Construction World June 2017

CONSULTING ENGINEERS

IN THE FAST LANE The Bakwena N1N4 freeway is an important arterial connecting the country’s economic hub, Gauteng, with the Limpopo Province on the N1 and the platinum-rich North West province on the N4, while ensuring the efficient movement of goods and people between South Africa and neighbouring Botswana.

e-Tag holders Registered e-Tag holders can now fast- track their drive time by using an exclusive e-tag lane that exits directly from the high- way without having to queue at the con- ventional plazas. “This is a pilot project,” says Phaks Ngqumshe, a director of JG Afrika, “and depending on its success, the concept may be rolled out elsewhere on the corridor and on other national roads.” Ngqumshe has project managed the plaza upgrade programme since JG Afrika was awarded the design and construction supervision contract in 2015. “This was a unique project in that the dedicated e-Tag lanes, with separate dedicated e-tag lanes off the freeway are a completely new concept in the country. One of the complexities in the design and drawing stages is that we did not have similar projects that we could reference, in

Over the past two years, the Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (Bakwena), which operates the highway on behalf of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), has been upgrading specific toll plazas along the route to ensure improved flow of the many vehicles, including the trucks, using the corridor every day. The focus has been on widening four mainline plazas, namely Pumulani, Doornpoort, Brits and Marikana, as well as two ramp plazas, Stormvoël and Zambesi, by adding extra lanes on the existing infrastructure to improve traffic throughput at the various plazas. Work undertaken at the Zambesi plaza also forms part of a SANRAL/Bakwena pilot project to drive the uptake of its ‘e-Tag’ concept by providing users with a convenient and faster alternative for passing through these pay-points

Phaks Ngqumshe, a director of JG Afrika.

terms of standards, with the design teams having to largely innovate from scratch,” says Ngqumshe. “ Sharp learning curve A meeting of minds between representatives of JG Afrika, SANRAL and Bakwena resulted in a solution that was not only feasible and practical, but also safe for road users. This sharp learning curve challenged the experienced professional team and provided a sound platform to mentor the some of the young engineers and new engineering graduates making up the engineering team. The project Working to extremely tight deadlines, implementation started at Zambesi toll Study and a Topographical Survey. The SSKIA-SEZ will be a mixed-use economic zone that will house several ‘high tech’ organisations such as the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) and the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), which is a science and technology park to aid in diversifying the economy and help transform Botswana into a knowledge economy, thereby promoting research, development, education and innovation. In addition, the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), an integrated Investment and Trade Promotion Authority (ITPA) with an encompassing mandate of investment promotion and attraction, export promotion and development, including management of the National Brand will also be incorporated within the mixed-use economic zone. This is topped off with the addition of the Diamond Hub which was established to coordinate economic activity in the Diamond Sector, administering beneficiation activities in rough and polished diamond trading, cutting and polishing industry, jewelry manufacturing, and secondary trading of rough and polished diamonds. 

Appointed for masterplan review

Royal HaskoningDHV in a Joint Venture with HaskoningDHV Botswana has been awarded the master plan review of the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport Special Economic Zone (SSKIA-SEZ) located in Gaborone, Botswana, South West of the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport.

The SSKIA-SEZ project is part of an initiative that is the brainchild of the Business and Economic Advisory Council of Botswana (BEAC), which recommended the develop- ment of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy for Botswana. The SEZs are geographically delineated economic areas run by their own SEZ Authority, responsible for providing an investor-friendly business environment with a view to attracting both domestic

through public sector, private sector and public-private partnerships. Manfred Uken, director strategic business development for transport and planning in Africa at Royal HaskoningDHV states, “The SSKIA-SEZ is an exciting six-month project that is planned to be completed by the end of August 2017 suits our goal to help develop business and job opportunities on our continent. It also complements the work we are already carrying out at the Aerotropolis for King Shaka International Airport (in Durban, RSA).The SSKIA-SEZ will offer business in Botswana the opportunity to develop in a modern, focused and efficient environment”. Royal HaskoningDHV will provide the Urban Design Master Plan; the Landscape Design Master Plan; a Strategic Environmental Assessment; a Hydrogeological and Geotechnical Survey; a Traffic Engineering

and foreign investors. Eight strategic areas across the country have been identified

for promoting the development of a

variety of world-class industries that will lead to the diversification of the country’s economy

40

CONSTRUCTION WORLD JUNE 2017