V & A Waterfront Development:

In 1989 Transnet, through the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Company, appointed a core team of planners, architects, engineers and project managers to investigate the phased renewal of the derelict area around the Victoria and Alfred dock basins in Cape Town. The vision was to create a vibrant waterfront comparable to, if not surpassing, the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. HHO Africa were appointed to, and remain members of, this core team and have overall responsibility for all the traffic, transportation and road infrastructure planning.

HHO were appointed to design and implement more than 17 major projects in the Waterfront. Our appointments for detailed design and construction supervision covered the extensive network of roads, paving and landscaping (requiring close professional interaction to incorporate landscape architecture and street furniture), bridges (both road and canal) and numerous innovative and pioneering techniques, such as the introduction of raised pedestrian crossings to allow for high pedestrian crossing with high road traffic flows with minimum disruption and the introduction of mini traffic circles to promote traffic flow. HHO Africa received the SAICE Excellence in Civil Engineering award and demonstrated that engineers can function well within a multidisciplinary team environment and have added considerable value to the project by bringing experience, practicality, cost effective detailing and engineering project management to each contract whilst being sensitive to the aesthetics so essential to making the Waterfront “a nice place to visit”, the simply stated but effective motto of the V&A development.

The project is a resounding success and the Waterfront is now one of the premier tourist destinations in South Africa and is recognised worldwide as one of the most successful developments of its type. The project is still expanding with new hotels, office parks, shopping centres, restaurants and high quality residential units.

Among the studies that HHO Africa carried out as part of the conceptual planning were:

	Forecasting of traffic flows and impacts arising from alternative conceptual plans
	Assessment of the traffic impact of such a major development on the surrounding areas
	Forecasting traffic growth in relation to varying scales and rates of development
	Effect of differing traffic flow assumptions on the proposed road layouts and evaluation of alternatives

For further information or queries please contact jrjones@hho.co.za