20th Anniversary of the Power Group

Grinaker-LTA does its bit for empowerment

Grinaker-LTA has recently landed a contract to refurbish two buildings for Cell-C, at the value of R29 million; the building they are currently working on is Esher Place on Rivonia Road. The job involves building work, dry wall partitions, ceilings, and electrical and mechanical work. The project has a big black empowerment component to it in that it has a black contracts manager working on the project. John Sambo has been with Grinaker for 15 years. Contracts director for Grinaker, Mark Meire, says there are a number of ways of satisfying BEE. For instance: black ownership, joint venture with a black owned company, awarding contracts to black sub-contractors or lastly having the right employment equity. Meire said that with regards to numbers and percentages, Grinaker does not meet requirements of black ownership, but it performs well when it comes to equity in that over the years it has trained many people who are now in senior positions.
Meire feels that actually using a black person has more value than going into a joint venture, as this is more sustainable. He added that “the person gains more experience and there is not fronting or window dressing.”
The refurbishment of the Esher Place has proved to be rather challenging for the team. Meire said, “it’s like performing open heart surgery, as we have had to work around the major data centre and it is a 24 hour operation. So it would be disastrous if we were to accidentally cut a wire.” They hope to finish the project in May and have recently completed tenant installation in Marion place, also using a black contracts manager.

Sibakhulu

Construction of the multimillion-rand Neptune road systems interchange on the N2 highway, which is one of the key stages in the progress of the R3,4-billion Coega industrial development zone (IDZ) and deep-sea harbour development, in the Eastern Cape, started in mid-October.

The R37,8-million contract to construct Neptune road and a link to the port boundary was awarded earlier this year to Sibakhulu Construction, a Western Cape black economic empowerment construction company.
The new interchange will comprise four bridges over Neptune road and two road-over-rail bridges.
The interchange is necessary for access to the aluminium smelter to be built by French company Pechiney in the metallurgical cluster of the IDZ.
Due to the specialised skills and techniques required for the interchange project, no contractors were found in the Eastern Cape.
But, in line with the CDC's procurement policies, the winning contractors were required to have a local partner, which they found by forming a joint-venture partnership with Port Elizabeth-based Msele Civils. They were further required to subcontract portions of the work to local companies.
As a result, at least 17 of the 22 subcontracting firms – all of which are small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) – are based in the Eastern Cape. Part of the road construction will provide for the crossing of a railway yard, which will serve as a bulk ore-storage facility.
The storage facility will be linked by rail to the new deep-water harbour and the IDZ.
Meanwhile, CDC communications manager Raymond Hartle tells Engineering News that the corporation has awarded the R40,2-million contract to build 400 medium-cost dwelling units for construction workers engaged on the development of the Coega project to 17 SMMEs.

Sibakhulu are currently busy on Njoli Road a R23 million project. The project started in February 2004 and is due for completion in June 2005. We regard this as a prestigious contract, which forms part of the Njoli Square Development. The team on site has just finished the Neptune Road contract at Coega, which was a R45 million contract. The other contract, which Sibakhulu is busy with, is IDZ East London valued at R105 million. Other big contracts completed by Sibakhulu include a R70 million contract for the excavation of the Coega harbour basin and a R40 million contract for the roads and services at Fairview.

The Njoli Road Contract covers the construction of approximately 2300m of a new dual carriageway, each carriageway being 5.2m wide.
The huge amount of existing services that need to be moved is currently the reason of low activity on the site
The excavation of the road layers is what can be seen as the bulk excavation. All the unsuitable material has been excavated and spoiled off site. The next operation will be the building up of the road layers up to the basecourse layer and the premix-surfacing layer thereafter.
The road carries a significant number of vehicles in each direction daily. The accommodation of this significant traffic flow cannot be accommodated through bypasses (suitable bypass routes are too narrow and structurally deficient) and the road must therefore be constructed in one carriageway at a time.
Sibakhulu is working in a close relationship with the community associated with the project and a steering committee consisting of all the ward leaders has been formed. The vendors in conjunction with the steering committee will be moved to other locations along Njoli Road. The road is constructed in phases to accommodate both the vendors and the commuters.
June 2003
All smiles as over 70 prime stands sold
Houses worth over R35 million awaiting planning approval.
Power Developments, the majority shareholders of Brackenridge Property Pty Limited has pleasure in announcing that as of 15 August 2003 the number of confirmed stand sales is seventy four (74) with seven (7) sales awaiting confirmation.
Over R35 million worth of house plans are in various stagesof the planning approval process. “All the hard work put into the site together with considered targeted advertising has paid off and the results are there for all the see,” commented Roger Oakes, the Project & Administration Manager of Brackenridge. “We confidently expect this positive trend to continue especially during the coming September and Christmas school holiday periods when enquiries escalate in direct proportion to the influx along the Garden Route.”

