The Civil Engineering Contractor September 2018 | Page 7

The move will serve to unite concrete industry role players and align them with the broader construction and civil engineering industry. In these tough times for the construction industry, all professional bodies in the construction sector need to work together for the greater good of the industry. It is for this reason that bodies such as CSSA include professional bodies from the civil and consulting engineering fraternity, contractors, cement producers, builders, and other role players to address challenges and form opinions on the way forward. “Concrete is by far the most commonly used building material and is ubiquitous to almost all types of constructions. We all have a role in marketing quality concrete, used in the right applications, as being essential for construction and it is therefore important that we get this message — and new developments in concrete — to all professionals,” says Sheath. Whether or not a brand new organisation evolves, Civil Engineering Contractor would welcome debate on this. Email views to [email protected]. “Whereas industries such as timber and steel have a single body and can talk to government and promote itself to the economy with a single voice, concrete and cement do not have that monolithic identity.” Pre-feasibility is under way for a uranium mine in the Namib Desert. ON PROJECT OWNERS’ DESKS Uranium mine mooted in Namib Project: Mining infrastructure Client: Omahola Uranium Location: Namibia The pre-feasibility study remains ongoing for the Omahola uranium project. It is located to the west of central Namibia, situated approximately 40km of the seaport of Walvis Bay, and east, south-east of Swakopmund. The Omahola project currently contains the Inca and Tubas Red Sands uranium deposits, the commercial exploitation of which could cost more than USD330-million to develop. Continuing positive drilling results from Tumas 3 reinforce the belief that the palaeochannels occurring within the RUN held tenements present a valid and significant regional exploration target. These palaeochannels are showing they have previously been inadequately tested to the degree required, as evidenced by the discovery that has been made at Tumas 3. These new positive results, together with approximately 100km of prospective palaeodrainage identified as still to be tested, provide management with increasing confidence that the existing uranium resource base within the Reptile project area can be increased. New airport city Project: Infrastructure Client: Airport City, San Pedro Airport Location: Côte d’Ivoire Unity will enable the industry, for the first time, to speak with a single voice, says John Sheath, CEO and director of CSSA. Investors are being sought for construction of the infrastructure and services for a new airport city, to be built around the new international airport at San Pedro, Côte d’Ivoire. The new airport city is to be built on the land around the airport site and this city is to comprise a hotel, an industrial area, residential area, commercial area, and a sports complex. In addition, access roads to the airport and airport city will need to be constructed. This is to be a private-public partnership, which is looking for investors who can design, provide financing, and build the airport city. Various studies are still to be undertaken. While Abidjan may serve as Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial centre, San Pedro — 350km to the west — is the key gateway for the country’s exports. The city, which is situated in the San Pedro Region of the Bas-Sassandra District to the west of the country, along the Gulf of Guinea, ranks as Côte d’Ivoire’s second- largest city in terms of economic activity. CEC September 2018 - 5