Page 21 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e
EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

potential of this area was enhanced when Blaauwkrans from the factory across a bridge into a modern car park
Bridge became the site for the highest bridge bungee from where they are easily driven to the quayside once
jumping in the world. The bridge statistics are as the roll-on roll-off vehicle ships when they dock.
follows:

• Blaauwkrans River Bridge: 452 m long and 33°01’33.03” S, 27°54’21.10” E
214 m high.
• Bobbejans River Bridge: 285 m long and 166 m
high. 6. Sweets and pens go together in East London
• Groot River Bridge: 300 m long and 175 m high. where a number of factories like Beacon Sweets and
Parker Pens produce these products for South Africa,
along with factories that supply components to the car
33°57’23.96” S, 23°33’02.43” E industry next door. Civil engineering infrastructure and
structures are providing the backbone for the industry.

4. Mercedes-Benz plant in East London manu-
factures Mercedes-Benz right-hand drive C-Class ve- 7. Cars in Port Elizabeth depend on infrastruc-
hicles for the world market. The factory is a high tech- ture and facilities produced and maintained by civils.
nology facility for which civil engineering provided the Much of the components used in the giant General
envelope and services. It is not well-known that the Motors and Ford factories are manufactured in facili-
tolerances of the floor levels of the main building that ties around the area, including tyres by Goodyear and
houses the assembly plant line had to be within mil- Firestone, carbon black for tyres, engines and sub-as-
limetres to accommodate the sensitive equipment and semblies. In line with modern environmental practices
machinery, a feat not easily achieved when the floor many challenges have to be overcome. As this indus-
area is the size of several rugby fields at 265 075 m². trial activity is in close proximity to the sea and situated
on the flood plain of the Swartkops River the challenges
abound.
33°01’45.43” S, 27°53’12.68” E

8. Fish Water Flats sewage purification
5. The East London or Buffalo City harbour is works serves the Nelson Mandela Bay metro and there
the only natural harbour in South Africa being on the es- is a daily inflow of about 170 Ml per day. Such a facility
tuary of the Buffalo River. Although it is relatively small might not be of general interest since most residents
it is the harbour from which Mercedes-Benz exports all of towns and cities do not want to talk about these
its right-hand drive cars made at the factory next to the all important facilities. In South Africa the treatment
harbour. A unique feature is that cars are driven directly of sewage is however critical especially since in most
cases the treated effluent goes back into rivers and it is
said that in some cases water is re-circulated through
◊ Below right: Sweets and pens go together in East London systems along a river up to six times.
◊ Below: East London Harbour

1