Research & Development

Structural
Audits

Having had good past experience in structural auditing of bridges in accordance with the SANRAL STRUMAN system, when becoming involved in structural audits of commercial buildings during 2014 to 2016, we realized that there is a definite shortage in published guidelines for performing these audits and hence a lack of standardization of the process. This lack of this standardization is resulting in big differences between proposals from consulting engineers for the work, and given that the lowest-priced proposal usually gets the go-ahead, we believe it has a negatively impact on public safety and the client’s ability to maintain commercial structures.

We have developed a method that addresses these shortcomings, but have realized that this is really a national problem that needs action from an institutional body.

After the collapse of a walkway at the Driehoek high school that killed 3 children in 2019, the late SAICE joint structural division undertook to develop the above guidelines. We then offered to assist and hope that this development can be furthered through IStructE SA.

Modular Steel
Structure

We are currently in the process of developing a modular structural system that we believe has commercial potential. The undertaking focuses on weight reduction that is achieved through increased complexity – which should be feasibility through mass production.

During the development process, we have realized that apart from the weight reduction, carbon footprint reduction and increased quality, modular structures could offer the additional advantage that assembly errors could be limited by having related safety mechanisms built into the product.