June 2003
Environment a big priority for Power Construction
Following Power Construction’s award-winning work on environmentally sensitive projects, it has been awarded a R50m contract for the civil works on the first phase of Big Bay, Bloubgerstrand.
The award was announced by Rabcav, development facilitators for the City of Cape Town on the R2 billion project, during August 2002. The contract covers the construction of bulk and linking services such as earthworks and the provision of water, sewerage, electricity and storm water infrastructure that will unlock approximately 40ha of developable land. Work includes the realignment of Otto du Plessis Drive, which has been upgraded to two lanes in each direction, separated by a landscaped median island.
Making their mark, treading lightly

During last year, Power Construction earned the pretigious PMR Diamond Environmental Care Award. This was in recognition of their efforts in promoting on-site environmental care. The PMR Award is based on the company’s overall environmental management policy and plan, the procedures that have been put in place to ensure that construction work has the minimum effect on the natural environment, and that all site personnel are inducted and adhere to the environmental policy. It is therefore fitting that Power Construction be awarded the contract to provide services and infrastructure at a site where environmental ussues are of such major importance. More than 40% of the Big Bay terrain will be retained as green open spave. The ridge of dunes traversing the site from north to south will be rehabilitated and set aside as a conservation area.

Caring about the wellbeing of the environment goes hand-in-hand with Power Construction’s commitment to social upliftment, some 40 members of the labour force are previously unemployed people from Du Noon, Joe Slovo and Atlantis, who are being trained in basic construction skills while on the job.
Approximately 20% of the cost to date has been carried out by local ABE Contractors. Consultants during this phase of the project are Hawkins Hawkins Osborn, Arcus Gibb and The Planning Partnership. The environmental consultants are de Villiers Brownlie, Coastec and the Agency for Cultural Resource Management.

2003
Action is the challenge
“In business, would you have achieved what you have, had you not trodden on others on the way up.”
This often-asked question was recently put to top businessman Graham Power, ceo of the Power Group of Companies which he formed 20 years ago and which has ben acknowledged be several prestigious national and international awards.
Power – who received a vision to hire the Newlands rugby stadium for a prayer assembly in 2001, since then an annual event which has grown significantly – had admitted that he “. . .used to be a typical South African businessman . . .going to church on Sundays, but from Mondays to Saturdays seeing it as a question of doggie in and doggie out. I did everything to be awarded projects, although maybe I served on the finance commission of the church or similar commitment.” Power was the guest speaker at a business breakfast in aid of Bellville Care Mission, a Vredelust DR church initiative which gives a physical and spiritual helping hand to the homeless and jobless. It was then that the inevitable question followed and his unexpected reply was: “I would have achieved more. If we think of all the problems facing this country and the rest of the continent we might wonder if Africa can be saved. We need the good and the bad times. It is so sad when a young person gets involved with drugs, but if that same youngster is rehabilitated he or she may be able to work under other young people ten or fifteen years later.
“The challenge in our country is how to really become involved. I am excited and we live in exciting times in this wonderful country. Go abroad for a year or so to broaden your vision but some back to your fatherland to make a difference here. It is all fair and well to say we must join hands and pray, but one or other time we need to take action and start doing things. What do we do with our short lives here on earth? We are in an apprenticeship for heaven here, but what do we give to the homeless, to gangsters? If we cannot afford financial contributions, are we then prepared to give of out time?

