Tender Timing - Site Inspections

5 Oct 2016

Tender Timing – Site Inspections

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Life Lessons | 0

Site Inspections

Tender Timing – Site Inspections

When I do training with any new L2B staff member, it involves the talk through of how we publish tender notices on the L2B website. What goes where, why this format is used etc. The spiel for Site Inspections is as follows “The site inspection date is the most important date on a tender notice. If a subscriber misses the site inspection they can’t tender and we’ve right royally screwed up”.Okay, maybe that last part doesn’t get said aloud. A lot. But it’s the truth. The ability to tender hinges on attendance to a compulsory site insection or site meeting, briefing session or clarification session or information meeting. It goes by many names, but it means the same thing when “compulsory” is used. Hell, even when a tender advert mentions “non-compulsory”; the level of importance doesn’t diminish. These meetings are scheduled for a reason. They are there to offer clarity, and give opportunities for questions to be asked, extensions to be requested, to scope out who else is at the meeting (alot of side eye going on) and to let potential tenderers experience and witness any challenges there might be involved in the contract. These meetings can be quite simple and straightforward with just a few companies, and other times you can have meetings with hundreds of companies being represented. We see some of these site attendance registers, and wonder how these meetings are handled due to sheer number of participants.

Technically, there’s supposed be to a certain amount of time between the first publication of the tender advert and the site meeting, and then again between the site meeting and the closing date. Technically. This doesn’t always happen. There could be a variety of reasons. Very few of them can stand the light of day. But it is a reality that needs to be taken into consideration. Time is of the essence, as they say. Go through your Advisory emails each day, so there’s no surprises concerning missed site meetings. Set reminders for yourself, and Monitor the tender notice to be updated should any of the information change.

Be aware when the tender documents are available, in relation to the site meeting. Sometimes there isn’t a problem, and the tender documents are available right up until the closing date. Other times, this is a huge consideration. If there’s a cut-off date for documents, know that this date will be adhered to and inevitably means that ‘no-chancers’ will be entertained.

Always question any discrepancies in the site inspection. Always question any discrepancy in the tender notice. Period. Whether it’s a contradiction between the advert and the documents, or two different adverts for the same tender, anything. The earlier we can establish what the correct information is, the better off everyone is. Sometimes the problem is glaringly obvious and we get on the phone and sort it out as soon as possible and don’t need to be prompted by our subscribers. Other times, it isn’t obvious.

Should you be attending the meeting and need help with directions, if you need our assistance, please try and ask before the day of the meeting. The stress levels go way up when I’m trying to track down a Municipality staff member who’s half way to the middle of nowhere to get directions to said middle of nowhere site meeting venue. The panic is real, folks. We know the importance of these meetings and how attendance and non-attendance affects our subscribers.

Any and all dates on a tender notice carry weight, and must be taken seriously. If there’s any doubt or confusion, feel free to contact us so that we might assist. Get yourself to those meetings, as they are an excellent way to network, experience the competition and represent your company to Municipalities, Government Departments and Consultants.

“Eight percent of success is showing up” – Woody Allen

“The world is run by those that show up ” Robert Johnson

If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit our website.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.
To view more articles, please visit our blog.

About Claire Donaldson

I started working at Leads 2 Business in February 2005, and have served as Head of Department of Daily Tenders from 2007 until the present. I oversee both the Daily Tenders South Africa and Africa Departments.

28 Sep 2016

By Road or by Rail ….

by Marlaine Andersen | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Uncategorized | 0

By Road or by Rail

According to Wikipedia : “Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century.”

Transnet Freight Rail is a freight logistics and passenger transport railway. It is the largest freight hauler in Africa.

The company comprises several businesses:
GFB Commercial (General Freight Business) – Transnet’s largest division; handles over 50% of its freight;
Coal Line, serving coal exporters on the Mpumalanga – Richards Bay line; second largest coal railway in the world, delivering 62 million tonnes of coal (also known as “Black Gold”) in the year ending 31 March 2010;
Ore Export Line – dedicated to iron ore transport on the Sishen to Saldanha line;
Luxrail – The operation of the Blue Train, which is designed as a five-star hotel on wheels.

