Page 119 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e
WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

The offshore infrastructure on top of the gas fields are ◊ Below: Mossgas
magnificent examples of how South African engineering ◊ Below Centre: Kraaifontein Waste Management Facility
dealt with something that has never been attempted ◊ Bottom: University of Cape Town
in South Africa, including the world’s largest tethered
buoy. It is invisible sitting 100 m below sea level. This
16x16x12 metre high, 3 000 ton concrete caisson type
structure was constructed in the Simonstown dry dock
and then towed 500 km along one of the most hostile
sea routes to be sunk at Mossel Bay, to anchor the gas
collecting platforms above. It can withstand a 100-year
23 m design wave.
26. Waste handling facilities are often seen
as the Cinderella of the civil engineering bouquet of
activities. It has, however, become a crucial component
to ensure the environmental safety and health of
residents across the world. At first landfills were the
order of the day and every city or town still has the hills
of rubbish and wastes to show for that practice, albeit
most of these hills are eventually covered with soil and
planted with vegetation. Nowadays, technology has
responded to the challenge of environmental awareness Waste handling
requirements and the Kraaifontein Waste Management facilities pic not on disk
Facility in Cape Town is a shining example of what can
be achieved in terms of recycling, composting and in
general reducing the volumes that have to be landfilled.
Solid waste from as far as Hermanus, about 100 km
away is compacted and transported to this facility. At
Hermanus itself two recycling units, one for garden or
organic wastes and another for plastic, metal, glass and
paper already significantly reduce the volumes.

33°50’14.68” S, 18°44’15.45” E

127. Universities of the Cape

• The University of Cape Town is located on the
eastern slopes of Devil’s Peak in Cape Town and was
founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is
the oldest university in South Africa and the second
oldest university in Africa. It has always been known
for its political activism and cutting edge political
thinking. It currently enrolls about 25 000 students.
The post-graduate engineering group comes from all
over Africa and in line with other civil engineering
faculties has become a destination of choice for
students from all over Africa.

33°57’28.08” S, 18°27’41.69” E

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