June 2003
Ngqura: ultimate challenge for emerging contractor
A very tight construction schedule and extreme site and climatic conditions have presented the ultimate challenge. Sibakhulu Construction informs Civil Engineering Contractor on its contracts at Ngqura. Excavations for the harbour basin and work on the dual-carriageway entrance road were completed on schedule.
The excavation of millions of cubic metres of earth for the construction of South Africa's biggest-ever harbour - the Port of Ngqura - would be a challenging task for any contractor, and so it has been for the emerging Port Elizabeth contractor, Sibakhulu Construction, who took up the R80-m contract and has shown perseverance, courage and commitment.
Development of the R2,65-bn Port of Ngqura, an integral part of South Africa's first industrial development zone at Coega, is a complex project with severe time constraints. Early completion dates for certain aspects of the massive earthmoving exercise were essential to enable contractors to start work on almost 2 kms of concrete quay structures.
To meet its first deadline, Sibakhulu Construction had to excavate down more than 40 metres through sand dunes and rock - to 17m below sea level - to clear a 300m-long strip for construction of the concrete quay on the western side of the harbour to begin.
Next month Sibakhulu Construction will complete its R80-m earthmoving contract, one month ahead of the scheduled date of completion, having moved 5,4 million cubic metres of earth in 15 months' operation in sometimes extreme conditions. As an affirmative company, this is the biggest contract Sibakhulu Construction has undertaken in its five years of successful operation.
In another area of achievement, Sibakhulu Construction is busy constructing a 3,2 km double carriageway that will become the main access route to the R3,4-bn Coega IDZ that is being developed separately, and simultaneously with the Port of Ngqura, by the Coega Development Corporation.
The development of the IDZ will eventually extend over 17 000ha and is taking place in phases. Development of the first phase is expected to cost about R800-m. The IDZ and the harbour development projects, among the largest seen in South Africa in decades, have created a wealth of opportunity 20 km east of Port Elizabeth, in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape, for professionals, contractors and the local business.
South Africa’s largest port
The new port will provide a draught of 16m to accommodate vessels of up to 80 000 tonnes in the first phase. The development is to be South Africa's eighth and largest port.
The Port of Ngqura is designed to provide a 200m-wide approach channel ending in a 600m turning basin. The port will be characterised by breakwaters; one 2,76km long on the western side of the harbour entrance and the other 1,23km long - protected by 30t dolosse - on the eastern side.
According to the NPA, giant international container vessels - far too big for any existing South African port - will soon be sailing the High Seas. The new harbour is necessary for South Africa to handle this shipping, while the IDZ will provide investment opportunities and employment in the Eastern Cape.
Excavating the harbour basin
Sibakhulu Construction has sub-contracted to the main contractor, the Ngqura Harbour Contractors Joint Venture (NHC) and is one of two sub-contractors required to excavate more than 13 million cubic metres of earth to create the harbour basin.
Timeous completion of phases of excavations was also critical for work to start on construction of the 1,96 km of mass-gravity voided-concrete quay walls in the harbour area.
The NHC Joint Venture comprises the German-based Hochtief Construction, Concor of South Africa, and Nqqura Empowerment Contractors made up of four black economic empowerment companies.
Explaining the task set for Sibakhulu Construction, Glenville Cullum, the technical director, said that the excavation of the harbour basin had been divided into two sections. Sibakhulu Construction started excavations in the western half in October 2002, and 5,4 million cubic metres of earth will have been moved by the time the contract is completed next month.
"We have about 400 000m³ to go," said Faahiem Ortell, site agent for Sibakhulu Construction.
Equipment
"We have a fleet here of 12 Cat 740 ADTs of 40t capacity and we have two 85t Cat excavators," explained Cullum. "We have allocated six dumpers to each excavator, and we work two nine-hour shifts. The first shift starts at 3 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. The second shift starts at 3 p.m. and finishes at 1 a.m.
"Sibakhulu is hiring the whole fleet of earthmoving machines from Barloworld Equipment Cat Rental. They have supplied the operators for the dumpers and we have supplied our own operators for the excavators. Excavators determine production, so we have put our own experienced operators on the excavators," said Cullum. "The equipment we have on site is worth about R40-m."
"These machines definitely work well under extreme conditions, " said Ortell, commenting on operating conditions in an environment where sea sands and salt air are known to be abrasive and corrosive elements.
"Availability has been very good with these machines, probably because of the way we have structured our shifts. Barloworld Equipment Cat Rental provides a good maintenance service. This is one reason why we have a two-hour window between each shift. This provides them with an opportunity to inspect and perform any necessary repairs," Ortell added.
Ortell went on to say that there were two areas where mudstone and siltstone occurred. Blasting had to be performed at the early stages where construction of the concrete quayside had to start. More recently, blasting had to be carried out within the basin area.
"On higher planes we have also found some sandstone but generally we have been able to rip out these deposits with dozers," he said.
"In hindsight it looks easy , but there were some difficult times during the first 300 metres of excavation," said Cullum.
"We had some critical handover dates right at the beginning. Initially we had to get down to a level for other contractors to lay their concrete foundations to start construction of the west quay wall," explained Cullum. "We had to go down to 17m below sea level, which is the foundation level of the wall. Our top level was about plus 26m. Effectively, we had to move 44m down and create sufficient space for contractors to start work on the quay wall.
"The water drainage system installed around the development area to prevent seepage into the excavation is relatively effective, but there is always some water in the basin," he said.
Extreme climatic conditions
Describing working conditions, Ortell commented that temperatures in the excavation for the harbour basin were usually about five degrees higher than on surface, and often around 35 deg. C., while humidity was usually in excess of 80%.
"We speak about how high the temperatures are on site on a summer's day, we should also talk about how low the temperatures are at one o'clock on a winter's morning," said Cullum. "At that time everything is just on freezing point. This was another challenge for our team.
"Of course, one cannot talk about the Eastern Cape without talking about the wind. Port Elizabeth is known as the 'windy city', but we have been fortunate. I do not think we had to stop operations on more than a couple of days. Of course, we could have continued, but work was stopped for safety reasons because of poor visibility during strong winds.
Working to the production schedule
"When we started we put together a young team. We have a team that is really committed, and we are happy with their performance," stated Cullum.