After doing some in-depth research on this subject (thanks Google!) as why transporting of goods is currently preferred by road over rail. I managed to source the following information :

Offering greater flexibility, speed and adaptability than the alternative of rail, transporting goods between cities by road has long been the chosen mode for most industries. However, the impact of heavy vehicles on the roads is considerable and the cost of maintenance and upgrades is increasing as traffic demands grow. Whilst work on the national road network may be keeping up with the demand, not so on the provincial roads.

The benefits of shifting freight from road to rail would have other transport-related spin-offs such as reduced road congestion and accidents, and less maintenance on road surfaces. Costs, particularly for movers of bulk commodities, would also drop. Rail transport also is regarded as three to four times more efficient than road.
But whether South Africa’s rail system will cope with increased freight demand is questionable. If there was a reliable, safe, efficient, and cost-effective rail service that could meet the need of customers then goods would definitely travel by rail. But there isn’t, so that is why 80% of goods are currently transported by road for the efficiency, cost, reliability, tracking and door-to-door service.

Improving the country’s 20 247 km rail network is now a top government priority and rail volumes are expected to grow to about 350 million tonnes by 2020.
According to Transnet’s website: “ Expanding the country’s infrastructure by successfully implementing the Market Demand Strategy (MDS) will see Transnet’s revenue almost triple from R46 billion to R128 billion over the next seven years.” Transnet’s MDS is a fine-tuned strategy to expand and modernise the country’s ports, rail and pipeline infrastructure with a view to achieve a significant increase in freight volumes, particularly in commodities such as Iron Ore, Coal and Manganese over a period of seven years to promote economic growth in South Africa.

Through investment, Transnet Freight Rail will be able to optimise it’s capital portfolio, build a world-class capital execution function and leverage capital procurement and localisation. In accordance with the strategy, the company has committed itself to railing more than 350.3 million tons of cargo a year by 2018 / 2019, the financial year when the MDS will reach its maturity.

Bearing that in mind, If we do a comparison of Fleet Management tenders on our database, compared with Transnet tenders :
Currently on our database we have 11 live tenders for Fleet Management versus 40 live tenders for Transnet.

Rail vs Road…what would your choice be?

References:
http://mg.co.za/article/2015-07-17-investment-still-needed-in-transport-infrastructure
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/transport/2015/01/27/road-is-still-king-of-freight
http://www.transnetfreightrail-tfr.net/MDS/Pages/Strategy.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnet_Freight_Rail

About Marlaine Andersen

Leads 2 Business Advertising Co-ordinator and Digital Designer

21 Sep 2016

On time, Online with Transnet

by Sasha Anderson | posted in: Construction Chat, Frequently Asked Questions, General, Uncategorized | 0

On time, Online with Transnet

These days it’s the norm to find most businesses online. I don’t know about you but if I’m looking for company info in any form should it be trading hours, contact info, services they offer or any news regarding that company, I head straight to Google. The easier it is to find the company website the better and if it contains all the relevant info I need it definitely goes a long way toward a first impression. Suffice to say a company’s online presence not only saves you time but in the end money too and that is no different when it comes to business, the well known phrase ‘time is money’ comes to mind.

Some of the Key reasons to have your business online are:

Anyone can ‘visit’ your business

Portrays your Company’s Image

Offers Customer Support

Availability of information

Streamlining

24 hour access

Relatively low start-up costs

Communication

Going Global

If you have ever ventured over to Transnet’s website you will notice there is a huge amount of information provided from the usual contact information to investor relation reports and a whole lot of tender related info. The website looks organised and seems to have all the relevant details one might need. Now I must confess that I am not very familiar with Transnet’s website as we don’t deal with the website much in my department. Thus I looked outside for review/comment from the Tenders Department who regularly peruse the website. According to my sources in our Tenders Department they haven’t had any issues regarding the website and check it as frequently as possible. Additionally Transnet also publishes their tenders on CIDB and eTenders timeously which makes it easier for interested parties to obtain the relevant information they seek.

At L2B we research all the relevant websites and divisions within Transnet that publish tenders and publish them on our site daily for easy access and updates for our subscribers.

Do you feel that Transnet meets the above aspects of an online business and does it assist you with being on time? Do you have any feedback or views you would like to add regarding Transnet’s online presence? Contact us in the comment section below.

