Page 107 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e
WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

7. Cape Town Market situated on a thirty hect- ◊ Below: South African Large Telescope Project
are site was completed in 1960 and at its completion ◊ Bottom: Produce from the Cape Town Market
the main hall at 115 m wide and 275 m long was re-
portedly the biggest market hall under one roof in Af-
rica (about the size of six standard rugby fields). This
huge roof as well as the surrounding roof structures are
not only functional engineering elements but were also
designed in an aesthetically attractive manner. In the
late seventies a banana ripening section was added to
handle 20 million kilogram’s of bananas per annum.

33°55’48.47” S, 18°31’49.26” E

8. The South African Large Telescope (SALT)
project at Sutherland in the far north of the province
is a feat of modern civil engineering structures at its
best. From early on, South Africa became known for its
crystal clear skies and a major destination from which
to watch stars. The Cape Town Observatory was built ern hemisphere. SALT can detect the light from faint or
around 1826 and provided what was proclaimed to be distant objects in the universe, a billion times too faint
a centre of excellence in astronomy as well as a place to be seen with the unaided eye – as faint as a candle
for geodesy, trigonometric survey, cartography, as well flame would appear at the distance of the moon. The
as tidal and magnetic observations. The SALT project, tolerances required for the building itself needed “ex-
completed in 2005 hosts among others, an 11 m hex- treme” civil engineering quality.
agonal mirror comprising 91 individual 1.2 m hexagonal
mirrors and is the largest single telescope in the south-
33°56’09.24” S, 18°28’37.30” E

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