As a company, ADI is largely involved in site supervision as well as consulting and project management services. “My work keeps me fairly busy and to date we have worked on many exciting initiatives. One of these includes an 18km road upgrade for Piet Retief Avenue. The project was requested by the Mpumalanga Department of Roads and Transport and is valued at R56 million.”

“We upgraded the road from a gravel surface to a black top surface and found ourselves constantly having to change the horizontal and vertical alignment during the projects completion. In addition to this, the venture required the upgrade of drainage structures. When you have resources like AllyCAD and Civil Designer, its always nice to know that you can complete high level projects without having to compromise on accuracy and quality,” says Papy.

Besides the N2 intersection, which presented minor problems, the design itself was fairly straightforward. “We were able to resolve the tricky N2 section by drawing the relevant intersection by hand. It was well worth it because the upgrade made it easier for residents to utilise the access road from Mondi Plantation to Driefontein. Residents were therefore extremely pleased because the road, located near a mining site, is currently one of the main roads in use.”

The project was broken down into two phases with phase one being undertaken by Vela VKE. This consisted of 12.82km of road while ADI was responsible for the remaining 18km stretch. “It took me one week to complete the actual design in AllyCAD but this meant constant interaction with the client during this period,” explains Papy.

So what is it about the Civil Engineering discipline that Papy enjoys so much? “I chose to be a Civil Engineer so that I could build on my love for science. Today I can see science in practice each time I work on a project. I also enjoy the intricacies of design and like working with various clients in order to complete high-level projects. It is such a privilege to be a Civil Engineer because you cannot have a civilisation or a civil society without a civil engineering industry. We take so many things for granted.”

Many of Papy’s projects are focused around road, water and project management initiatives and he therefore relies quite heavily on the Roads and Water modules in Civil Designer. “Two smaller water reticulation ventures that we are currently working on include the ones at Seville A and Leroro villages.

These projects were requested by the Bush Bakeridge Municipality and the Department of Local Government respectively and entailed the extraction of water from boreholes into reservoirs for village use. We used AllyCAD to design the pipe and reservoir layout and made good use of the Water module in Civil Designer. This module is incredible because it effortlessly calculates the water demand that is required for pump reservoirs. You can also control the flow of water and have this regulated by time.”

Papy’s stay in South Africa has certainly been one of growth and learning and there have been very few regrets. “When I arrived in South Africa seven years ago, I had mixed feelings. But my experiences to date have been very positive. I am not the man I was when I first arrived here because the knowledge gained have made me much more goal orientated. I like where I’m going and I definitely have a plan to get there,” says Papy beaming with confidence.