Durban - KwaZulu-Natal received top honours in the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) annual awards for 2017/2018.
Saice had received more than 30 project entries from across the country in the categories of technical excellence, community-based and international awards. There were also divisional project awards, and institutional and individual awards.
Nabeel Ahmed Hassen, 28, won the SKI Civil & Structural Engineers photographic competition for his photograph titled “One lift at a time”. He works for Group Five Coastal, a company that operates in infrastructure, energy, resources and real estate.
Born and raised in Durban, he said a trip to Dubai after he matriculated triggered his love for engineering - “the ability to create something out of nothing” - because of “Dubai being a surreal destination in the middle of the desert, where just a few years ago there was just sand”.
His win reaffirmed the belief that engineers too could be artistic, Hassen added.
* Kresen Manicum won the technologist of the year award. He is regional manager for SMEC South Africa KZN region and has been involved in a number of prestigious upmarket private developments.
Other winners from the province were:
* The upgrading of Themba Road L3096 in rural Umbumbulu and the Saice Durban branch won an institutional award for branch of the year.
* The Upgrade of Mount Edgecombe Interchange was highly recommended under technical excellence project awards.
* The Tugela Pedestrian Bridge was also highly recommended, under community- based project awards.