Corestruc
Rim of the immense reservoir .
Water focus ; a priority
South Africa ’ s water infrastructure is overloaded , owing mainly to the flood of people migrating to urban areas . Deteriorating municipal water treatment infrastructure is also a concern , brought about largely by a lack of coordination between government departments .
By Kim Kemp *
According to Consulting Engineers South Africa ’ s ( CESA ) Bi-annual Economic and Capacity Survey ( BECS ), water infrastructure spend has been prioritised , not only to deal with the effects of the current drought , but also to lessen the effects going forward . “ Water is our second-biggest sector in the engineering industry ,” the CEO of Industry Insights , Elsie Snyman , outlined in her presentation of the CESA report .
Water constitutes 20 % of government budget spend , she points out and adds , “ Since 2011 , we are starting to see an increase in water becoming a bigger priority … water is almost more important than nuclear at this stage ,” she stresses .
She outlines how the 2016 water budget was revised up for the 2017 budget , to include bulk infrastructure , as well as smaller maintenance and sanitation type projects . “ Water is certainly a bigger priority in terms of government spending ,” she says .
The custodians of this crucial resource , therefore , are under constant pressure to build high-quality infrastructure quickly and efficiently .
Water infrastructure comes to Katlehong
Such a project was undertaken by Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in Katlehong , which , together with Thokoza and Vosloorus , is the secondlargest township in Gauteng , after Soweto .
The municipality is delivering a new reservoir that will bring muchneeded relief to this high-density area . Consulting engineer TLS Engineers & Project Managers , as well as civil engineering contractors Civcon and QC4 Civils are collaborating on the project .
QC4 Civils ’ contracts manager , Ettiene Coetzee , says this is the largest reinforced , post-tensioned ground reservoir to be built by the company .
Constructed with six 16.15m by 4.2m buttresses for post-tension anchors , the 35 mega-litre reservoir has an internal diameter of 54.4m , as well as wall height of 16.15m and wall
14 Water Sewage & Effluent July / August 2017