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There is no better classroom for a trainee engineer than a rough and dusty construction site teeming with roaring machinery and sweating men and women hard at work.

Thabiso Dladla and Sumay Maharaj are assistant resident engineers [AREs] learning the ropes from seasoned colleagues on the site of the N2 upgrade between Mthunzini and eMpangeni on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.

“We carry out pretty much the same functions as the AREs. We do the inspections, we do quantities, we do assistant instructions, site instructions and we answer any engineering queries that we get from the contractor,” said Dladla.

Maharaj who started on the project in August 2016, and was previously doing pavement and geometric design in Port Elizabeth at the SANRAL Centre of Excellence, said he has already learned many vital lessons since moving north.

“I’ve learnt the complex nature of civil engineering and how everything comes together to make things work. It’s not just pavement design alone. It’s dealing with structures, drainage and geometrics. It’s basically learning how to put everything together and making it work,” he said.

Dladla became involved in the project about 10 months after he joined SANRAL’s trainee programme.

He is excited to work on the challenging project which he describes as diverse and includes several bridges and culverts.

“I’ve been involved in inspections and assisting the contractor where they need clarification on drawings. When it comes to earth works, we also do inspections on the fill materials and sub grade. Recently we’ve just started doing the asphalting work so we are applying the BTB and we do inspections of all the work carried out by the contractor,” he said.

Sumay says working on the project is not without its challenges. 

“I think the main thing is that the design office works differently to the construction site. Sometimes there’s a breakdown in information, especially with drawings, incomplete drawings and things like that. That’s why it’s essential for engineering staff to be on site to answer all these questions,” said Sumay.   

For more information on SANRAL's bursary and training programmes call: 012 844 8000

-This article was originally published in the GCIS Vuk'uzenzele.