6 minute read
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: INTEGRATED URBAN DEVELOPMENT
KZN FLOODING A “WAKE-UP CALL”
Darrin Green, MD Africa at infrastructure consulting rm AECOM, shares that the recent oods in KwaZulu-Natal should spur on government to ramp up their integrated planning and resilience infrastructure
The social and environmental impact of disaster needs to be looked at holistically. The catastrophic ooding in KwaZulu-Natal is a wake-up call for local and national government to ensure that future urban development is integrated and resilient to extreme weather events. The e ects are widespread, and I do not think anyone yet has a proper handle on the extent of the infrastructure damage. There is a long road ahead to x this.
Parts of KwaZulu-Natal received over 300mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period from 11 to 12 April and close to 400mm, including the preceding rain in the days leading up to the oods. “It was a 100-year rainfall event for some areas. That is just in terms of the rainfall itself, which cannot be correlated directly with the ooding. Once everything is saturated, the runo is much higher. Then there is the secondary impact of landslides and erosion that can change the natural runo characteristics, resulting in unpredictable impacts that can cause further signi cant damage to infrastructure,” explains Timothy Hotchkiss, an engineer at AECOM’s Durban o ce. Hotchkiss specialises in ood management and the design of water-related infrastructure.
While the entire province was impacted, the worst-hit areas were the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and the districts of iLembe, Ugu, King Cetshwayo, and uMgungundlovu. Informal settlements close to rivers and waterways were severely a ected, with numerous dwellings swept away and nearly 450 lives lost to date. The ooding disrupted fuel and food supplies.
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE THE PRICE OF UNDERPLANNING
The torrential rain caused extensive damage to houses, businesses, roads, bridges and water, electricity, rail, and telecommunications infrastructure. Cabinet declared a national state of disaster on 19 April. KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala estimates it will cost about R5.6-billion to repair the damage to road infrastructure alone. While Durban Port, one of the largest and busiest shipping terminals on the continent, has since reopened, there is a massive backlog of 8 000 to 9 000 containers.
“We will be involved with a lot of the repair and rebuild work, especially in terms of bulk infrastructure such as roads and water networks,” notes Hotchkiss. The company has carried out ood mitigation work for a major automotive manufacturer in the region in conjunction with the metro.
“While eThekwini is proactive from a catchment planning perspective, there are still many challenges, and this event was really way beyond what could have reasonably been planned for,” says Hotchkiss. “For us as AECOM, it is important to take a holistic view of the ooding in terms of its social and environmental impact.” It is clear from the extent of the damage that properly planned areas and areas with well-maintained indigenous vegetation, fared much better than areas where there is a lot of uncontrolled development. A lack of integrated planning in terms of electricity, water, transportation networks and stormwater drainage means that the impact of any extreme weather event is likely to be that much greater.
It is a countrywide issue. There is very little holistic planning around any of these critical factors. Unfortunately, this has contributed signi cantly to what we have seen happen in KwaZulu-Natal. We are paying the price for years of underplanning and a lack of investment in maintenance and infrastructure.
PRIORITIES
The immediate priority is to ensure that the water supply in eThekwini is fully restored, followed by the electricity and road networks. In some cases, the authorities have consultants and contractors on frameworks and term tenders and therefore may be able to respond relatively quickly to some of the immediate and less complicated infrastructure repairs. However, on the whole, emergency procurement will need to be put in place. We have seen before that this does not always have the desired outcomes. We need to mobilise as quickly and as e ectively as possible. Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) has stated that its members are on standby to provide any assistance required. ▪
REFERENCE BOX
Sources https://ewn.co.za/2022/04/18/kznroad-repair-bill-estimated-to-costr5-6-billion-says-zikalala; https:// www.news24.com/ n24/economy/ south-africa/durban-port- oodedwith-debris-faces-backlog-of-8-000containers-20220419
Concrete is the essential component for local government mass housing settlements throughout South Africa.
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS NEED CONCRETE TRAINING
Local government employees need to be trained in concrete at all levels to facilitate the country’s growth and build infrastructure
Concrete will play an essential role in the government’s plans to implement long-awaited infrastructural projects this year, says John Roxburgh, senior lecturer at Cement & Concrete South Africa’s School of Concrete Technology. He says concrete is the most vital building material for creating the infrastructure needed to sustain South African urban and rural settlements, as well as the road networks that link these areas. “Apart from being the essential material to erect the presidentially-proposed new ‘smart cities’, concrete is also essential for housing, dams, bridges, warehouses, roads, airports, water and sewerage treatment plants, to name just a few important civic facilities. Therefore, it is essential that local government’s sta are trained in all facets of concrete construction and design,” Roxburgh states.
Such training has been provided by the School of Concrete Technology (SCT) for well over 60 years. Its consulting division is constantly involved in the writing of standards, publications and assessment of the latest technologies.
The SCT 2022 Training Programme includes courses on a wide range of topics starting from a basic introduction to concrete and continuing to cover the role of concrete in housing, concrete practice, training for ready mixed concrete and batching plant personnel, concrete industrial oors on the ground, concrete road design and construction, as well as high-technology training that includes the globally respected Advanced Concrete Technology diploma course with examinations set by the Institute of Concrete Technology in London.
Successful graduates of all SCT’s courses receive certi cates of attendance/competence, and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points are awarded on certain courses.
Roxburgh says two courses to be o ered by SCT in 2022 should strongly be considered by South African municipalities: SCT20 Concrete Practice and SCT30 Concrete Technology. Both regularly attract strong enrolment, necessitating several presentations every year.
“The four-day SCT20 Concrete Practice course is excellent for foremen and supervisors who are applying concrete technology on-site for sta responsible for quality assurance. Successful completion of this course earns four CPD points. The more advanced SCT30 Concrete Technology ve-day course – which earns ve CPD points – is aimed at civil and structural engineers and experienced technicians and technologists, and is ideal for gaining detailed knowledge of how cement and concrete works.”
The School of Concrete Technology will continue to run its successful online e-learning courses in 2022, but will also o er select classroom-based lecture courses in Midrand, Durban and Cape Town while COVID-19 lockdown restrictions permit. “The live classes will be kept small, and high demand for speci c courses will be met by scheduling additional presentations.
However, the online platform and selfstudy courses are here to stay as they are aligned with modern trends in remote learning and o er increased access to both data and smart delivery devices. E-learning and its associated bene ts will form an integral part of the SCT’s training in future, this means that local government in even the most remote parts of the country can now enrol sta for training,” he adds. ▪
➔ Scan this QR code to go directly to the Cement and Concrete SA website.
For more information:
011 315 0300 rennisha.sewnarain@cemcon-sa.org.za. www.cemcon-sa.org.za
