Construction World November 2017

COMMENT

The recently released South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) Infrastructure Report Card gives the country’s state-owned infrastructure an overall grade of D+.

Despite this rating, one has to give credit to government for what it has achieved in a relatively short space of time: it has provided water to 11 million people – at a pace the report says is unrivalled in the country’s history. In addition, it has improved the accessibility of water and sanitation to millions. However, the low grading is because of the severe lack of maintenance of existing infrastructure. The report highlights that without regular investment from government into the maintenance of existing infrastructure, the lifespan of such infrastructure will be negatively impacted. It says that it will cost up to six times more to repair roads that have deteriorated, while smaller municipalities will be particularly badly impacted because they will be without water purification works and sewage plants. This will in turn lead to health risks – an indication of how vital infrastructure is in the functionality of any country. Arriving at the D+ The report based its grading on a US infrastructure evaluation system. According to this, infrastructure falls into one of five categories: A (world-class), B (fit for the future), C (satisfactory for now), D (at risk) and E (unfit for purpose).

What the report found Not a single division or subdivision of South Africa’s infrastructure ranked at A. The highest scoring rank achieved was B+. Of the total 23 infrastructure divisions and subdivisions evaluated, 11 were rated at or below D+ for 2017. Only five were rated B- or above. The current financial difficulty being experienced in the construction sector is making the situation worse as the industry experiences a lack of adequately skilled workers. A possible solution One way to deal with this serious problem, says The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is to get the construction industry to function more like the manufacturing industry. It is doing research on how to transform the local construction industry by focusing on the use of modular elements in infrastructure. Such elements will be manufactured in a factory and transported to site. It says this will reduce costs, accelerate construction, and largely deal with the construction industry’s skills problems.

DECEMBER 2017 Our December issue will be dedicated to the 2017 Best Projects Awards – the winners and entries. It has become an overview of construction activity in the preceding year and is eagerly awaited.

Wilhelm du Plessis Editor

@ConstWorldSA

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EDITOR & DEPUTY PUBLISHER Wilhelm du Plessis constr@crown.co.za ADVERTISING MANAGER Erna Oosthuizen ernao@crown.co.za LAYOUT & DESIGN Lesley Testa CIRCULATION Karen Smith

PUBLISHER Karen Grant

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The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2017