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1 projpro From: [email protected] on behalf of ProjectPro E-News <[email protected]> Sent: 01 February 2012 12:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: ProjectPro February e-Newsletter Attachments: Untitled attachment 00003.txt No. 116: February 2012 email: [email protected] or Tel: +27 (0)12 346 6674 In This Issue The Parasol: World's Largest Wooden Sculpture ProjectPro Joins the Prestigious Group of PMI Registered Education Providers A Bleak Future For Civil Engineering Proud Risk and Project Management Professionals Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives A Bleak Future For Civil Engineering Rio Solar Tower Zuma Turns Green Living on the Edge PROJECTPRO PROJECTPRO PROJECTPRO PROJECTPRO Program Management Professional (PgMP) Two-day workshop. 3 – 4 May 2012, Gauteng, Midrand Program managers can now obtain a prestigious credential that recognizes their knowledge, experience The Parasol: World's Largest Wooden Sculpture A giant mushroom-like sculpture has sprung up in downtown Seville, Spain, in what was formerly an unappealing, abandoned parking lot. The Metropol Parasol has revitalized the Plaza de la Encarnación and now provides shade for archeological treasures and overheated residents. The Parasol is the world’s largest wooden sculpture, at 150 metres long and 70 metres wide. An eye-catching blend of engineering and architecture, the sculpture complements a market and Roman ruins, with a restaurant, walkway and viewing gallery atop the roof. PROJECTPRO PROJECTPRO PROJECTPRO PROJECTPRO Engineering & Construction Project Management Course 15 – 17 February 2012, Gauteng 26 – 28 April 2012, Gauteng The Engineering and Construction Project Management (ECPM) training course is a 3-day intermediate level course covering the principles, processes, tools and techniques of project management in an engineering and construction context. This course is based on the internationally recognised Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) and its Construction Extension published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the USA. It has been adapted to the South African built environment and takes the learner

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Page 1: PROJECTPRO on the internationallyprojectpro.co.za/E-News_Archives/2012/ProjectPro_February_e... · Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. Contact terry@projectpro.co.za or visit

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projpro

From: [email protected] on behalf of ProjectPro E-News

<[email protected]>

Sent: 01 February 2012 12:38 PM

To: [email protected]

Subject: ProjectPro February e-Newsletter

Attachments: Untitled attachment 00003.txt

No. 116: February 2012 email: [email protected] or Tel: +27 (0)12 346 6674

In This Issue

• The Parasol: World's Largest Wooden Sculpture

• ProjectPro Joins the Prestigious Group of PMI Registered Education Providers

• A Bleak Future For Civil Engineering

• Proud Risk and Project Management Professionals

• Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives

• A Bleak Future For Civil

Engineering

• Rio Solar Tower

• Zuma Turns Green

• Living on the Edge

PROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPRO

Program Management

Professional (PgMP)

Two-day workshop. 3 – 4 May 2012, Gauteng, Midrand

Program managers can now obtain a prestigious

credential that recognizes their

knowledge, experience

The Parasol: World's Largest Wooden Sculpture

A giant mushroom-like sculpture has sprung up in downtown Seville, Spain, in what was formerly an unappealing, abandoned parking lot. The Metropol Parasol has revitalized the Plaza de la Encarnación and now provides shade for archeological treasures and overheated residents. The Parasol is the world’s largest wooden sculpture, at 150 metres long and 70 metres wide. An eye-catching blend of engineering and architecture, the sculpture complements a market and Roman ruins, with a restaurant, walkway and viewing gallery atop the roof.

PROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPROPROJECTPRO

Engineering & Construction

Project Management Course

15 – 17 February 2012, Gauteng 26 – 28 April 2012, Gauteng

The Engineering and Construction Project Management (ECPM) training course is a 3-day intermediate level course covering the principles,

processes, tools and techniques of project management in an engineering and

construction context.

This course is based on the internationally recognised Project Management Body Of Knowledge

(PMBOK® Guide) and its Construction

Extension published by the Project Management

Institute (PMI) in the USA. It has been

adapted to the South African built

environment and takes the learner

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and skills with the Project Management

Institute’s (PMI) Program Management

Professional (PgMP).

The PgMP credential

recognizes those practitioners who are responsible for the coordinated

management of multiple, related

projects that advance organizational objectives and strategic goals.

Who should attend?