Interested in Transnet Tenders and want an easy way to find them online, in one place, daily? Contact me on SashaA@l2b.co.za

Sources:

http://www.transnet.net/AboutUs/Overview.aspx

http://www.dbwebdoctor.com/article_why_companies_need_a_website.asp

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Reach out if you want to talk: L2B, social media, construction, technology, marriage, parenting, popular culture and travel. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

14 Sep 2016

Types of Tenders offered by Transnet

by Nadine Vermeulen | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events, General, Uncategorized | 3

Well, well, well, just look at this, my second blog 🙂 (Pat on the back for me). I am excited and nervous at the same time, but let me take a deep breath…relax…and do this. This month I will be chatting about the types of Tenders that are offered by Transnet. OK, this can’t be that bad a topic, can it? I mean, it’s just Transnet right? This will be a quick one, phew, definitely relaxed now, easy peasy lemon squeezy. With my fingers doing the walking I search for the Tenders offered by Transnet on our awesome website, and low and behold, there they are…wait…what!? This can’t be right, looking at the screen with wide eyes and slowly but surely starting to hyperventilate, I begin to realize that this is not going to be as easy as I thought. Upon my lovely search I discovered that we have housed a whopping number of 13 030 Tender Notices for Transnet so far. Breathe…Breathe….Breathe…ok, I am running for the hills! Goodbye….

Ok ok ok, I am back from Bora Bora with a new mindset about this blog, I can do this. Where were we? O yes, that’s right, 13 030 Tender Notices are housed by L2B to date, but what can you expect from the largest and most crucial part of the freight logistics chain that delivers goods to each and every South African through its pipelines and both to and from its ports? Moving cargo onto ships for export while it unloads goods from overseas. So, lets dig a little deeper shall we? Transnet operates an integrated freight transport, formed around a core of five, yes five, operating divisions that complement each other (which we will look at shortly). These are supported by a number of company-wide specialist functions such as Transnet Projects which underpin the group as a whole.

Transnet is made up of the following operating divisions:

Transnet Freight Rail (formerly Spoornet – the freight rail division)
Transnet Rail Engineering (formerly Transwerk – the rolling stock maintenance business)
Transnet National Ports Authority (formerly the NPA – fulfills the landlord function for South Africa’s port system)
Transnet Port Terminals (formerly SAPO – managing port and cargo terminal operations in the nation’s leading ports), and
Transnet Pipelines (formerly Petronet – the fuel and gas pipeline business, pumps and manages the storage of petroleum and gas products through its network of high-pressure, long distance pipelines)

Here are just a few of the Tenders that Transnet offers:

With a variety of Facilities Management, Electrical & Instrument, Plant & Machinery, Mechanical, Materials & Supplies, Infrastructure, Security & Fire, IT & Telecom and plenty more, you can see that Transnet offers a tender for each and everyone, which is only a click away on our website 🙂 www.l2b.co.za

You can contact me on 087 150 1465 or by email nadinev@l2b.co.za #justsaying 😉

Phew, now that wasn’t so hard, was it? So what are you waiting for, get clicking and have a look at those tenders 🙂

About Nadine Vermeulen

I started working at Leads 2 Business in October 2014 in the Leads 2 Quotes Department. I managed all the Daily Tender Bill Requests and followed up on BoQ's for our Daily Tender Subscribers. In 2017, I was promoted to L2Q Assistant and now work with Bill of Quantities for Contractors. 🙂

7 Sep 2016

Keep on track with Tender opportunities

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Uncategorized | 1

Tracking Tender Opportunities that will derail your competitors

Like most things in life, knowing is half the battle. If you don’t know about a potential tender or opportunity, your option to take advantage and pursue it has been removed. To ensure that you’re always in the know, at least with Leads 2 Business, your Advisory Settings need to be set up to meet your needs. Leads 2 Business hinges on two parts; the daily Advisory email and the website (www.L2B.co.za).

