The Civil Engineering Contractor April 2019 | Page 11

CONTRACTORS ON SITE
Remember Marikana graffiti remains untouched
on a wall in Ward 80, a local mechanic having
written his advert around it.
Construction of civil and electrical
infrastructure for the establishment of an
incremental development area and in situ
upgrade of Sweet Home Farm, Philippi,
in the Western Cape. City of Cape Town
Metropolitan Municipality has awarded the
contract to Shar Civils, but interference
from the local community has meant delays
to the project.
Sweet Home Farm is an informal settlement
in Philippi East. Approximately 16.5ha in size, it
is situated at the southern end of Duinefontein
Road, bounded by the Nyanga railway line
on the eastern side, Lansdowne Road on the
northern side, and Vanguard Drive on the south-
western side. It lies adjacent to the suburb of
Samora Machel with Gugulethu to the north,
Browns Farm to the east, Weltevreden Valley
to the south-east, and the agricultural part of
Philippi to the west. nn
Sweet Home Farm
infrastructure
Access to Saldanha Bay IDZ is to be upgraded.
Saldanha Bay IDZ to get new R131m access
Additional access roads are required to facilitate heavy-freight access to the
Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ), which was officially
designated in October 2013. It is regarded as an important development
node to foster economic growth in the West Coast region by using
existing resources such as Saldanha Bay’s deepwater port, neighbouring
industrial areas, and undeveloped land in the area. The overall implications
of increased traffic volume linked to the SBIDZ were assessed in the
overarching EIA process undertaken for the SBIDZ, for which an
environmental authorisation (EA) was issued in November 2015.
The proposed additions to the road network for the SBIDZ would entail
the following:
• A new eastern access road and new intersection on Minor Road (OP)
7645 to provide access to the SBIDZ area to the north of Main Road
(MR) 559 as well as to a new AfriSam cement plant; and
• A new north-south access road along the SBIDZ eastern boundary to
provide an alternative access to the Duferco steel processing plant.
SMEC South Africa has been appointed to undertake the design and construction
supervision of the access road. In turn, SMEC appointed SLR Consulting (South
Africa) as the independent environmental assessment practitioner responsible
for undertaking the required EA process for the proposed project. nn
Construction of alterations and renovations to existing
buildings for the new Medical School on the Nelson
Mandela University (NMU)’s Missionvale Campus,
Port Elizabeth, has been awarded to Aveng Grinaker-
LTA. Construction is currently under way. NMU
will open South Africa’s ninth medical school in 2020
when the school is expected to accept its first class of
100 aspiring doctors. The school will eventually offer
specialist training in fields such as radiography and
emergency medical care. And with another medical
school on the horizon, South Africa could also begin
reducing its national shortage of doctors. The country
has less than one such medical professional for every
1 000 citizens, according to 2015 World Bank data. nn
www.civilsonline.co.za
Part of Nelson Mandela University campus.
NMU’s new medical school
CEC April 2019 | 9