Mott MacDonald Africa’s multidisciplinary team – while part of the Mott MacDonald Group - provided engineering, procurement and construction management across the upgrade and expansion of 2000km of freight rail line and nine ports – including the ZAR6.2bn container terminal in the Port of Ngqura, and the ZAR4.7bn upgrade and extension of container terminals in Durban and Cape Town.
Working closely with national owner/operator Transnet, we were involved from initial planning and consultation, through design development and construction supervision, to handover. Among the various achievements, the team recorded 5M hours with no lost time injuries in the construction of various facilities at the Port of Ngqura.
Rudie Basson was directly responsible for Transnet’s ZAR340bn rail and port infrastructure expansion at this time, and has since joined Mott MacDonald as rail and port practice lead in Africa to promote best practice and support professional excellence networks.
Transnet’s director responsible for the ZAR340bn rail and port infrastructure expansion at that time – who subsequently joined the Mott MacDonald Africa team as rail and port practice lead – highlighted the projects’ vital role to safeguard South Africa’s position as a major transhipment destination. For Durban – the continent’s second largest container port behind Port Said in Egypt – Mott MacDonald Africa was providing design work on the feasibility for further incremental expansion around the old airport, with the aim of swapping planes for ships