The Advisory email is sent out each afternoon and delivers that days’ information straight to you. The email is based on the your Advisory Settings, so it stands to reason if the Advisory Setting isn’t set up satisfactorily then the Advisory email isn’t going to meet the your needs. Our subscribers have two complaints concerning the information we provide; there’s too much and there’s too little. Understandably this is a very precarious line to walk. Too little runs the risk of missing pertinent information; and too much means an information overload. I tend to favour ‘too much”. Better I decide what’s best for me rather than have someone or something else do it for me. But that’s just me. To reach a happy medium, is a combination of training (given by L2B staff), communication on the part of our subscribers (telling us what you want/ need & expect) and working through what you receive each day. You have full access to alter and update your Advisory Settings at any time, so if your company has expanded or diversified in some way; it follows that your Advisory Settings need to be updated to meet the new changes. The Advisory is sent out each day. This is extremely important because time is money. The earlier you are aware of a potential tender notice or new project; the more time you have to prepare for it.

The Leads 2 Business website is where you work through the information you’ve received. The most important aspect would be the ability to Search. The Search is now a global search, meaning one search field searches through our entire database (Private Projects, Daily Tenders, Directory and News). From this you can filter down further and get more specific. Why search when you receive the Advisory email? It’s a good safety net. It allows for the Advisory email to be super specific (so you aren’t scrolling for days), and the searches to be very general. Reaching that happy medium spoken of above. You even have the ability to “Dismiss” a tender from your search result should it not be what you are looking for, and never have to see it again. My advice when searching? Always ensure you’ve got “Newest” selected. L2B has been around for awhile, and information is our business, and we have a lot of it. “Newest” ensure the most recent results appear first.

Once you’ve found a tender you are interested in, whether tendering directly or subcontracting, you have the ability to Monitor the tender notice. Once you’ve Monitored a tender notice, you will receive updates on that particular tender notice, should there be any. Examples of these updates are addendums: changes to site inspections and closing dates. When documents are attached (for example: Site Inspection and Bidders Lists), you will be notified. These are helpful for pricing and subbies. Then you’ll be notified in the change of Status of the tender notice. Has it been cancelled or has it been retendered prompting you to go to the new tender notice. Has it been awarded, and you now have the awarded companies details. You can Monitor a tender yourself, or assign one of your Monitors (a colleague perhaps) to monitor a tender. The Monitors you add to your Profile will have access to those tender notices you assign to them. This allows you to assign potential opportunities to your colleagues and reps, and they will have all the necessary information at their disposal.

The various features available on the individual tender notices, are as follows:

Email the Researcher that created the tender notice for assistance.

Set reminders on Site Inspection dates and Closing Date

Request Site Attendance Registers & Bidders Lists – If there are Documents already attached, they are available to the right of the tender notice.

Request BoQ (Bill of Quantity) – If there is a BoQ already attached, it is available to the right of the tender notice.

Make your Own Notes

Download the Tender Notice

What’s the point of all of these features? To work the information. There are a variety of companies out there can benefit at a variety of stages in the procurement process. Consultants are required very early on, and sometimes through out the process. Contractors are interested in the tender stage and subcontractors and vendors can benefit from putting forward their company details even after completion.

What you put in, is what you get out. To be competitive is to be in the know. That involves being pro-active in all things. Leads 2 Business is a tool that can be hugely beneficial when used correctly. Talk to us. Training is free and there are various avenues to contact us. Email directly off of the tender notices and projects; LiveHelp allows you to chat to a L2B researcher directly; call us or submit Feedback. Suggestions are always welcome. The more we learn about the companies that subscribe to us, the more we understand how the information we provide is used. We work and learn together to keep on the right track.

About Claire Donaldson

31 Aug 2016

City of Johannesburg, future outlook, where are we going/growing?

by Nadine Vermeulen | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events | 2

City of Johannesburg, future outlook, where are we going/growing?

I always believe that in order to know where you are going you have to know where you are from, I personally think that applies to every aspect in our lives including where we live. So when I was asked to write about the future of our beloved City of Gold, the thought occurred to me that it would be pretty amazing to see where it all began, like a newborn on a journey through life.

Johannesburg was founded in 1886 as a result of the discovery of gold, which rapidly attracted people to the area and within 10 years the city Johannesburg included 100 000 people. Like many 19^th century mining towns, Johannesburg was a rough and disorganised place and major building developments only took place in the 1930s. By the late 1960’s and early 1970’s tower blocks such as Carlton Centre and the Southern Life Centre filled the skyline of the Central Business District. Sandton City was opened in 1973, followed by Rosebank Mall in 1976 and Eastgate in 1979. Johannesburg kept on evolving and is now home to some of Africa’s tallest structures such as Sentech Tower and Ponte City Apartments.

