Construction and Infrastructure

The new Miami Rental Car Center (RCC) has become a little safer now that the Miami-Dade Fire Department has taken delivery of a Rosenbauer Airwolf Quick Response Vehicle (QRV), designed to fight fires in structures with parking ramps and garages which traditional fire trucks cannot access because of their size and weight.

Rosenbauer is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fire fighting vehicles; the high-tech QRV, mounted on a Ford F450 crew cab, is able to maneuver inside tight areas of the RCC.

Taking on aid projects in third world countries can often mean biting off more than you can chew; but as Alan Swaby learns, enlisting the help of local engineers can help avoid the pitfalls.

State utility Mhlathuze Water is not only a full spectrum water company but also a provider of inspiration and support for the people of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, as Jane Bordenave finds out.

Switzerland-based engineering and construction group Foster Wheeler has won a contract to carry out an availability and reliability study on the possible expansion of Abu Dhabi’s Zirku oil processing facilities.

Foster Wheeler was awarded the contract by Abu Dhabi-based oil company Zakum Development Co (Zadco), formed in order to develop the Upper Zakum oil field on behalf of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and other shareholders, namely ExxonMobil and the Japan Oil Development Company.

Dutch construction firm Ballast Nedam has agreed to take over a proportion of the activities of its bankrupt Dutch rival Heddes.

Nieuwegein-based Ballast Nedham will take on 16 projects, collectively worth around €100 million, as well as Heddes’ small-scale construction activities.

Heddes Bouw & Ontwikkeling’s 100 employees will continue to operate from the company’s head office in Hoorn.

Heddes filed for bankruptcy on 16 February, having suffered from the effects of the slowdown in the construction industry.

ESB International (ESBI) has been awarded a contract by NamPower to provide technical advisory services for the development of the 800 MW Kudu combined cycle power plant at Oranjemund on the Namibia / South Africa border.

The power plant will use gas from the Kudu Gas field to produce electricity for Namibia and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). Increasing demand for electricity in Africa as economies in the region grow is continuing to put pressure on state utilities such as NamPower.

Work is progressing well on South Africa’s Mossel Bay desalination plant project, according to a report by marine services provider SMIT Amandla Marine.

The Cape Town-based company submitted a tender to provide marine services on the project last September and subsequently won the contract.

South Africa's Afripalm Resources has signed an agreement with Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to build a steel mill in South Africa, according to a report in the Business Day newspaper.

The paper said the two companies would carry out a feasibility study for a R21 billion plant with a production capacity of between three to five million tonnes of steel a year.

Under the terms of the agreement, Afripalm will also establish a distribution business for SAIL’s products in South Africa, the paper said.

France’s Lafarge and UK mining company Anglo American have announced they are to combine their tarmac and cement businesses in the UK.

The 50-50 joint venture will see the two companies merge their cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and contracting businesses in the UK—currently operating as Tarmac UK and Lafarge Cement UK.

The combined sales of the two businesses in 2010 was £1.8 billion.

2011 will see Taggart South Africa emerging as a one-stop-shop for bulk materials handling projects for all southern Africa’s mining projects, plus the ability to offer full EPC and EPCM services to its clients.