Page 66 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e
KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE

out their design dreams in order to fit the roads into ◊ Sugar Terminal
the landscape and to provide the user with views and
vistas. SAICE President, Rodney Burrell in 1992 was
always proud to be associated with some of the free-
ways and used the phrase “to travel hopefully is better
than to arrive and the true success is to labour” in his
presidential address. He stated that it is indeed a joy to
travel through the landscapes of this province, from the
winding Van Reenen’s pass which in winter smoothly
takes one form to the cold winter landscape to a balmy
Natal Midlands, to the N2 winding through sugar cane
plantations, to the rugged Sani Pass on the slopes of
the Drakensberg that connects KZN with Lesotho and
really only meant for 4x4 vehicles. It is claimed that the
highest pub in terms of elevation is situated at the top
of this pass – maybe to calm the nerves after negotiat-
ing the pass.

Adverse weather conditions do however thwart the best
of engineering efforts and snow once caused a major 12. Sugar terminal at the Durban Harbour was
hiccup when it closed the N3 between Harrismith and the biggest of its kind in 1965. The structure posed
Estcourt stranding the traffic on this major route, in- several challenges including poor foundation conditions,
cluding hundreds of heavy trucks ferrying goods both strong winds of up to 120 km/h and accommodating
ways between the two biggest city complexes in South sugar stockpiling under aggressive corrosive conditions
Africa. 1991 SAICE President, Professor Alan Kemp, had that come from both the sugar as well as the marine
a nasty incident on that same route when the notorious environment. The 250 m long concrete structures each
winds on the pass overturned a caravan with which he have an arch span of 60 m and are still a well-known
had borrowed to go on holiday. landmark in the harbour. At the time, the sugar loading
equipment could load a 1 000 ton ship within 24 hours
and in total about 600 000 tons of export sugar would
Concrete roads are quite popular in KZN since lifecycle
calculations have showed that it often beats asphalt in pass through this terminal.
the long run. This is possibly also owing to the fact that
South Africa has an abundance of stone and materials 13. Soybean terminal at the Durban harbour
suitable for making cement but very little local sources is a recent addition and although for some people it
that can supply the components in bitumen. The Key might just be another boring shed-like structure, civil
Ridge to the Inchanga section of the N3 which is one engineering structures like these are challenging and
of the most heavily trafficked roads in the country is exciting. Few other professions, with the exception of
but one example of how the durability of concrete can architects, can point to what they have created and
prove to be a long-term solution for road building. claim enduring service to human activities like civil en-
gineering can do.
Major freeway intersections always catch the eye and
outside Durban the N2-N3 intersection boasts triple 14. Beer brewing is a worldwide activity but in
decker bridge structures. South Africa this is a major issue since South Africans
are known to consume large amounts of this beverage.
In Pietermaritzburg a number of historic bridges are As such engineering students are purportedly the
quite common, including the Yellowwood Scott’s Bridge, biggest beer drinkers of all and in the past beer
albeit that it was replaced by new bridges over time drinking competitions and smokers’ functions were
and the O’Brien Bridge. Both were erected in 1860. commonplace. South African Breweries has over
The latter was eventually relocated to Alexandra Park. the years captured the bulk of the market and their
An interesting anecdote is that it sported a notice that brewing facilities are all over the country. SAB acquired
warned drivers and horsemen to take it easy and “not a number of overseas brewing companies and as now
to cross it at a pace beyond a walk”. This warning was ranks second largest in the world. In Durban the facility
quite appropriate since the bridge collapsed in 1866 received the 1985 SAICE award for excellence in civil
when a herd of cattle were driven across. engineering – an attribute to the profession – which not

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