{"id":6660,"date":"2022-10-20T10:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T08:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/?p=6660"},"modified":"2023-02-06T16:13:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T14:13:41","slug":"concor-protects-plants-and-wildlife-at-msikaba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/concor-protects-plants-and-wildlife-at-msikaba\/","title":{"rendered":"CONCOR PROTECTS PLANTS AND WILDLIFE AT MSIKABA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the most spectacular civil engineering projects currently underway in South Africa is the Msikaba Bridge near Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. A 580 metre long cable-stayed structure, it spans the 198 metre deep Msikaba Gorge and will rank as the third highest bridge in Africa after the Bloukrans Bridge and the still-to-be-built Mtentu Bridge. Both Msikaba and Mtentu form part of SANRAL\u2019s N2 Wild Coast project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Plants<\/a>
Plants were relocated to two on-site plant nurseries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While construction of the Msikaba Bridge has presented multiple technical challenges to the contractor, the CME JV (Concor \u2013 Mota-Engil Joint Venture), the project is also involving a range of measures designed to protect the natural environment which will set new standards for the civil engineering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of our work, in collaboration with the environmental consultants, Simply Enviro JV, has involved an ambitious plant search and rescue programme, which has seen 14 788 plants being rescued,\u201d says Bruce Paul, Concor\u2019s Group Environmental Manager. \u201cThey were relocated to two on-site plant nurseries, will be monitored for several years and then re-planted within carefully selected \u2018no-go\u2019 natural areas within the vicinity of the bridge which would not be affected by construction activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Plants<\/a>
Plants were relocated to two on-site plant nurseries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Protected<\/a>
Protected and endangered species are being re-planted within carefully selected \u2018no-go\u2019 natural areas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Both<\/a>
Both venomous and non-venomous snakes have had to be removed from site when encountered. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Venomous<\/a>
Venomous and non-venomous snakes have had to be removed when encountered on site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/a>
An ambitious plant search and rescue programme saw 14 788 plants being rescued.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Environmentally<\/a>
Environmentally sensitive areas have been cordoned off to protect flora and fauna. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He stresses that care was taken to ensure that all plant species requirements were considered and that plants were only relocated to habitats that matched those where they were found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protected and endangered species to benefit from the programme include Stanger\u2019s cycad, the forest cycad, the Oribi spear-leaf conebush, the bugle lily, the fence aloe and the mountain vygie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A colony of rare Cape vultures \u2013 between 170 and 190 breeding pairs that regularly nest in the cliffs of the gorge \u2013 also needed to be protected. The Cape vulture, also known as the Cape griffon, was listed in 2015 as a regionally endangered species and the Msikaba colony has been identified by experts as a conservation priority in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to make sure that we did not unduly disturb the breeding pairs and special care had to be taken to ensure there were no chicks in the nests during blasting,\u201d says Paul. \u201cWe monitored the colony over a period of a year while blasting for the roadworks and bridge foundations was in progress. No disturbance of the colony was observed, indicating that the control measures implemented were very effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concor and its partners also had to remove and relocate many snakes, both venomous and non-venomous, encountered at the site. The most common snakes to be relocated were puff adders, night adders, boomslangs, twig snakes and spotted bush snakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRarely have we been involved in a project where such a range of natural flora and fauna has to be protected on a single site and we are extremely happy with what has been achieved thus far,\u201d says Paul. \u201cThe project provides an excellent example of how construction can be carried out responsibly, even in the most environmentally sensitive areas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While construction of the Msikaba Bridge has presented multiple technical challenges to the contractor, the CME JV (Concor \u2013 Mota-Engil Joint Venture), the project is also involving a range of measures designed to protect the natural environment which will set new standards for the civil engineering industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[147],"class_list":["post-6660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-client-focus","tag-concor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coralynne.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}