August 19, 2015, Johannesburg, South Africa – Knight Piésold South Africa is proud to have received a commendation for the Rehabilitation of Main Road between Muizenberg and Clovelly Road Project in the category of projects with a value between R50 million and R250 million at the Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) Aon Engineering Excellence Awards. Held at Vodacom World in Midrand on August 12, 2015, the annual awards showcased projects that have demonstrated innovation, quality, outstanding workmanship, and professionalism, and have made significant strides in the advancement of infrastructure in the country and across the continent.

Main Road is a scenic 4.5 km stretch of coastal road between Muizenburg and Clovelly and is one of three routes linking the Cape Town metropolitan area with the far south. Knight Piésold undertook an initial assessment of the road's condition in 2006 for the City of Cape Town and subsequently determined that, in addition to the general condition of the road, the underground services (water mains, stormwater, gravity and pressure sewage pipes) were severely deteriorated and needed to be replaced. The project was considered to be extremely complex, as the bulk services serving the far south area as well as local services to every property along the road had to be kept alive at all times.

The lack of space and the need to keep all services functioning throughout the project led to the use of a number of unusual construction methods. The most significant of which was the use of the old 500 mm bulk water main as a duct to pull in the new HDPE sewer rising main. This saved a great deal of time and money, as the cost of an additional trench excavation was avoided. Another innovation was the conversion of a second section of the existing water main to a service duct, by constructing access manholes over it. This resolved the problem of having to remove the line, which was deemed to be in acceptable condition. Despite all the difficulties and complexities, the project achieved practical completion according to the client’s specified timelines.