* candidates wishing to prepare and apply for the PgMP®

exam * for executives, project sponsors, project directors, program managers, portfolio managers, Project Management Office (PMO) heads, quantity surveyors wishing to know more about the processes and benefits of the program management approach in supporting organisational strategy.

* holders of the Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential who can earn 15 Professional Development Units (PDU) for re-certification purposes.

The PgMP uses three evaluations that

include:

* An application review by a panel of program managers,

* A multiple-choice examination and

* A Multi-rater

Assessment (MRA) in which a team of

During project construction the team members discovered the ancient remains of Roman houses. The designers modified the columns that support the undulating, waffled roof, ensuring they only touch ground at a safe distance from the artifacts. The modification left more space between columns than originally planned – and required a super-strong adhesive. Team members rigorously tested the polyurethane resin holding the structure together to make sure it could withstand the broiling summer heat. After the last of 8 000 timber elements was put in place, the iconic project closed out, and the plaza reopened.

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ProjectPro Joins the Prestigious Group of PMI Registered Education Providers

ProjectPro is now approved by the Project Management Institute as a Registered Education Provider (REP) effective January 2012. PMI REPs are educational organizations that have demonstrated that they are capable of providing world-class effective project management training. Through PMI’s rigorous quality criteria for course content, instructor qualification, and instructional design, REPs provide the project management training necessary to earn and to maintain Project Management Professional (PMP)®, Program Management Professional (PgMP)® and other PMI professional credentials. Candidates for the PMI’s Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or Project Management Professional (PMP) can now attend either classroom or elearning exam preparation courses (visit www.projectpropm.com ). Terry Deacon, ProjectPro CEO, said “ProjectPro is expanding into the international training market, particularly elearning. Information technology has made enormous strides making online training affordable, convenient and highly effective. ProjectPro therefore deemed it important to obtain the REP status, in addition to our South African affiliations, which confirms the high quality of our courses and facilitators.” PMI’s recent survey of training providers shows that 80 percent of organizations seeking suppliers of project management training strongly prefer to work with PMI

through the entire project life cycle phases: Initial Briefing, Concept,

Design, Procurement, Construction and Close-out.

The ECPM course is validated by the South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE proj10/00756/13) and contributes 3 credits towards Continuing Professional Development

Who should attend?

Engineers, Construction

Project Managers, Consulting and

Design Engineers, Engineers-in-

Training, Functional Managers, Project Sponsors, Architects, Quantity Surveyors, etc. will find this course invaluable.

ProjectPro Management Services is an

accredited training provider with SAQA / Services Seta (097), PMSA, SAACE, and ASAQS. ProjectPro also consults and runs in-house

courses, customised to your specific needs throughout Southern Africa. Visit our website at

www.projectpro.co.za for details of other courses, fees,

training dates and to register online.

ProjectPro Management Services

P O Box 25430, Monument Park,

0105

Tel: 012 346 6674 or 082 557 3119

Fax: 012 346 6675 E-mail:

[email protected]

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3

raters that the candidate selects review the candidate’s abilities to perform tasks that are relevant to program management.

Completing the three evaluations not only allows program

managers to assess their knowledge and skills against industry standards but also provides them with feedback through the MRA process that they

can use for professional

development

Because the evaluations are progressed in an

online environment, a panel of program

managers from across the globe are able to assess the candidate’s

professional experience in the first

evaluation.

Candidates also can select MRA raters from anywhere in the world to participate in the third evaluation.

Candidates may be

eligible for the PgMP credential with a

minimum of four years of professional project

management experience and four years of professional program management

experience.

Like the Project Management

Professional (PMP®) credential holders, PgMP credential

holders participate in the Continuing Certification

Requirements (CCR) program to maintain the credential and to continue their education and professional

development in the field.

REPs. They view their affiliation with PMI, as the leading standard-setting professional association for project management, as a stamp of quality on the training services they purchase,” said Edwin Andrews, Ph.D., director of academic and educational programs and services at PMI. “Organizations want to protect their investment in project management training, and they know that a PMI REP delivers such training in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Currently, there are over 1 400 REPs in more than 70 countries. These organizations include commercial training providers that design complete educational systems, academic institutions, internal training offices at corporations and government agencies. About ProjectPro Management Services

ProjectPro is a South African based organisation that actively promotes excellence in the art and science of project management. ProjectPro provides high quality consulting services and accredited, eLearning- and classroom-based training and assessment, to local and international standards and global best practices. ProjectPro’s services are available throughout the world, having trained in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.

