Nereda™ is our majority shareholder, DHV's latest innovative technology for the treatment of wastewater. The great added value of the new technology lies in the use of aerobic sludge pellets. Because these pellets settle more rapidly than the sludge used in conventional wastewater treatment, treatment plants as a whole can be made more compact. They require less space and as a result the costs are reduced. Nereda can be used to treat both domestic and industrial wastewater and the technology has already proven its worth in practice. This technology is a major breakthrough in the aerobic treatment of both industrial and municipal wastewaters.
Water resources systems analysis
SSI’s WR2005 project involves home-grown software that will be used throughout the SADCC region for water resources systems analysis. This is an extremely innovative project incorporating leading edge technology in water resources and computer science. This project was commissioned by the Water Research Commission and entails updating the water resources of the whole of South Africa (previously undertaken in 1990 via the WR90 project) using the company’s enhanced WRSM2000 model. This model has been upgraded from a surface water resources model to an integrated water resource model by including the groundwater to surface water interaction, streamflow reductions such as alien vegetation and afforestation and more advanced methodology for irrigation and wetlands. The model is still to be enhanced further by incorporating databases, a GIS Viewer and will ultimately be incorporated into a framework which will include water quality and Ecological Reserve models. The output from this study should greatly facilitate water resources studies across the entire SADCC region.
Flood hydrology
Through a wide range of flood focused or related engineering projects in Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, SSI has developed unique expertise in the areas of flood hydrology, flood protection and flood control. Flood problems considered range from simple floodline analyses to complex hydrodynamic models of large river systems with multiple bridges and hydraulic structures. Identifying the appropriate level of analysis for the problem at hand allows SSI to offer both small and large Clients cost-effective services and accurate solutions. In addition to being able to draw on the expertise of SSI’s Water Resources Unit, who can provide specialist input in regions with poor or non-existent rainfall and flow records, SSI has developed significant experience with hydrodynamic modelling in both HEC-RAS and RiverCAD. Our range of services in this area includes flood hydrology (design flood estimation), floodline determination studies, flood protection and control (relief channels, levees, flood detention, etc.) and preparation of flood management plans.
Project Finance & Development Unit (PFDU)
SSI is one of the only consulting engineering firms to have established a specialised Project Finance & Development Unit. This unit is responsible for promoting, developing and co-ordinating Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and other major infrastructure projects that assimilate several engineering disciplines across the group. In projects like this, the PFDU provides clients with a single contact point as a transaction advisor, a technical advisor to lenders, a participant in bidding consortia, developer of procurement strategies or a contract administrator.
The PFDU’s focus is on project with a non-traditional approach to procurement, generally involving mobilising private sector funding for provision of public infrastructure and services and applying integrated delivery processes, such as design-build-operate.
Cleanroom Technologies
Very few South African companies can boast engineers with the qualifications and expertise to design clean room installations. SSI specialises in the design of air conditioning installations and mechanical services for manufacturing facilities that require special environments, such as the food and beverage industry, pharmaceutical facilities, the micro-electronics industry and medical installations. We are able to ensure that a design complies with world class HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards through our comprehensive knowledge of local and international regulations and requirements.
Air quality
The air quality management team strives to provide services in the field of air quality management and impact assessment, with the aim of fulfilling a country’s local and international obligations. In-house training courses are also developed to specific client requirements, to facilitate the implementation of management measures.
Mining and the environment
The Mining Sector (gold, platinum, coal, diamonds and base metals) is one of South Africa’s biggest economic drivers. However it is also regarded as one of the biggest offenders when it comes to environmental pollution and loss of biodiversity. Because of this and in the light of increasingly strict legislation, most mining houses are actively involved in rehabilitation and pollution prevention campaigns. SSI’s Environmental Sector — Bohlweki Environmental — has valuable experience in the mining industry and is actively marketing its services to the industry. Services such as compilation of Environmental Management Programmes (EMPs), Conversion of mining permits, third party accreditation audits, Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001:2004) and environmental training are just some of the service lines on offer to the mining industry. An example of one such service is the recent partnering of Bohlweki Environmental with Mintek to compile Environmental Management Programme Reports (EMPRs) for the National Steering Committee for small-scale mining.
Microsimulation models in transport
SSI has taken the lead in the development of microsimulation models in Southern Africa. These models simulate the behaviour of individual vehicles on the road including overtaking, weaving and following movements. This information is critical for the design of roads, as well as traffic management and control. SSI is the Southern African agent for AIMSUN2 — the leading international software for microsimulation — and has developed various models using this software, for example, testing of geometric design options in the Tshwane CBD and on the Ben Schoeman freeway and testing toll plaza designs and operations on the N4 Platinum toll road. SSI is currently busy simulating public transport and pedestrian movements for the inner city distribution network in the Durban CBD.
Planning public transport
SSI has developed an integrated planning and decision support system to assist transport planning authorities with their legal obligations in terms of the National Land Transport Transition Act. Our Public Transport Information Management System (PTMIS) is a user friendly, menu-driven information system, where all public transport demand and supply data is recorded, for easy and quick access by planners and managers. The system is GIS-based and provides summary output in terms of maps, graphs and tables that are required for Current Public Transport Records and developing Public Transport Plans. PTMIS has been successfully implemented for the Tshwane and Ethekwini metropolitan municipalities, as well as for the Bojanala District Municipality in the North West province and for the Northern Cape Province. The system is continuously updated to increase its functionality. Sophisticated queries can be performed to display selected information by mode, corridor, and route. External files containing documents, such as the ITP or IDP of a city, spread sheets and photos can be linked to PTMIS.
