Construction World June 2021

CONSULTING ENGINEERS

CONSTRUCTION ON MINES BUOYS DEMAND FOR ENGINEERS While infrastructure opportunities in the public sector are still limited by constrained government finances, the mining sector is drawing consulting engineers into a range of construction work to expand production.

water treatment, pipelines and tailings storage facilities (TSFs),” he said. “It is also a dynamic industry which constantly raises the bar for performance and quality – as was recently seen in the revised standards for constructing and maintaining for tailings dams.” This highlighted the need for consulting engineers to maintain global standards and to find innovative ways of building continuous improvement into all their activities. The recently published Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management will further improve the way that tailings facilities are planned, constructed and operated – to manage risk at all phases of their lifecycle, including closure and post-closure. “This is a good example of the role that consulting engineering plays in helping ensure that local construction standards continue to meet global benchmarks,” said Bartels. “As a leader in TSF design and management, SRK is further augmenting its skills base in this field to accommodate the growing demand

SRK’s young, qualified engineers on site. Mentoring and developing these engineers allows local engineering graduates to transform their academic training into vital practical skills necessary for a modern economy. From left: Neil Verwoerd (Site Engineer), Lourie van Rensburg (Site Engineer), Keyuran Govender (Site Engineer), Maria Mabelane (Site Engineer), Mark Nicholas Von Guilleaume (Site Construction Manager), Jason Tunnell (Engineering Geologist), Kagisho Ledwaba (Site Engineer) and Denford Buwu (QA/QC Manager).

A ccording to Steve Bartels, partner and principal engineering technologist at SRK Consulting, the platinum industry is among the segments that have survived the challenges of 2020 well, creating much-needed demand for local consulting engineering skills. “It is vital that the economy grows to accommodate not only the existing capacity among consulting engineers, but also the new entrants to the sector,” said Bartels. “Companies like SRK prioritise the nurturing and development of young talent, and these young engineers need to be working on projects to gain experience.” Despite the dampening effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the economy, mining added over R360-billion to South Africa’s gross domestic product in 2020, according to the Minerals Council South Africa. The platinum sector – while volatile due to COVID-19 related disruption – saw its sales increase 40% even though production dropped by 15%, according to Statistics South Africa. Stats SA also reported that sales of platinum group metals, at R190-billion, overtook those of coal to become the most significant contributor to total mining-industry sales last year. “The mining sector remains an anchor of the economy, generating construction work including infrastructure in terms of roads, energy,

for specialist input.” Growing the skills necessary for a modern economy

By mentoring and developing young qualified engineers, the sector provides an important foundation for growing the skills necessary for a modern economy, he said. He emphasised that much of the country’s water, energy, rail and road infrastructure was in urgent need of more attention by qualified engineers. “There is no short cut in the road that engineering graduates must travel to gain the necessary experience to become capable and responsible professionals,” he said. “Working alongside stakeholders like consulting engineers, government can play a valuable role by prioritising infrastructure spending; this will allow local engineering graduates to transform their academic training into vital practical skills, by working under the guidance of experienced local professionals.” Bartels reiterated that South Africa’s economic growth aspirations were dependent on protecting and expanding its infrastructure – and that this could only be achieved if the country retained and nurtured a critical mass of appropriately registered engineers who were familiar with local conditions and challenges. ▄

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