Port of Saldanha surges ahead with upgrades

An extension of the MR559 bridge linking Saldanha Bay and Langebaan and part of a project to install a new iron ore tippler at the Port of Saldanha have been completed. Officially declaring the road open, Velile Dube, Transnet acting chief transformation officer, said a lot of effort had been made to expedite the project as residents in the area had been forced to use a detour during construction. “We have managed to complete this bridge two months ahead of schedule. Considering this is the main arterial between Saldanha and Langebaan it was important not to have any delays on the project.” Transnet is in the process of building a third tippler at the Port of Saldanha to replace the older of two existing tipplers. This is to maintain throughput of 60 million tons per annum. A decision was, however, taken not to construct the

new tippler at the site of the two existing machines, but rather 1.4km away. According to project director Willie van Dyk,

Transnet’s project director, this was a technical decision thanks to lessons learnt during the construction of the second

tippler at the facility ten years ago. “The tippler operation requires a vault to be built 25 metres underground

and where the first two tipplers are situated we have found a lot of water flowing into those vaults.” Van Dyk said moving the tippler further away meant it had now been constructed in a granite rock making it not only safer but also more sustainable. A second fault to accommodate a fourth tippler in the future is also under construction. “We needed to extend the MR 559 bridge to accommodate the new conveyors, roads and railway lines we are building,” said Van Dyk. One bridge will be completely demolished during the construction with a new one erected, while a third bridge has already been extended. Marius Koen, executive mayor of Saldanha Bay, said the bridge extension as well as the related construction and development at the port highlighted the progress being made in Saldanha and was good news for the local economy.