The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2019 | Page 34

PROJECT ALERTS
Project updates courtesy of Leads 2 Business.
Procedural Conceptual
Consultancy Infrastructure – Roads
Eastern Cape Zimbabwe
Construction of a major dam at the Foxwood site on
the Koonap River is under planning for the purpose of
augmenting water supplies to Adelaide in the Eastern
Cape and to provide reliable water supplies for
existing and new irrigation. Adelaide is an established
Karoo town situated on the banks of the Koonap
River, approximately 200km north-east from Port
Elizabeth. The EIA was undertaken in 2015, as well
as specialist studies.
Key areas of the feasibility study:
• 
Review of Koonap River catchment hydrology,
including ecological water requirements in the river.
• Assessment of domestic, commercial, and irrigation
water requirements.
• 
Development of models for potential sustainable
irrigation schemes.
• Dam type and option analysis leading to design
of a composite earth embankment and gravity
concrete dam.
• 
Economic impact assessment of the proposed
dam construction and operation, and options for
potential irrigation schemes.
• Stakeholder engagement, public participation, and
environmental screening in support of EIA. Rehabilitation and upgrading of the Murambinda to
Birchenough Road in Zimbabwe through a build,
operate, and transfer financing model and/or loan
financing, is under way. Government has commenced
work to rehabilitate the 106km gravel road linking
Murambinda growth point and Birchenough Bridge
border post with South Africa after the country’s
Treasury released over USD30-million for the project.
Manicaland provincial engineer Arnold Mutungwazi
confirmed the development recently. Work has
commenced on the paving of the road, and so far
about 15km has been completed, with prospects for
accelerated completion. The money is part of the
USD230-million road fund released by Zimbabwe’s
Transport Minister Joram Gumbo in 2018 for rehabilitation
of the country’s road network. The money was shared
among the country’s 10 provinces. According to
Gumbo, the country would need about USD5.5-billion
for road infrastructure. The Murambinda to Birchenough
Bridge link road has for years been a challenging
drive, especially during rainy seasons. The road, when
complete, will provide the shortest distance from
Harare to the Birchenough Bridge via Buhera, where the
Wedza-Buhera Road is also undergoing rehabilitation.
Design Tender
Infrastructure – Mine Infrastructure – Municipality
KwaZulu-Natal Daniëlskuil, Northern Cape
The award-winning Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga,
which first opened its doors in 1964, is tendering
for construction of services and infrastructure for
refurbishment and extensions to retain its existing
elegance, gracious hospitality, and intuitive service.
The Beverly Hills Hotel, located at 1 Lighthouse Road in
Umhlanga Rocks, KwaZulu-Natal, requires a multistorey
extension constructed to the north of the existing hotel to
the same height, over Erf  3128 Umhlanga Rocks (Porritt
House), Erf 1 of 260 Umhlanga Rocks, and proposed
Remainder of Portion 1 of Erf 3132 Umhlanga Rocks. The
redevelopment of the Beverly Hills Hotel will include: two
levels of basement parking; fine-dining restaurant(s); all-day
dining restaurant(s); function venue with meeting rooms;
spa treatment centre; 130 guest suites (existing rooms will
be converted to suites); sky bar / function venue; atrium
linking existing tower with northern extension of the hotel;
demolition of Porritt House; removal of a number of coastal
red milkwood trees of varying ages and other vegetation;
development of a public amenity possibly including
fast food kiosk(s) adjacent to the existing promenade
along the seaward boundary on Erf  641 Umhlanga. Kgatelopele Local Municipality in the Northern
Cape has invited expressions of interest through
proposals from qualified competent and registered
firms for the planning and implementation of
the municipality’s integrated infrastructure
Master Plan of Kgatelopele Local Municipality.
Kgatelopele Local Municipality has undertaken
an initiative to request an expression of interest
for the development and implementation of the
Integrated Infrastructure Plan, which is part of
a long-term strategic plan to provide direction
for strategic developments and infrastructure
investment; promote efficient, sustainable,
and planned investments by all sectors; and
indicate priority areas for investment in land
development in line with the spatial development
framework. This will ensure that the municipality
is able to render quality, reliable, sustainable,
and resilient infrastructure to its community.
32 | CEC February 2019
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