"We monitor our production on an hourly basis," continued Ortell. "Our operators on site have targets that have to be met every hour. We have checkers who monitor the number of dumpers loaded every hour, and a record is kept of where they go dump the material. This is controlled daily by our site manager. Work is planned for us to continuously achieve maximum production.

"Barloworld Equipment Cat Rental has had a close look at our production rates and they have commended us for our achievement.
Cullum commented: "We set targets for ourselves. I would not like to compare ourselves with other contractors because the circumstances in each project are different. Our objective is to satisfy ourselves and not to better the performance of another contractor."
Double carriageway entrance road
The 3,2 km four-lane double carriageway, north and south bound, under construction by Sibakhulu Construction is the main entrance to the Coega IDZ. It provides access from a road that is to become a major access route during Phase 2 of the development to the IDZ. The double carriageway continues through the industrial area to the main interchange at the N2 highway, between Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth, from where it gives access is to the Port of Ngqura. The value of the contract is R42-m, and includes the construction of storm water drainage.
The layer works of the road comprise of an in sutu road bed of 150mm, 2x150mm selected sub-grade, 2x150mm layers of sub-base of which the top layer of sub-base is cement stabilized, 1x150mm layer of macadam base course and 40mm premix.
“The client opted for the macadam base course to enhance the employment of local labour,” said Mr Dumisa Mcetywa, managing director of Sibakhulu Construction. Currently we employ 40 people for the macadam operation and this is to be increased to 50 as we go along. We only use a grader to level the material, thereafter all the work is done by hand.
"A very fine calcrete material is being used as a filler for the macadam base course," explained Mr Bertrand Oppelt, Sibakhulu Construction's site agent. It fills the voids between the ballast stone - which varies in size from 37mm to 53mm - and binds well to provide a better surface. Once this is level we put on a primer and then 40 mm of premix.
Mr Mcetywa said that Sibakhulu had constructed about 20% of one lane of the double carriageway by conventional means to speed up completion for an early handover. However, the rest of that carriage way and the whole of the second carriageway are being constructed by hand providing a Macadam base.
"We are ahead of schedule and it looks as though we will finish our work two months ahead of the scheduled completion date in June."
Training
He went on to add that R150 000 was allowed in the contract for the training of local people. Sibakhulu Construction involved Tjeka, a training organisation, to help with the training of people in the work required on site. Tjeka also trained people to assist an emerging local sub-contractor, Sisalinga Building and Civil Construction, engaged to install Telkom ducting and to construct the kerbing and edging for sidewalks. The value of the contract being carried out by the local sub-contractor is between R1,5-m and R1,8-m.
“Quanita 4 Projects is handling all our paving on site, which provides us with the opportunity for participation by women. The value of the contract is just on a million rand,” concluded Mr Mcetywa.

