Georgina Guedes
When you think SANRAL, you think roads. But you should also be thinking engineering, specifically civil engineering. The national roads agency manages only 22 203km of the country’s road network (of about 750 000km), yet its roads carry a disproportionate percentage of traffic, along with some spectacular bridges and interchanges. SANRAL’s network is a showcase of excellence in civil engineering and the agency is proud to be part of the best in the profession. Although it was only recognised as a formal profession in 1828, the essence of what civil engineering is about is as old as the mountains – it’s all about construction. Though it’s a pretty big field.
Civil engineering includes the design and maintenance of the built environment, including roads, bridges, dams, canals and buildings. It’s actually called “civil” engineering to distinguish it from “military” engineering. It happens in the public sector, from municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector, from individual homeowners to international companies.
Today, most people understand that wherever a road, bridge or building is constructed, an engineer has been involved. This is partly because engineering has been a visible aspect of life since the beginning of human existence. It probably goes back to between 4000 and 2000BC in ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilisation and Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq), when humans started to abandon their nomadic existence, which lead to the need for shelters to be built.
At the same time, transportation was becoming increasingly important, leading to the development of the wheel and sailing.
The construction of the pyramids in Egypt (from around 2700 to 2500BC) were some of the first examples of large-structure constructions. Other early examples include the Qanat water management system (the oldest is older than 3 000 years and longer than 71km). Then there’s the Parthenon by ancient Greek architect Iktinus (447-438BC), the famous (and one of the earliest roads) the Appian Way by Roman engineers (312 BC), the Great Wall of China by Gen Meng T’ien under orders from Emperor Qin Shih Huang-ti (220BC) and the stupas (dome-shaped Buddhist shrines) constructed in ancient Sri Lanka. The Romans developed civil structures throughout their empire, including aqueducts, insulae (ancient apartment buildings), harbours, bridges, dams and roads.
These ancient examples of civil engineering are still admired today and many are tourist attractions.
Some of SANRAL’s projects are also Herculean feats of engineering and design. Wait till you see the two mega-bridges that are to be erected as part of the N2 Wild Coast Road project. These spectacular bridges will connect communities and attract tourists.