Contact [email protected] or visit www.projectpro.co.za

About Project Management Institute (PMI) PMI is the world’s largest project management member association, representing more than half a million practitioners in more than 185 countries. As a global thought leader and knowledge resource, PMI advances the profession through its global standards and credentials, collaborative chapters and virtual communities and academic research. When organizations invest in project management supported by PMI, executives have confidence their important initiatives will deliver expected results, greater business value and competitive

advantage. Learn more at www.pmi.org

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Blended E-learning and Experiential Programme (BEEP) ProjectPro now offers the popular ProjectFlow® course as a Blended E-learning and Experiential Programme (BEEP).

ProjectPro Training Calendar Gauteng

Courses are SAQA/Services Seta/

PMSA/ECSA accredited/recorded Engineering and Construction Project Management 15 – 17 February 2012, Gauteng 26 – 28 April 2012, Gauteng Project Management Demystified 6 – 7 February 2012, Gauteng 12 – 13 April 2012, Guateng ProjectFlow 28 February – 2 March 2012, Gauteng 17 – 20 April 2012, Gauteng

Project Management Professional / CAPM 22 – 24 February 2012, Gauteng 9 – 11 May 2012, Gauteng 25 – 27 July 2012, Gauteng PMP/CAPM Saturday mornings Workshops

5 May – 30 June 2012, Gauteng 18 August – 13 October 2012, Gauteng Advanced: Program Management Professional (PgMP) Workshop

3 – 4 April 2012, Gauteng 21 – 22 May 2012, Gauteng 23 – 24 July 2012, Gauteng Microsoft Project 2010 Scheduling - Introductory 27 – 28 March 2012, Gauteng 15 – 16 May 2012, Gauteng 17 – 18 July 2012, Gauteng Microsoft Project 2010 Scheduling - Advanced 29 – 30 March 2012, Gauteng 17 – 18 May 2012, Gauteng 19 – 20 July 2012, Gauteng

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Information on

eligibility requirements,

credential policies and the CCR program can be found online in the PgMP credential handbook at

www.pmi.org

Holding a PMP

certification is not a pre-requisite for

PgMP.

Candidates interested in joining the PgMP workshops at the Saint George Hotel, Midrand, should contact ProjectPro’s Terry Deacon on 082 557 3119

Email [email protected] or telephone (012) 436 6674 for more information.

PROJEPROJEPROJEPROJECTPROCTPROCTPROCTPRO

PMBOK-based methodology uses Life Cycle Approach

28 February – 2 March 2012

ProjectPro has converted the well known and respected Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®

Guide) standard into a comprehensive methodology. Project managers can now use ProjectPro's ProjectFlow® methodology to effectively navigate their way to a successful project outcome, instead of working through the

Module 1: eLearning. On registering for the ProjectFlow® course learners access the online e-learning course. They also receive a printed copy of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI)® latest Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) 4th Edition to study during the e-learning course. Module 2: Methodology. This 2-day module of classroom training revises the theory taught in module 1. Each learner receives a CD containing the ProjectFlow® methodology, which is based on the latest PMBOK 4th edition as well as the soon to be published ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management. The methodology guides the learners through the sequential flow of processes and documentation from Project Charter through all the project phases to Project Close-out. Templates and sample documents are provided on the CD.

PMI-Project Scheduling Professional 3 – 4 April 2012, Gauteng 21 – 22 May 2012, Gauteng PMI-Risk Management Professional 13 – 14 March 2012, Gauteng Earned Value Management Workshop 6 March 2012, Gauteng

Time Management –

Seize the Day!Seize the Day!Seize the Day!Seize the Day!

13 February 2012, Gauteng 2 May 2012, Gauteng

NB: Prices and dates are subject to change, so please check with ProjectPro upon registration.

Other dates and venues can be arranged if sufficient

demand.