Johannesburg is often described as Africa’s economic powerhouse, and contentiously as a modern and prosperous African City. Johannesburg like many metropolises has more than one CBD including but not limited to Sandton CBD, Rosebank CBD and Roodepoort CBD, just to mention a few.

Just have a look at the amazing evolution of Johannesburg:

Johannesburg City Centre in 1896

Modern Johannesburg

Commissioner Street 1890

Commissioner Street 2015

The Rand Club 1888

The Rand Club 2015

With an ever evolving city, what does the future hold for Jozi?

The Kazerne Intermodel Transport Facility : Construction is underway on a world-class intermodal transport facility which will transform the commuter environment in Johannesburg’s CBD, creating a clean, safe, welcoming place for residents, commuters, tourists and investors in the heart of the inner city.

( PPA 16631 )

The Illovo Precinct : The precinct will have various components including office and commercial, hotel and conferencing, residential 1, residential 3 and retail.

( PPA 8548, PPA 8549, PPA 8550, PPA 8551, PPA 8553 )

NMT Milpark Precinct : Construction of the Milpark Precinct non-motorised transport implementation development in Milpark, Gauteng.

( PPA 18328 )

Riversands Commercial Park : Riversands offers a variety of commercial precincts – allowing for retail, office, warehousing and light industrial business premises. Riversands Commercial Park is set to become the preferred commercial development in Northern Johannesburg

( PPA 17864, PPA 17865, PPA 17866, PPA 17867 )

With a short insight into the future of Jozi, the place of Gold as we know it, is one of the top places to be, see and experience. Our very own “Big Apple” as you may say. A World Class African City of the Future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/

http://businesstech.co.za/

About Nadine Vermeulen

24 Aug 2016

The Big Five

by Debbie Wessels | posted in: Construction Chat | 9

Johannesburg, the concrete capital of South Africa houses the head offices of the “Big Five” construction companies. It’s a jungle out there…..

The Lion –

Murray & Roberts is a leading engineering and construction services group of companies. It has predominantly delivered infrastructure projects throughout South and Southern Africa for more than 110 years, and is today recognised as an international engineering and construction group. Murray & Roberts is a group of world-class companies and brands aligned to the same purpose and vision, and guided by the same set of values. The Group offers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance services in the oil & gas, underground mining, power and water as well as the civil infrastructure and building markets. Murray & Roberts is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is listed on the JSE Limited. It has offices in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and South Korea, Scotland, Canada, the USA and Chile. Their values are: Integrity – Respect – Care – Accountability – Commitment. The purpose of the company – Delivery of infrastructure in a sustainable way to facilitate economic and social development. By 2020 they aim to be a leading diversified project engineering, procurement and construction group in selected natural resources sectors and supporting infrastructure.

The Rhino –

Aveng Grinaker-LTA is a multi-disciplinary construction and engineering group that delivers landmark projects. The company combines African roots – and a proud South African heritage going back 117 years – with an unwavering commitment to world-class safety and quality. Their expertise in building, civil engineering, roads, earthworks, concrete, ground engineering, mechanical and electrical is delivered through focused business units acting in synergy. Every aspect of Aveng Grinaker-LTA’s business is shaped by their core values of: Safety, Accountability, Integrity, Client satisfaction and employee fulfillment. Aveng Mining is one of only four deep-level shaft sinking companies worldwide and is involved in all aspects across the mining value chain, ranging from shaft sinking, underground development and contract mining, opencast mining, mineral processing and acid mine drainage plants, to construction of mining related infrastructure and the supply if mining equipment and products. Aveng Manufacturing manufactures and supplies construction products to the construction sector, services and engineered solutions to mining, water, oil and gas and construction clients, and rail construction and maintenance services to the transport sector. Aveng Steel supplies a wide product range to the steel construction and automotive industries in domestic markets, from its extensive steel yards, modern and comprehensive processing centres and manufacturing plants.

