The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2018 | Page 27

TECHNOLOGY
A bleak future?
There is not a lot of demolition work
at the moment. However, there could
be a bright future for the demolition
industry as there is no shortage of
work that needs to be done. Apart
from the work that would be done
in the Johannesburg CBD were there
budget for it, mentioned above by
Kelly, his colleague from Wreckers,
chairman Mike Perkin, says that
mining houses theoretically have
“billions” in dedicated reserves for
rehabilitation of mines.
This work is simply not taking
place. “The large mining companies
are selling off their mines to junior
mining houses, before they get to the
stage of rehabilitation. These juniors
in turn sell off the mine’s assets as
scrap and leave untouched the civils
work — because this is where the
cost really occurs. These infra works
are supposed to be demolished, but
it isn’t getting done. The mining
ministry is not following up to make
sure mines are being rehabilitated.
Money allocated for rehabilitation is
instead being squandered, and mines
are being left looking like a war
zone,” Perkin says.
Moves are afoot to introduce
regulations governing demolition
blasting. Perkin says the only
regulations currently in force are 1950s-
era. There is now an understanding
that an individual qualified to blast in
a mining or quarrying environment
is not also qualified to demolish
structures. “The chief inspector of
explosives within the Department of
Minerals and Energy has been in close
touch with the Institute of Explosives
Engineers UK about amending the
regulations, and these will soon be
gazetted,” Perkin says.
“We hope to see more stringent
selection of demolition service
providers, and more standardisation of
statutory requirements in the industry.
Relevant safety certifications, quality
registrations, and proven industry
experience of similar works are critical
in ensuring that demolition projects
are undertaken ethically, safely, and
to international best practice and
standards,” says Bester. nn
References
www.vox.com/world/2018/2/23/17008910/2018-winter-olympics-host-stadiums-cost-pyeongchang
www.aaworks.co.za/demolition-west-coast/
www.thebalancesmb.com/ways-to-demolish-buildings-844420
www.infrastructurene.ws/2017/09/12/hydrodemolition-used-in-jhb-bridge-rehab-project/