To Register

Quick Links

Home

ProjectPro e-Zine Calendar

PM Courses

Training Training Schedules Training Registration Subscribers

Library

Unsubscribe

Contact Us

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daunting 490 pages of the PMBOK 4th edition. The ProjectFlow® methodology guides users in a step-by-step fashion to initiate, plan, execute, monitor & control and close each phase of their projects. Each step is hyperlinked to explanatory text and/or templates. Unlike many other methodologoes, the ProjectFlow® uses a flexible descriptive, rather than a prescriptive approach. The ProjectFlow® uses a life-cycle approach to managing a project, which enables you to apply the PMBOK processes and knowledge areas to the project life cycle of any project, big or small, comprising of any number of phases. The ProjectFlow® can be used on any project discipline from engineering & construction, information & communication technology, to event management and research & development. A range of templates is provided in the ProjectFlow® library which can be adopted and adapted, or the templates can be customised for a particular organisation or project. The ProjectFlow® structure is well suited to training project team members in the processes, tools and techniques of project management. With this in mind, ProjectPro offers a 4-day ProjectFlow® course which uses the methodology as an integral part of the training. Each delegate receives a CD containing the methodology which they can use on their actual projects after the

Module 3: Experiential. On day 3 the teams develop a major deliverable, namely a Project Management Plan using real-world tools such as laptop computers loaded with the ProjectFlow® methodology, Microsoft Project, PowerPoint, Excel, Access and Word. The teams produce a scope statement, work breakdown structure, project organisational structure, risk analysis, responsibility assignment matrix, activity networks, critical path analysis, budget, earned value management, etc. At the end of day three each team member has an opportunity to present a portion of their Project Management Plan. On the morning of day 4 the teams execute the project that they have planned. The projects vary depending on the location and client requirements. ProjectPro supplies the building materials. Examples are:

� building rafts to execute a search and recovery exercise for a submerged treasure chest

� build a bridge to carry the team across a barrier.

On the afternoon of day 4 the last deliverable for the ProjectFlow® learners is to produce a close-out report on

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course. Public courses are held in Gauteng, South Africa, but in-house courses can be arranged anywhere in the world.

Please contact Terry

Deacon of ProjectPro on +27 (0)12 346 6674 or +27 (0)82 557 3119 or [email protected] or visit our website www.projectpro.co.za

the achievement of project objectives and to document the lessons learned.

Module 4: Webinars. Each learner receives on-going support after the course via regular project management Webinars facilitated by Terry Deacon a certified Project Management Professional with over 35 years of experience. The ProjectFlow course serves as excellent preparation for those wishing to obtain:

� Certification with the Project Management Institute (PMI)® as a Project Management Professional (PMP)®

� Registration with the South African Council of Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) as a Professional Construction Project Manager (Pr CPM)

Visit www.projectpro.co.za for course dates and fees or www.projectpropm.com for an eLearning demo. In-house courses can be arranged anywhere in South Africa at special group rates. Enquire [email protected] or 012 346 6674 for a quotation.

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Proud PMI credential holders

Risk Management Professional

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Hi Team I am now officially a certified Risk Management Professional with the Project Management

Institute having passed the exam today. I look forward to getting even more experience to go with the title. Thank you Terry for the exam prep course from Project Pro. It really made a huge contribution. Regards Tapiwa Kange PMP, PMI-RMP Project Manager ABB

Passed the PMP Exam Afternoon Terry, Since doing the PMP course I took some time to study for the PMP exam. I decided to write before the December break, this way I had the holiday period to celebrate or sulk! So I booked the exam for 15 December and went to write. I am glad to report that the exam went well and that I had a long celebration!! Thank you for the course and your insight. The course and all your inputs and knowledge sharing did make a huge difference. May you have a blessed year and once again thank you, Best Regards, Pieter Human Project Manager Eskom Project Execution [email protected]

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Pieter Human was part of the ProjectPro’s Saturday morning PMP workshops held in Bedfordview, Johannesburg from August to October 2011.

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Seven habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives

Sydney Finkelstein, the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, published “Why Smart Executives Fail".

In it, he shared some of his research on what over 50 former high-flying companies – like Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Rubbermaid, and Schwinn – did to become complete failures. It turns out that the senior executives at the companies all had 7 habits in common. Finkelstein calls them the Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives.

These traits can be found in the leaders of current failures like Research In Motion, but they should be early-warning signs (cautionary tales) to currently unbeatable firms like Apple, Google, and Amazon.com. Over the next few issues of ProjectPro eNews we will publish Finkelstein's habits.

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment

This first habit may be the most insidious, since it appears to be highly desirable. Shouldn’t a company try to dominate its business environment, shape the future of its markets and set the pace within them? Yes, but there’s a catch. Unlike successful leaders, failed leaders who never question their dominance fail to realize they are at the mercy of changing circumstances. They vastly overestimate the extent to which they actually control events and vastly underestimate the role of chance and circumstance in their success.