The Leopard –

Stefanutti Stocks is one of South Africa’s leading multidisciplinary construction groups with over 12 000 employees and the capacity to deliver a range of infrastructure development projects to its clients across diverse sectors. All South African operations are divisions of Stefanutti Stocks (Pty) Ltd, a Level Three B-BBEE contributor. This large South African construction company has a Grade 9 rating from the South African Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), providing it with unlimited tender capability. Furthermore, its broad spectrum of expertise means that it has the capability and capacity to offer a single point responsibility on multidisciplinary (infrastructure development) projects, effectively removing the interface risk from the clients’ domain. Vision: A dynamic group delivering complete construction and contracting solutions. Mission: Maximise stakeholder value by building a sustainable business presence in Africa and targeted international markets. This will be achieved by being the preferred construction partner for all their stakeholders; Professional conduct which will establish a track record of industry excellence; Being a desirable place of work, a natural home for creativity, enthusiasm and personal safety. They are active in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa including in Benin, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) they have established businesses in Dubai, Abu-Dhabi and Qatar.

The Buffalo –

The origins of the present group date back to 1970 when Wilson-Holmes [Pty] Ltd was formed by John Wilson and Brian Holmes.A number of mergers followed resulting in the name being changed to Wilson Bayly Holmes (Pty) Limited in 1983 and finally to WBHO Construction in 1994.Today the group is one of the largest construction companies in Southern Africa and is listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. The driving force behind WBHO is a core of dedicated, hands-on management professionals whose experience spans decades of major construction projects in southern Africa, the Middle East and various Indian Ocean islands. The fact that the management and staff have a significant shareholding in the company means that you can be assured of 100% commitment. WBHO’s offices are strategically located in Sandton, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London. Construction activities, which cover the full spectrum, are divided into three main operating divisions, Building Construction, Civil Engineering and Roads and Earthworks. Their Australian subsidiary, Probuild Constructions, has its headquarters in Melbourne.

The Elephant –

Group Five was established in 1974. Today, the group is an integrated construction services, material and infrastructure investments group operating in over 25 countries with over 10 000 people in its employ. Group Five has a Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Level 9 rating. The group has a Level 2 Construction Charter Broad Based Black Employment Equity (BBBEE) rating. Key Contracts: Mining, Industrial, Power, Oil and Gas, Water and Environment, Real Estate and Transport. The group has structured its operations across three business clusters. When combined, these deliver multiple profit streams from a single contract namely Investments and Concessions, Manufacturing and Engineering and Construction. The new Group Five Head Office, was awarded a “5-Star Green Star SA – Office Design v1” rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) in 2014. The building was one of only seven buildings in Gauteng to receive this prestigious rating. It was also the first building in Waterfall City to receive a Green Star SA rating. This leading green building was designed by LYT Architects and benefited from the sustainable design expertise of WSP Africa. The building was completed in January 2014 and was valued at R500 million on completion. Bulk earthworks for this 25 500sqm headquarters began in July 2012.

Sources
S1
G5
WHBO
Murrob
Grinaker
Stefanutti Stocks

About Debbie Wessels

I started at Leads 2 Business in April 2008 in the tenders Department and transferred to the Projects Department during the same year. I was appointed Head of Department for Projects from February 2011 to March 2022. April 2022 I started a new adventure as Content Regulator.

17 Aug 2016

Falling Bridges?

by Cecile Van Deventer | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events | 0

Collapsing Bridges … Falling Skies?

One of the most written about stories from the end of last year and continuing now is the M1 Grayston Drive Bridge collapse on 14 October 2015. There are many questions surrounding the collapse of the temporary structure and the inquiry into who will ultimately be held responsible is ongoing.

Some of the points that have emerged so far:

* Two people were killed and 19 others injured in the accident.

* It was the scaffolding for the support structure that was intended to be a pedestrian and cycle bridge connecting Alexandra and Sandton that collapsed.

* There was no structural movement on the M1/Grayston Drive pedestrian and cyclist bridge before it collapsed.

* The failure of the couplers to provide adequate stability to the structure may have been central to the collapse.

* Australian Engineers who are experts in collapse analysis and who investigated the matter found that failure to properly tighten the couplers, may have led to the structure not being robust enough to withstand the force of the wind.

* Two batteries of girders not being bolted together in the centre of the motorway and the fact that the structure had not been bolted to the ground. A security video that captured the event shows the eastern and western girder batteries, which are the two halves of the horizontal structure that spanned the freeway, separating during the collapse as a result of not being bolted together.

It will be interesting to hear what the final determination will be in this case, but this is not the first bridge to collapse in South Africa or in the world.

