Civil Engineering January-February 2022 | Vol 30 No 1

6 January/February 2022 Civil Engineering Theft of copper cables from Transnet Dear Danielle The Letter from the Editor in the December 2021 issue of Civil Engineering (Vol.29, No.11) is a damning indictment on the authorities (from the minister of transport down to the regional management officials) that run our railways. Over my sixty years in the profession, I have always been convinced that there is no problem that cannot be solved by engineering expertise. It is only the cost that may impede. When faced by such calamitous wholesale theft of cables and other rail components, would it not be time for the top brass to do some lateral out-of-the-box thinking and some serious introspection, incorporating both today’s technology and the historical record? A visitor to any South African detective’s office today would be struck by the inordinate number of casefiles littering their desk and windowsills. Theft of railway infrastructure does not come close to the top of the pile, where murders are the ones needing more urgent attention. Is it not the time for, inter alia, the re-establishment of the Railway Police, a branch dedicated solely to the prevention of crime involving railway infrastructure and personnel? Yours faithfully, Dimitri Paizis Pr Eng dimitripaizis7@gmail.com De-electrifying rail infrastructure Dear Danielle As a retired member of SAICE, I was pleased to read your Letter from the Editor on rail infrastructure (in the December 2021 issue of Civil Engineering Vol.29, No.11) and its many problems. During my career I was involved with the supply of concrete sleepers and concrete masts for electrification. During that time, electricity was cheap, and electrification of lines was the right decision. However, the price of electricity has increased and cable theft is rampant. It seems to me that a return to diesel and diesel electric locomotives could be a feasible alternative. Very recently, I was pleasantly surprised to read that a senior executive in Transnet mentioned de-electrifying as a possible solution to cable theft. This option should be investigated and, if viable, actively pro- moted to ensure that our export and passenger rail infrastructure can survive. Through their membership, organisations like SAICE and SAAE could add some valuable expertise to assist with this evalu- ation if necessary. Best wishes, John Havinga jcmchavinga@mweb.co.za Le t ters to the ed i tor Letters Powerful Interface User-defined Beam Creep and Shrinkage Reinforcement Design Polka Engineering Software (Pty) Ltd Cell: (083) 675 5666 Email: coombes@polka.co.za