South African engineering consultancy SRK Consulting senior environmental scientist Raymond Mayne was the independent environmental control officer for one of the largest information and communication technology-related projects in South Africa, which entails fibre-optic cable being laid across the country that will significantly improve connectivity between key urban areas.

Fibre-optic network operator FibreCo Telecommunications’ long-distance open-access fibre- optic network project is currently in the first phase, during which more than 4 000 km of fibre- optic cabling will be laid, linking Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban.

“Mayne monitored the contractor, Chinese telecoms company ZTE Corporation, and ensured that it operated within the parameters set by the various environmental licences that had been granted,” explains SRK Consulting MD Peter Labrum.

He notes that SRK Consulting was appointed to provide prefeasibility and environmental studies for a 12 000 km network from Musina on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border to Cape Town and along the coast to the north of Durban. A link from Durban to Johannes- burg and from Pretoria to the Botswana border was also included.

The studies made extensive use of existing spatial data relating to infrastructure and environmental features. SRK Consulting also provided assessments of the geotechnical conditions along the identified routes to determine constructability constraints for the project and reviewed relevant legislation.

Environmental-impact investigations for the 4 000 km first phase of the project were undertaken in 2011 and identified the required environmental management measures for the routes in this phase. This enabled FirbreCo to obtain the environmental permits, licences and authorisations needed for the project to get under way.

Construction of the first 1 000 km of fibre-optic cable for Phase 1 – linking Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and East London – started in May 2012 and FibreCo invested about R700-million.

The next 2 000 km of fibre-optic cabling will link Cape Town and Durban through Nelson Mandela Bay and East London and is antici- pated to be completed in 2016.