7-million contract commenced in June 2006 and is scheduled for completion by July 2007. Contact Arthur Blake – [email protected] 3