June 2003
ELIDZ Construction Works Starts
East London – The company awarded an R80-million contract for the construction of the East London Industrial Development Zone’s external infrastructure has started work.
The Western Cape based Power Construction, started on the site late last month and a steam-roller is flattening the soil. Work at the site is expected to continue for 14 months.
The IDZ has been allocated R99,1m by the provincial government for the 2003/4 financial year.
Finance MEC Enoch Godongwana announced during this year’s budget speech that the IDZ could receive more than R130m for infrastructure in the next financial year.

July 2003
R80 million is put to work
Tangible progress is being made on the site of East London’s industrial development zone (IDZ) where it is no longer a proposal but a R80 million working reality.
Work on the initial infrastructure was handed over to the contractors, Power Construction, on May 20 and in just two months parts of the project are already four weeks ahead of schedule. Basic infrastructure work on the site for the customs secure area, on the West Bank, near the DaimlerChrysler Siyakha housing project, is already making freat progress as is the access road to the site from Settlars Way.
The Mvubukazi River has been diverted to allow contractors to shore up the banks and build a bridge over it. “We will get the river back on its original course once the bridge has been built and we will maintain the ecological integrity of the area,” ELIDZ technical project manager Johan Burger told GO! While on a site inspection this week.
A lot of the vegetation has to be removed, but many indigenous plants will remain or be put back while the alien vegetation is being removed and turned into mulch or firewood and charcoal. “This part of the operation is a project that encompasses a nursery where we are keeping some of the indigenous plants and will be replanting them when the infrastrucure is completed.”

Another ecological aspect of the project is one of noise pollution. The sire will be separated from residential areas by walls which will not only add security but should absorb a lot of the noise.

One of the initial objections to the siting of Phase I of the IDZ was the noise that would be generated by trucks passing the Eurotype test centre. To accommodate this onjection, planners have re-sited the access road away from the centre. The road will also have sound deadening construction along its sides, Johan said. Within two months the contractors have literally moved mountains to set up the road. Eskom is busy with the construction of a 132-kilovolt substation to feed the industry expected to be housed in the IDZ.
The access raod that is being constructed on the site is expected to be 65 metres wide and will be a four-lane highway with two lanes of traffic in each direction. The access road is going to be the same width.
The Hood Point inverted siphon Line, although it is not strictly part of the IDZ but the proposed zone cannot function without it, is also around halfway completed. The line will carry water to the new treatment works at Hood Point and will eventually lead to a marine outfall kilometres out to sea.

”We hace completed more than 3km of trenches and are laying pipes in the area already, “ civil engineer Paolo Ferrucci told GO! The trecnches average more than 2.5m deep and the heavy duty pipes are glass-fibre coated.

It seems the East London Industrial Development Corporation is already living up to tis slogan on its offices and vehicles: “Proudly developing East London.”

July 2003
Bridge over R44 on schedule for December
Work on the new R44 bridge that will significantly improve the flow of traffic exiting the Somerset Mall is well on schedule for completion by December.
The infrastructure is an integral part of the AECI macro plan that will eventually establish an activity spine linking Somerset West and Macassar. The R12 million project is funded by Heartland Properties, the property arm of AECI and is being handled by Power Construction’s roads division.
The new three-lane bridge will allow Mall shoppers to drive staright from the Mall back onto the R44 towards Stellenbosch or to access the Interchange light industrial development to the west of the R44. The bridge is expected to unleash the full potential of Heartland’s various projects around the Mall. Without the bridge, The Triangle, Heartland’s commercial node, can attain approximately 60 percent of the capacity its been designed for. The bridge will allow it and the Interchange to achieve 100% of their design capacity.
The construction of the bridge is the first phase of a two-phase project. The second phase will see the doubling of the works and will include the construction of a new off-ramp from the R44 to the Mall. Phase II will be implemented once a traffic impact assessment necessitates it. Last week provincial and local government representatives visited the site for an update on the progress of work. They were told that work has been progressing smoothly, without major complaints from the public or disruptions to traffic flows. The new intersection in front of the Mall has been completed during off-peak time, safely out of the school holiday period. Earthworks are ahead of time due to the dry winter.
The bridge decks will be cast in September and the bridge should be completed by December 12. The biggest threat to the project is yet to arise, though in that temporary supports will be erected in the centre of the double lanes of the R44 while the bridge deck is under construction.

