Page 16 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e

INTrODUCTION

The activities of humans are most often shaped and in It must be stated that many of the projects featuring
many cases even dictated by the climate, topography, in this book may not at first glance seem to be a civil
availability of resources like water and food or the pos- engineering project in the true sense of the word.
sibility to produce food. However, there is not a single building, structure,
amenity or service in which civil engineering has
In addition, geological and many other factors have not played a role in providing the framework, the
an influence on settlements. The environment where structure, the foundations, the conduit and in many
humans have traditionally settled is generally dictated cases the shape. Buildings are mostly seen as products
by a number of environmental factors. of architecture, but these buildings have a number
of hidden aspects which are the premises of the civil
Where travels are undertaken, settlements are created engineering profession. In addition, architects are
due to needs or perceived needs of humans settle- known for pushing the barriers in terms of shapes
ments. Southern African history is rich in why humans and forms for buildings, towers and even bridges, but
came to this part of the globe. The Khoi and the San ultimately, the civil engineering professional has to
people were most likely here first before the “immi- make it work and “stand up.”
grants” arrived from beyond the current northern bor-
ders of the country, and from Europe via the Cape and Civil engineering has safety and health as prime
the east coast. driving principles and as Professor Harry Seftel of the
University of the Witwatersrand stated, civil engineering
Various political systems and ideologies obviously play contributed more to the increase of the life span of
a huge role in human settlements and what they build human beings than any other profession, including
and how they shape their urban environment. In his the science community. The provision of safe potable
SAICE presidential address in 1992, Rodney Burrell told water and adequate sanitation are major contributors
the story of Sir Winston Churchill who had to address to enhanced health.
parliament in a debate on whether to rebuild the ruins
of their parliament building after World War II, after In closing, the public at large marvels at and enjoys so
which it was decided to rebuild since: “First we shape many achievements of civil engineering, but often are
our buildings and then our buildings shape us.” not aware of such achievements when standing at the
Eiffel Tower or the magnificent Garden Route bridges.
This is patently true for civil engineering and other Let this book therefore open our eyes a little more and
services and infrastructure as well. It is a common fact create a better understanding of how we rely on the
that people will relocate to get access to services like built environment community and its contributions to
potable water, sewage disposal, transportation facilities, make our lives easier.
electricity, schools and so forth.

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