One other big bridge failure in South Africa, occurred in 1998; the Injaka Bridge Collapse was found to have been caused by: Incompetence and negligence; Steel launch nose not structurally stiff enough; Incorrect temporary works slide path; Incorrectly placed temporary bearings; Incorrect feeding of bearing pads; Under-designed deck slab.

Below are some examples from the beginning of 2015 of bridge failures that have occurred:

January 2015: Two bridges in Mozambique.

19 January 2015: Hopple Street Overpass, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

01 February 2015: Plaka Bridge, Plaka-Raftaneon, Epirus, Greece.

02 February 2015: Skjeggestad Bridge, Holmestrand, Norway.

18 June 2015: Pennsy Bridge, Ridgway, Pennsylvania, USA.

20 July 2015: I-10 Bridge, Southern California, USA.

03 August 2015: Queen Juliana Bridge, Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands.

29 September 2015: Bob White Covered Bridge, Patrick County, Virginia, USA.

29 December 2015: Tadcaster Bridge, North Yorkshire, England.

10 January 2016: Nipigon River Bridge, Ontario, Canada.

31 March 2016: Vivekananda Flyover Bridge, Kolkata, India.

16 April 2016: Aso-ohashi Bridge, Minami-Aso, Japan.

21 April 2016: Niemeyer Avenue Bicycle Lane, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

20 May 2016: May Avenue Bridge, Oklahoma City, USA.

03 August 2016: Mahad Bridge, Mumbai, India.

Just under half of these were due to design or construction faults and the rest due to natural disasters.

It is clear that bridges are collapsing around the world, not just in South Africa and that most are caused by natural disasters. However, in the cases that were not natural disasters, could they have been prevented? Were there measures that should have been taken, and weren’t?

As outsiders, watching the events unfold after the fact, we will never have all the facts and all that runs rife is speculation.

As in the words of Chicken Little “The sky is falling”, and so, are bridges…be wary of the bridges you cross, or burn.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.news24.com/

http://indianexpress.com/

About Cecile Van Deventer

I joined the L2Q Team in 2006, as a L2Q Support Assistant and have been the HOD since 2010. I supervise L2Q Bills, Daily Tender Bills, Control Lists and Directory.

10 Aug 2016

Which Tenders are trending in Gauteng and do you know about them?

by Michelle Crosby | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events | 0

Searching for “Tenders”…

An online search is the easiest and quickest way to obtain any sort of inforrmation you are looking for and there are so many ways of searching.

There’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram..But.. as we can see by the results above, this may take a while as you would have to be very specific on what “Tenders” you are looking for ie: Lemon & Herb Tenders, Crispy Tenders, Mild Tenders and judging by the pictures and posts.. KT and Greta may be onto something #justsaying. And if you are anything like me…looking through all this might make you really hungry and now your thought pattern has shifted and the question is now chicken pieces or chicken pops!! hmmmm..oooh wait.. how about those nuggets, the ones with that delish little sweet and sour sauce (tummy rumble). On the other hand these searches may also give you helpful directions to your nearest KFC or chicken fast food restaurant… which in this case, is super helpful as my intention is to get this unforseen hunger taken care of!!

(25 min later…back at the office)

Right, so where were we. OH Yes!…So how do I search for “Tenders” and come up with relevant results? How can I search for trending construction tenders in my region?

Well, there is an easier way (certainly a more direct and to the point way).. a website and online platform that does it all for you where your hunger for chicken will not be awakened and where you can locate recent construction and building tenders with ease.. this platform is Leads 2 Business

Lets visit the website – www.L2B.co.za. Yes, you can access this from a desktop at your offices or onsite using your mobile. Super impressive right? I know.. I should know.. because I work here 😉 So who else better to guide you through this than me?

Our website is full of building and construction information various upcoming projects and tenders in South African and African regions, this keeps you in the know and up to date with current trends and as the professional, contractor, sub contractor or any person involved in this industry, you know how important this is, that is a big advantage. All the details are there, what they are planning, what sort of consultants or builders a client is looking for. Who to contact, yes we give you the details of the people involved so that you can possible get involved.. and sometimes it’s who you know.. and we can help with that 😀

Lets talk about Trending Tenders. On our website we have an awesome feature called Market Intelligence. Here you can view trending tenders or projects in the regions of your choice and if you like graphs and charts, this is perfect for you. http://www.l2b.co.za/L2B-Tenders/Tender-Market-Intelligence

Another nifty feature you can use is Explore Leads http://www.l2b.co.za/L2B-Explore-leads.