Should a motorist collide with one of these temporary supports, disaster will unfold. The public is requested to respect the temporary speed restrictions and to drive cautiously near the bridge.

July 2003
East London Development Zone Corporation issues R80m Tender
The East London Developemtn Zone Corporation announced a major breakthrough with the awarding of an R80 million contract for cnstruction of external infrastructure to support the development of the ELIDZ in April.
Making the announcement, chairperson of the ELIDZ board, Des Halley said Power Construction, a Western Cape based omcpany, had been awarded the tender to construct major roads and appurtenant works to support the first stage of the industrial zone developemtn. The board awarded the contract as per recommendation of the chairman of the Technical Commettee, Craig Sam.
The contract for Power Construction is expected to inject close to R13.5 million into the Buffalo City economy as the contract includes the use of local enterprises, suppliers and manufacturers. “AS a company that prides itself in the support of local business, it was important for us to specify this aspect in the contract,” said ELIDZ CEO Peter Miles.
Work is expected to srtart in late May and continue for the next fourterrn months. It involves the construction of external doads, storm water systems, construction of a bridge, street lighting and landscaping for major access and arterial roads leading into and out of the IDZ.
Miles said the construction of the infrastructure was a sign that the IDZ is realising a dream which would prove to be a great boost for economic development of East London, Buffalo City, and the greater Eastern Cape.
“The construction of the infrastructure means that there will soon be a gateway into the zone for everyone, there is no looking back afer that,” he said.
Consultants Ninham Shand, Lukhozi, taylor and Associates Consortium were appointed in 2002 to commence with the detailed planning of all external and internal infrastrucure. This contract is a result of their successful work in this regard. Tenders for the internal infrastructure will be advertised before the middle of 2003.
The project is still on track to support the start of the manufacturing operations in the Customes Secure Area and the associated private industrial park by August 2004, which will make the ELIDZ the first operating IDZ in South Africa.

August 2003


EAST LONDON IDZ BECOMING A REALITY

THE East London Industrial Development Zone has been a concept for four years — but now the reality is starting to dawn with the provision of infrastructure taking place at quite a pace.
The concept of an industrial development zone (IDZ) had been an idea long before the establishment of the East London Development Zone Corporation (ELZDC) in 1999. Two projects have been signed up for the zone already and delays of different sorts have led to the stalling of the building of a condom factory as part of the arms deal offset and a German wheat beer brewery — which now seems to have its finances back on track.

Contractors for various infrastructure have been identified and the roads contractor Power Construction moved onto the phase 1 and phase 2 sites to build roads on May 20. In the short time it has been at work the company has literally moved a mountain at the Leaches Bay site, clearing a path for a roadway running from Settlers Way to the area and the road that will the customs secure area.

Eskom is also on site busy with a massive substation with a 130 000 volt system to strengthen the IDZ. The area falls within the municipal boundary but because of the amount of high-voltage power that needs to be generated Eskom is providing the substation.

The Mvubukazi River has been diverted to allow contractors to shore up the banks and build a culvert over it. “We will get the river back on course once the bridge has been built and we will maintain the ecological integrity of the area,” ELIDZ technical project manager Johan Burger said during a site inspection this week. A lot of the vegetation has to be removed but many of the indigenous plants will remain or be put back — while the alien vegetation is being removed and turned into mulch, compost or firewood and charcoal.

“This part of the operation is a project that encompasses a nursery where we are keeping some of the indigenous plants and will be replanting them when the infra structure is completed.”

Another ecological aspect of the project is one of noise pollution where the site will be separated from the residential areas around it by landscaped two-metre high earth berms and, in some instances, walls. This should not only add security but also absorb a lot of the noise.

Because of an objection to some of the noise that is expected to be generated by the industry, planners resited the access road away from the Eurotype Test Centre and the road will also have sound attenuation in terms of “landscaped berms” constructed along its sides, Burger said.

