Celebrating innovation, quality, outstanding workmanship and professionalism, the CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards were handed out at a glittering function held at Vodacom World in Midrand, Johannesburg, last night.
The awards from Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) focus on consulting engineers and their clients who participate in or initiate projects that promote the advancement of the nation and the people of the continent; they showcase the outstanding achievements of its member organisations. Awards were presented to projects with a value in excess of R250 million, projects valued between R50 and R250 million, projects valued at less than R50 million, the best international project, and for business excellence. The mentoring company of the year was also announced as well as the young engineer of the year and the mentor of the year. Projects with a value in excess of R250 million The winner in this category was the ILISO/Aurecon JV for the improvements to the Dr Chota Motala Road Interchange on the N3. This involved:- the widening and rehabilitation of both the Dr Chota Motala Road and the N3 concrete highway
- a new directional ramp over the interchange to create a third tier, which included a 220 m long incrementally launched circular bridge
- the demolition, reconstruction, widening and jacking of various other bridges over the N3 and Dorpspruit River.
A commendation was awarded to ILISO Consulting for the Top Gear internal race track at Moses Mabhida stadium for eThekwini Municipality.
Best international project Aurecon was announced as the overall winner in this category for the Nile Breweries Mbarara Greenfield Brewery, a subsidiary of the SAB Miller Group, in Uganda. The result was the most advanced brewery in the country, doubling the company’s current capacity while allowing for future expansion and meeting global environmental standards. A commendation was awarded to SMEC for the widening and strengthening of the Okavango River Bridge on behalf of the Roads Authority of Namibia. Business excellence: Bigen Africa and Bosch Holdings were joint winners. Visionary client of the year:This was awarded to Transnet and its division Transnet National Ports Authority as well as the Coega Development Corporation for the Coega IDZ and the Port of Ngqura projects. Mentoring company of the year: This was awarded to UWP Consulting for its Staff Development Programme. Young engineer of the year:This year the award was presented to Andreas Melusi Ndlovu from ILISO Consulting. A commendation went to Jan Theron from Royal HaskoningDHV. Mentor of the Year: The award went to Kobus Viljoen from Bigen Africa for his work in their Candidacy Programme.