CEOs who fall prey to this belief suffer from the illusion of personal pre-eminence: Like certain film directors, they see themselves as the auteurs of their companies. As far as they’re concerned, everyone else in the company is there to execute their personal vision for the company. Samsung’s CEO Kun-Hee Lee was so successful with electronics that he thought he could repeat this success

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with automobiles. He invested $5 billion in an already oversaturated auto market. Why? There was no business case. Lee simply loved cars and had dreamed of being in the auto business.

Warning Sign for #1: A lack of respect

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between

their personal interests and their corporation’s interests

Like the first habit, this one seems innocuous, perhaps even beneficial. We want business leaders to be completely committed to their companies, with their interests tightly aligned with those of the company. But digging deeper, you find that failed executives weren’t identifying too little with the company, but rather too much. Instead of treating companies as enterprises that they needed to nurture, failed leaders treated them as extensions of themselves. And with that, a “private empire” mentality took hold.

CEOs who possess this outlook often use their companies to carry out personal ambitions. The most slippery slope of all for these executives is their tendency to use corporate funds for personal reasons. CEOs who have a long or impressive track record may come to feel that they’ve made so much money for the company that the expenditures they make on themselves, even if extravagant, are trivial by comparison. This twisted logic seems to have been one of the factors that shaped the behavior of Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco. His pride in his company and his pride in his own extravagance seem to have reinforced each other. This is why he could sound so sincere making speeches about ethics while using corporate funds for personal purposes. Being the CEO of a sizable corporation today is probably the closest thing to being king of your own country, and that’s a dangerous title to assume.

Warning Sign for #2: A question of character

Habits 3 and 4 will be published in the next enews.

Source: Eric Jackson, Forbes Magazine

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A Bleak Future for Civil Engineering

We are facing a potential disaster in the coming years. How can we as a developing country afford to have young, and not so young and experienced engineers, made redundant because government cannot get its "ducks in a row"? With 50 years of experience in the consulting industry in many parts of the world, which has given me great satisfaction, it saddens me that this experience is being denied to many young and enthusiastic new entrants. The fee scales that were determined by the Public

Works Department on behalf of government (and which were a good basis for payment and negotiation) have fallen by the wayside (courtesy, I believe, of the competition commission) and government now even has the nerve to expect discounts on the very same fees. The public procurement system now judges everything on price. Bear in mind that a recent judicial ruling now makes it effectively illegal to consider the technical merits of a submission. The expertise that firms have built up over

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the years in most cases will now be of very little, if any, value in the process. What are the implications? A recent proposal with which I was involved used the

two-envelope system where the technical merit of the proposal is evaluated first. The proposals are supposedly ranked solely on their technical merit and innovative ideas put forward. However, the ranking of the technical proposals then falls away in its entirety as the final evaluation is based solely on the price offered (90 points out of 100 for price, and the remaining 10 for BEE compliance.) There is no weighting for the technical excellence offered. It is worth remembering that organisations such as the World Bank, the EU, the African Development Bank and other development organisations place a far greater weight on the technical skills offered. Consulting firms survive on their technical skills and innovation, and to deny them the right to compete on this basis will destroy the industry. The whole system needs to be rethought, and organisations like the CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) need to do their homework. Unlike a construction tender, the offers for a design appointment in most cases lack a full definition of the problem and the request for proposals must recognise and weight the response. The price differentials between competing bids are generally small in relation to the project cost. There is now also the further risk that the Client,

having selected the winner on price, is going to suggest to the low bidder that he uses the best technical solution identified in the technical appraisals, but not offered, by the winner. It has happened and I submit that this is corrupt, does not conform to the intentions of the process laid down by the CIDB and is also a violation of the intellectual property rights of the firm that offered the proposal. This contains more than the seeds of destruction of the consulting firms in this country, and particularly of the small to medium size firms. We will see either the demise of many firms or more rapid amalgamation followed by a major increase in the bid prices for projects. The larger firms with their broader base, and possibly more international work, are more able to carry the costs of tendering. There also are major implications in the scenario for providing the sound training that the graduates now emerging will require. It may have serious consequences for the BEE practices that are emerging, and will not be able to build the skills base that they would have to have. A brief comment about the performance of Prof Kader