The main access road that is being constructed on the site is expected to be 58 metres wide and will be a four-lane highway with two lanes of traffic in each direction. The harbour arterial road will have a 65-metre-wide road reserve and will be a two-lane highway initially to be increased to a four-lane road when traffic demand dictates this.

The Hood Point inverted siphon line is about halfway completed. Although it is not strictly part of the IDZ, the proposed zone cannot function without it.

The line will carry water to the new treatment works at Hood Point and will eventually lead to a marine outfall kilometres out to sea.
“We’ve completed more than three kilo- metres of trenches and are laying pipes in the area already,” civil engineering con tractor Paolo Ferrucci said this week. The trenches average more than 2,5m deep and the heavy-duty pipes are glass fibre coated.

ELDZC CEO Peter Miles said that the building of the infrastructure was a necessary part of attracting investment. “Investment takes time. The investment of millions of dollars, pound or euros takes time, so for people to expect immediate investment after we were licensed in September last year seems to be optimistic to say the least. “We have a number of interested parties but at this stage they have to sign on the dotted line.”

The infrastructure that is being worked on at present is due to be ready for manufacturing to start in the duty-free area and associated private industrial park by August or September next year.

Miles added that The ELDZC’s role was to ensure that investment could be attracted from the people who had shown interest in the zone and “we would like to have something on paper by the end of this year”.
The corporation was working hard at trying to attract industry that would have upstream benefits for people in the rural areas or downstream where people can make products from what is being manufactured by IDZ tenants.
“For example, if we can attract a factory making fibre from cotton we would like to see people here making cloth or the opportunity to grow the cotton locally,” Miles said.

One of the main aims of the IDZ is to turn East London into the hub of the South African motor industry with the new car terminal being used for imports and exports of vehicles and because of this attracting component manufacturers producing items for use in South Africa and for export.

Other industry the zone is trying to attract includes the manufacture of optical fibre, pressed metal, pressure-moulded aluminium and magnesium products, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, wood products and textiles.
August 2003
POWER CONSTRUCTION (ROADS) COMPLETES THE FIRST TWO PHASES OF CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE AT EAST LONDON IDZ

East London, August 2003: Power Construction (Roads) is ahead of schedule and has completed the first two phases of civil infrastructure at the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ).
The East London Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) is part of an initiative endorsed by the South African Department of Trade and Industry to encourage economic growth, and to attract investment by offering world class infrastructure and services. The East London IDZ, located on the city's West Bank, adjacent to the existing port and airport, has over 1,500 ha available for new industry. Forty two projects have been identified such as motor component manufacturing, optical fibre manufacturing, metal press stamping mill, aluminium and magnesium high pressure moulding, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, wood products and textiles, and of these, 12 pre-feasibility studies have already been completed.
Power Construction won the tender and was awarded the R80 million contract for construction of external infrastructure to support the development of the ELIDZ. It includes the building of major roads and other works, construction of approximately 6 km of arterial roads, and the supply of bulk electricity by April 2004, for which Power has built an ESKOM platform of 7 700 square metres. The project furthermore involves storm water systems, construction of a bridge, street lighting and landscaping for major access and arterial roads leading into and out of the IDZ.
Thirty percent of the Power Construction Roads’ contract has been subcontracted to local service providers and ABE’s (Affirmative Business Enterprises) including an electrical sub-contracting project to the value of R6 million.
Site work commenced on the 26^th of May 2003 with the clearing of 24 hectares of bush, followed by removing 20 000 cubic metres of topsoil, excavating 600 cubic metres of rock for culverts, and diverting the flow of the Mpuvukazi stream.
Building roads in demanding situations and within limited time constraints is nothing new to Power Construction (Roads). The company has proven itself in both major and minor road construction projects, rehabilitation of roads, premix/asphalting, general surfacing (seals), airport taxiways, runways, apron slabs and parking areas.
Power’s Site Agent Martin Naude says that progress has been excellent, despite particularly challenging environmental and safety standards: “There are sensitive areas on-site, and some protected plants needed to be relocated before we could commence.”
The Power Group won the prestigious PMR Diamond Environmental Care Award earlier this year in recognition of the efforts the company has made to promote environmental care on its construction sites. The award is based on the company’s overall environmental management policy and plan, the procedures that have been put in place to ensure that construction work has the minimum effect on the natural environment, and that all site personnel are inducted and adhere to the environmental policy.