Yay, finally, new building and construction tenders! You can click through the recently added tenders using the arrows on the side and to view more information on each one, just click on it. Yep, its that easy.

But you know whats easier??? Not having to do any searches.. yes, you heard me.

When you sign up, you create a profile of the information you want to receive, selecting regions, industry, keywords, tender, projects etc… and thats it… your part done. Sit back, relax and let us do the work for you. Every afternoon we will send you an email directly to your inbox of all the tenders / projects that match your profile. We obtain all this information from various sources such as newspapers, websites, online, the deeds office, town planning notices, word of mouth and many other ways 😉 We have our ways…

Now as a non subscriber you will be able to view some of the information and browse through our tenders and projects that we have online but this is very limited and all the pertinent information is only available to subscribers…

If you want to take the easy route and find out what’s happening where and when, why not take the leap and subscribe today. Contact me on MichelleH@L2B.co.za or download the forms at http://www.l2b.co.za/ by clicking on Subscribe.

Try it for a month, see what happens 😉

About Michelle Crosby

I started my journey at Leads 2 Business in the Directory Department in 2012. I was then promoted to the Private Projects Department in 2014 and was recently promoted to Projects HOD this year.

3 Aug 2016

Which Municipalities produce the top Tenders in Gauteng?

by Claire Donaldson | posted in: Construction Chat, Uncategorized | 0

Gauteng which means “place of gold”, is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa’s first democratic elections on 27 April 1994. It was initially named Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV) and was renamed “Gauteng” in December 1994.

Situated in the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province in South Africa, accounting for only 1.5% of the land area. Nevertheless, it is highly urbanised, containing the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, its administrative capital, Pretoria, and other large industrial areas such as Midrand and Vanderbijlpark. As of 2015, it has a population of nearly 13.2 million, making it the most populous province in South Africa.

As of May 2011 Gauteng is divided into three metropolitan municipalities, and two district municipalities which are further divided into seven local municipalities.

Metropolitan municipalities:

City of Tshwane (http://www.tshwane.gov.za)
City of Johannesburg (http://www.joburg.org.za)
City of Ekurhuleni (http://www.ekurhuleni.gov.za)

District municipalities:

West Rand (http://www.wrdm.gov.za) containing Randfontein (http://www.randfontein.gov.za), Westonaria (http://www.westonaria.gov.za), Mogale City (http://www.mogalecity.gov.za) and Merafong (http://www.merafong.gov.za)
Sedibeng containing Emfuleni, Lesedi and Midvaal

Westonaria Local Municipality is set to amalgamate with Randfontein Local Municipality after the 2016 Local Elections, set to become the new Rand West Local Municipality.

Below are some Tenders and Projects of interest involving the Municipalities of Gauteng:

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality:

DTA 589550 – Construction of Phomolong Multi-Purpose community centre.

PPA 12354 – Tshwane Hammanskraal BPO Park – Phase 1 to 3

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality:

PPA 16853 – Construction of roads and a stormwater management system for Vlakfontein Extension 2 in Gauteng.

PPA 16068 – Upgrading of road Intersections in Matholesville extension 1 and 2 in Gauteng.

City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality:

DTA 588075 – Technical Resource Teams (TRT) consisting of a multi-disciplinary professional team to render full built environment related consulting services

PPA 15240 – Ekurhuleni IRPTN / BRT – Infrastructure (Phase 1)

PPA 17402 – Etwatwa Sewer Pipes

Randfontein Local Municipality:

DTA 585051 – Rehabilitation of Roads in Mohlakeng and Toekomsrus Phase 4

Westonaria Local Municipality:

DTA 591181 – Simunye: Construction of Internal Streets with associated Stormwater for Westonaria Local Municipalty – Phase 7

DTA 591176 – Roads in Zuurbekom (Phase 2)

DTA 591187 – Construction of Westonaria Borwa Switch Station (Phase 4)

Mogale City Local Municipality:

PPA 15434 – Magaliesburg WWCW

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauteng

http://localgovernment.co.za

About Claire Donaldson

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