Asmal during his tenure as the Minister of Water Affairs is merited at this point. His success was in large measure due to the excellent team of engineers at his disposal, who were able to make things happen. The latest SAICE score card (see May 2011 Civil Engineering magazine)

shows the extent to which this critical department has been stripped of its expertise, and we now see the department headed not by an engineer, but by a human resources or some other nontechnical person. Can we sustain this? Many may consider this vision of the future unduly

pessimistic, but I do not believe that it is that far-fetched. One of the spin-offs of the inefficient way in which projects are procured is already the shortage of jobs for civil engineers and the resultant redundancy. Add to this the fact that over the past five to seven years the intake of students to civil engineering at university has increased sharply and we are now facing the unbelievable prospect

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of being able to provide only a portion of the necessary jobs to train these young and eager graduates. Watch the graduate unemployment rise faster over the next three years. Add to this the redundancy or retirement of the skilled engineers who would have to train the youngsters and the outlook is grim. The SAICE score card provides stark evidence of the need for engineers to improve the quality of life of the less fortunate people of this country. What concerns me is that I see nothing being done by

the organisations that set the rules (the CIDB) and our professional organisation (ECSA), and only the limited efforts of the SAICE. Is it not time that these defects are dealt with vigorously and engineers restored to their rightful place where they can get on with the job of developing and building the country? We have done it before and can do it again, provided there is no more delay. Robert Blyth Consultant: HHO Africa (semi-retired)

021 671 8326 email: [email protected] First published in May 2011 Civil Engineering magazine

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Rio Solar Tower

The world spotlight seldom turns to South America, but with the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hosting the 2014 World Cup Soccer and the 2016 Olympic Games that is about to change. Every city strives to create an architectural or engineering symbol to make it instantly recognisable. A controversial building, the Solar Tower, is on the drawing board for Cotonduba Island, which will lies directly under the approach for aircraft landing at Rio. It aims to become an icon for Rio, visible to those arriving by air or sea. The project contains a solar power plant that by day produces energy for the building and excess energy will be used to pump seawater into a reservoir on top of the

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building. By night, the water can be released again through turbines, to generate electricity for the lighting of the building or for supplying power to the city. On special occasions, this 'machine building' turns into an impressive urban waterfall, a symbol for the forces of nature. At the same time, it will be the representation of a collective awareness of Rio towards its great surrounding landscape. Access to the building is through an amphitheatre. The amphitheatre can serve as a place for social gatherings and events. A cafeteria and shops are situated beneath a waterfall and offer a breath-taking view. The public elevator takes visitors to the observation decks and the urban balcony. A retractable platform for bungee jumping is located on level 90. Long distance observation can be done from the observation deck on level 98. The urban balcony is situated at the top of the tower 105 metres above sea level where the visitor has a 360° view of the landscape and can experience the waterfall while walking over a glass sky walk. Critics of the Solar Tower building say it will be an intrusion on the landscape. Furthermore, they say the concept of generating electricity is a green gimmick as the generating capacity is insignificant. Time will tell whether the Solar Tower will become yet another project which will never see the light of day.

Zuma Turns Green President Jacob Zuma launched a flagship solar power plant in Hazelmere, KwaZulu-Natal. The launch came

amidst South Africa's hosting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP17, in Durban. Zuma said the solar plant was expected to improve the lives of both the people of Hazelmere and of those from its surroundings areas. "For the first time, the neighbouring communities will have access to clean electricity generated from their backyards, and with possibilities of job opportunities," he said. Zuma said the partnership between Soitec and Ethekwini Municipality, which resulted in the solar plant, was also designed to include skills development in which the local community will benefit, especially the youth. "We are happy that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has made a strategic decision to begin positioning itself for renewable energy production in South Africa," he said. Addressing delegates at COP17, which also serves as the Seventh Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol,

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Zuma said some of them were representing various companies and countries that pioneered solar technology in its various forms. He said they were also in South Africa to explore the possibility of scaling up the renewable energy option in the local energy mix.

"Indeed your efforts will assist us in addressing the green economy value chain to create employment and to alleviate poverty. He pointed out that Africa had abundant renewable energy sources and that these needed to be harnessed in building an inclusive and sustainable green economy. "This is South Africa’s first large-scale offering within the clean energy arena. But it is not the last," Zuma said.

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Living on the Edge

ProjectPro eNews is publishing a series of amazing photographs showing some astounding health and safety transgressions. Do you have any photos you could share with us?

How not to take up the slack. This issue's photo was sent to ProjectPro by Mike Tumiel of Rand Water

Look at the strategic positioning of the safety harness. The slack of the harness is wrapped around the worker’s neck!

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