The Civil Engineering Contractor May 2019 | Page 26

FEATURE: PILING AND LATERAL SUPPORT Changing of the guard By Eamonn Ryan South Africa is renowned for developing piling technology, boasting some of the best-known geotechnical engineers in the world who have developed a reputation for their knowledge of and expertise in piling and lateral support, both here and abroad. 24 | CEC May 2019 R ecently, Franki Africa celebrated 70 years of piling in South Africa. As Franki is probably the longest-established South African piling contractor and when one considers that 70 years is an average single lifespan, it demonstrates that our local piling industry is actually quite young in global terms. Most of our piling contractors today are owned or have senior directors who stem from a handful of companies of origin: Frankipile, GEL (Ground Engineering Limited), McLaren & Eger (which ceased trading in 1988), Murray & Roberts Piling (which stopped trading in the 1990s), Dura Soletanche Bachy (which ceased piling operations in 2017), Esor, and a few others. The understanding of piling and foundation is difficult to obtain from textbooks or classrooms and therefore, a lot of training is derived from the early pioneers of piling in South Africa, whether as rig operators, crane operators, tradespeople, or workshop managers. These are the technical people that keep the industry going. However, like so many aspects of contracting, many of these people are generally older people who started young in www.civilsonline.co.za