June 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
27
projects & contracts
THE DELTA IS PLAGUED
by Typha, an
aquatic plant that grows abundantly in the
area. The plant’s proliferation limits water
access for the population, reduces the
potential for agriculture and increases the
occurrence of diseases like bilharzia (also
known as schistosomiasis) and malaria.
The polders will allow intensive usability
of the land in the near future and deny the
Typha further space for growth.
The client for the project is Organisation
pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal
(OMVS). It is a governmental organisation
of Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal
set-up to manage the Senegal River and
its drainage basin. It aims to promote self-
sufficiency in food, to improve the income
of the local populations and to preserve the
natural ecosystems.
Aquatic plant plaques
100 000 ha
With a length of 1 800 kilometres, the Sen-
egal River is West Africa’s longest river. Its
delta, which lies between the Sahel and the
Sahara, is pivotal to the local population’s
socio economic conditions. Many people
live in villages along the banks of the
river. In the 1970s, OMVS built two dams to
organise the area’s water supply, improve
navigation and generate energy. Fawzi
Bedredine, project manager at OMVS, says:
“Construction of the dams created a large
freshwater lake, while flood plains are per-
manently under water and there has been
a sharp reduction in the penetration of salt in
the river. In the fresher river delta, the Typha,
which flourishes in a freshwater environment,
has proliferatedmassively on the flood plains
of the river”. The aquatic plant now plagues a
total area of 100 000 hectares.
Creating polders, dikes and
drainage canals
George Peters, project manager at Royal
HaskoningDHV, says:“The huge proliferation
of theTypha has major consequences for the
local people. These aquatic plants prevent
them from having access to the river, the
flood plains are unavailable as agricultural
land and drainage canals become blocked.
The plants attract birds that eat the crops in
the nearby agricultural areas. On top of all
this, 90% of the population have contracted
bilharzia, a disease that can cause organ
failure and is spread via worms and larvae in
the river water.”
The Royal HaskoningDHV plan is
designed to improve the situation of the local
population by creating agricultural land and
improving access to the water. Eight polders,
63 kilometres of dikes and 60 kilometres of
drainage canals will be constructed in the
river delta in an area covering between 3 000
and 4 000 hectares.“Creating the polders will
make it possible to use the area for agricul-
ture, thus preventing theTypha fromgrowing
and spreading.The local peoplewill again get
access to the river and thus to fresh water for
irrigation and trade,”says Peters.
ACCORDING TO LIVIERO
CEO Neil Cloete, the construction group’s
building division took just six months to notch up the 2 million injury-
free manhours. “When one considers the complexity of all the trades
that are executed on a building site, together with the additional risk of
all subcontractors that get reported in our numbers, this achievement
is very significant,”he stresses.
“Our DIFR (Disabling Injury Frequency Rate) has been consistent at
0.25 for the past threemonths,”Cloete adds. “I congratulate every single
employee of Liviero Building for making their contribution to improve
our safety environment and attitude. We now have a new challenge
– reaching the 5 000 000 LTI-free hours milestone. We believe we can
achieve this through continued vigilance and diligence.”
●
The design of the polders will be ready in
July 2013. In addition to the design, Royal
HaskoningDHV is producing a technical and
financial plan for constructionof thepolders
and is advising OMVS on the setting up of
the management organisation.
“In 2009 the Dutch Rivierenland Water
Board approached us with the request to
assist OMVS. Since 2004 the water board
has a twinning relationwithOMVS and acts
as intermediary between OMVS and Dutch
knowledge institutes and companies,”says
Peters. The contract for the project is worth
€1,7-million and it is beingfinancedbyORIO
(Facility for Infrastructure Development),
a grant scheme operated by the Nether-
lands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
●
Safety milestone
The safety milestone of 2 million LTI-free (Lost
Time Injury-free) hours has been achieved, and
exceeded – by Liviero Building.
Celebrating Liviero Building’s safety achievement are (left) Brad Boertje
(Liviero Building MD), Francois Boerstra (senior contracts manager), Mike Lowe
(contracts manager), Eric Martin (operations director), Chris van Vuuren (SHE
manager), Pierre Louw (contracts manager) and Ivan Pretto (contracts manager).
Polder plan protects people
International consultancy, engineering and project management
service provider Royal HaskoningDHV has produced a master plan
to develop the Senegal River delta and is designing eight polders as
a pilot project in the area.
