SAICE Awards - Construction Review , May 2009
SAICE (South African Institute of Civil Engineering) started in 1903 with an aim to share information; explore new ideas; develop and fine-tune concepts within the civil engineering industry. It is a representative body that looks after the needs of engineers.
This year sees the inauguration of its second female president Elsabè Kearsley. Kearsley will serve a one year term and is SAICE’s 107th president. Kearsley is a specialist in the field of concrete application. She is currently involved in a research which aims at reducing the environmental impact of the concrete and cement industry by using materials more effectively and efficiently. In her inaugural address, “Engineering a Better Future’, Kearsley highlighted the changed environment in which civil engineering professionals find themselves, the engineer of the future and the ability to stay relevant.
Says Kearsley: “I worked on a construction site in the 1980s with only a landline on site and we often had to go to the post office to send telex messages to head office as that was the only way to communicate complicated concepts.
Today it is unthinkable that the resident engineer would not have access to a mobile phone and a notebook computer with a 3G card, and few people even still remember what a telex machine looked like!”
SAICE Awards Function 2008
SAICE held its annual awards function at the Bytes Conference Centre on Tuesday, 30 September 2008. This year, the function was sponsored by SSI, a leading South African-based consulting engineering firm and Wiehahn, a leading expert in concrete manufacturing.
The awards are broken up into three sections: Technical Excellence; Community-based and International Excellence. Criteria for entries is stringent, and entrants are only considered should they meet the strict requirements.
Some of the winners of the 2008 awards included:
The Berg Water Project
The R1.6 billion Berg Water Project aims to meet the growing water demand from all sectors of the Western Cape. It is the first project of its kind to be subjected to the New National Water Act, 1998. Its annual contribution of 81 million m³ of water to the Western Cape Water System (18% increase) will satisfy the demand until 2013.
Ethekwini Zibambele Poverty Alleviation Programme
The Ethekwini Zibambele Poverty Alleviation Programme was started in 2003 by the Ethekwini Municipality as a routine road maintenance system designed to alleviate poverty in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal. Approximately 4 500 beneficiaries are deployed in KwaZulu-Natal which is being managed by the Ethekwini Municipality and tpa Consulting cc.
Mkomaas River Pedestrian Bridge
The Mkomaas River Pedestrian Bridge is unique in Africa as it is the only pre-stressed concrete ribbon bridge built on the continent and its main span of 150 metres equals the world record for this type of bridge. It merits the SAICE National Award in the category “Technical Excellence” as it is an innovative design that is cost effective, aesthetically pleasing and highly functional.
Another winner was the R300 Kalkfontein Pedestrian Bridge in the Wiehahn SAICE Project Awards in the Community-based Category.
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