Zandvlei weed harvester on track to arrive in November
A new Zandvlei weed harvester, which is being built at a factory in Paarden Eiland, will be ready by November, according to the City.
Alex Lansdowne, the chairman of the City’s special committee on water quality in wetlands and waterways, who visited the factory to check on the project’s progress, told the Zandvlei Protected Area Advisory Committee (ZPAAC), in a report on Tuesday May 9, that four of the harvester’s pontoons had already been assembled and half of the base of its hull was complete.
The project has been registered with the South African Maritime Safety Authority.
"The construction is now moving to sequence welding, while the cutting, preparing, and manufacturing of auxiliary parts will start soon," Mr Lansdowne said.
Some of the parts would be made by sub-contractors and then shipped to the factory for assembly, he said.
Weed harvesters work like boats on water, equipped with cutting blades to trim weeds and the capability to collect, transport, and unload aquatic plants.
In Zandvlei, the weed harvester will be used to cut pondweeds and eliminate the build-up of pond scum in the marina.
The old weed harvester would remain in service until the new one arrived, said mayoral committee for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews.
“The City’s environmental management department also employs expanded public works programme teams to remove weed by hand when the old weed harvester is unavailable or in for repairs,” he said.
Mayoral committee member for corporate services Theresa Uys said a previous tender for a new harvester had been cancelled last year after the contractor had failed to deliver it by the June 30th deadline.
In January, the City had awarded the contract to Eli Marketing (Pty) Ltd, an authorised distributor for Clark Marine Survey and Consulting, with Bradexim (Pty) Ltd, trading as Stingray Marine, serving as the back-up, she said.
"Construction is going well, and the City's fleet management department is conducting weekly technical inspections. Additionally, the contract and tender management team performs biweekly site inspections to monitor the progress,” she said.
The harvester was on track to be delivered in November, she said.
David Rogers, who serves on both the Zandvlei Trust and the ZPAAC, said it was important to avoid any delays so that the harvester could start work in summer when algal blooms and the build-up of pond weed were at their worst.
"Let's hope that they can meet this deadline," he said.
