Cost of widening Durban port rises to R3.2bn
Thématique :
sud afrique
By SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE, Business Report, 17/03/2008
The cost to widen and deepen the entrance channel to the Durban port has almost doubled to R3.2 billion as Transnet had to compete with other projects for scarce skills and pay a premium for the risky nature of this mammoth project.
David Ward, deputy port engineer at the Durban harbour, said on Friday that prices had come in higher than expected.
There had been dramatic increases in the costs of construction due to increased construction activity in the country, he said. "This project is [also] high-risk stuff," Ward said.
Besides construction, costs also include additional navigational equipment, the management contract and settling leases of tenants which had to vacate their restaurants to make way for the project.
In 2006, prior to issuing the tender, the project was expected to cost about R1.7 billion. It is due for completion in March 2010. Construction began in July.
The entrance channel of South Africa's busiest port is being widened to cater for larger vessels. The port usually handles ships with the capacity to carry about 3 500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Larger vessels can only be accommodated during high tide.
"The channel no longer meets international norms in terms of safe navigation," Ward said.
The bigger channel was designed for vessels carrying 9 200 TEUs regardless of tides and should be sufficient for the foreseeable future, Ward said. "No further widening can take place," Ward said.
When more capacity was needed, digging out a deep-water harbour at the current airport site was "definitely a possibility", he said.
The narrowest point of the harbour mouth is 130m and 12.8m deep. Once the project is completed, the channel will be 220m at its narrowest point flaring to 300m at its widest point. The depth of the channel will be between 16m and 19m.
Planning is under way to deepen the berths in the harbour, but this is an expensive exercise as the quay walls also need to be strengthened.
Perhaps the most dangerous work being done currently is by sub contractor Superior Offshore. Its divers are dismantling the tug jetty, just inside the harbour, using a diamond coated cutter which slices it into sections for it to be removed offshore by tug boat.
Dredging the channel has uncovered some rather unusual "artifacts", including live ammunition which it is suspected fell overboard while being sent for dumping out to sea after World War 2.
The cost to widen and deepen the entrance channel to the Durban port has almost doubled to R3.2 billion as Transnet had to compete with other projects for scarce skills and pay a premium for the risky nature of this mammoth project.
David Ward, deputy port engineer at the Durban harbour, said on Friday that prices had come in higher than expected.
There had been dramatic increases in the costs of construction due to increased construction activity in the country, he said. "This project is [also] high-risk stuff," Ward said.
Besides construction, costs also include additional navigational equipment, the management contract and settling leases of tenants which had to vacate their restaurants to make way for the project.
In 2006, prior to issuing the tender, the project was expected to cost about R1.7 billion. It is due for completion in March 2010. Construction began in July.
The entrance channel of South Africa's busiest port is being widened to cater for larger vessels. The port usually handles ships with the capacity to carry about 3 500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Larger vessels can only be accommodated during high tide.
"The channel no longer meets international norms in terms of safe navigation," Ward said.
The bigger channel was designed for vessels carrying 9 200 TEUs regardless of tides and should be sufficient for the foreseeable future, Ward said. "No further widening can take place," Ward said.
When more capacity was needed, digging out a deep-water harbour at the current airport site was "definitely a possibility", he said.
The narrowest point of the harbour mouth is 130m and 12.8m deep. Once the project is completed, the channel will be 220m at its narrowest point flaring to 300m at its widest point. The depth of the channel will be between 16m and 19m.
Planning is under way to deepen the berths in the harbour, but this is an expensive exercise as the quay walls also need to be strengthened.
Perhaps the most dangerous work being done currently is by sub contractor Superior Offshore. Its divers are dismantling the tug jetty, just inside the harbour, using a diamond coated cutter which slices it into sections for it to be removed offshore by tug boat.
Dredging the channel has uncovered some rather unusual "artifacts", including live ammunition which it is suspected fell overboard while being sent for dumping out to sea after World War 2.
