Construction of the gas turbine plant at Atlantis to boost electricity supply to the Western Cape during peak times is progressing at a record pace.

Internationally, a similar plant took more than two years to build but this one would be ready within 14 months, Andre van Niekerk of Goba Consulting Engineers said yesterday.

The plant is one of two being built in the Western Cape. Another is being built in Mossel Bay. Together the two plants will cost about R3 billion to construct and will eventually generate about 1 050 megawatts of electricity.

This is about half the power supplied by the Koeberg nuclear power station.

Members of the DA in the provincial legislature visited the site yesterday to assess the progress being made.

The Western Cape suffered a series of electricity blackouts recently as a result of problems experienced at Koeberg.

The two gas turbines form part of an integrated recovery plan drawn up by Eskom.

The site, close to the Atlantis industrial area, is a hive of activity as workers work around the clock.


The heating of liquid fuel will generate electricity at the plant, site manager John Dean explained.

He said diesel from Caltex Chevron would be used at the plant. However, liquid gas found offshore along the West Coast could be used as well.

"The plant is expected to be on line by April next year, in time for winter. It will only run during peak times for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. Diesel is a very expensive option, but the plant will help us to cope with electricity supply during the peak times and also during emergency periods," Dean said.

About 20 permanent jobs will be created.

Van Niekerk, a retired technician who specialises in power stations, pointed out that a lot of professionals had had to be called from retirement to help build the two stations.

"It was 20 years ago since we last built power stations. Due to the skills shortage, some of us were called from retirement."

Working people frequently ask retired people what

They do to make their days interesting.



Well for example, the other day I went into town and went to

A shop. I was only in there for about 5 minutes.



When I came out there was a policeman writing out a parking ticket.

I went up to him and said, "Come on, how about giving a senior

Citizen a break?"



He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a

Nazi *******. He glared at me and started writing another ticket

For having worn tyres. So I called him a dick head.



He finished the second ticket and put it on the windscreen with

The first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went

On for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets

He wrote.



Personally, I didn't care. I came into town by bus. I try to have a little

Fun each day now that I'm retired. It's important at my age.

>> >> A lady about 8 months pregnant got on a bus. She noticed the
>>man
>> >> opposite
>> >>
>> >> her was smiling at her. She immediately moved to another seat.
>>This
>> > time
>> >> the
>> >>
>> >> smile turned into a grin, so she moved again. The man seemed
>>more
>> >> amused.
>> >>
>> >> When on the fourth move, the man burst out laughing, she
>>complained
>> >> to
>> >
>> >> the
>> >>
>> >> driver and he had the man arrested. The case came up in court.
>>The
>> > judge
>> >>
>> >> asked the man (about 20 years old) what he had to say for
>>himself.
>> >> The
>> >
>> >> man
>> >>
>> >> replied, Well your Honour, it was like this: When the lady got
>>on the
>> >> bus, I
>> >>
>> >> couldn't help but notice her condition. She sat under a sweets
>>sign
>> > that
>> >>
>> >> said, "The Double Mint Twins are Coming" and I grinned. Then
>>she
>> >> moved
>> >
>> >> and
>> >>
>> >> sat under a sign that said, "Logan's Liniment will reduce the
>> > swelling",
>> >>
>> >> and I had to smile. Then she placed herself under a deodorant
>>sign
>> > that
>> >>
>> >> said, "William's Big Stick Did the Trick", and I could hardly
>>contain
>> >>
>> >> myself. BUT, your Honour, when she moved the fourth time and
>>sat
>> >> under
>> > a
>> >>
>> >> sign that said, "Goodyear Rubber could have prevented this
>> > Accident"...I
>> >>
>> >> just lost it.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> " CASE DISMISSED!!"

>>After getting all of The Pope's luggage loaded into the limo, (and he
>>doesn't travel light), the driver notices that the Pope is still
>>standing on the curb.
>>
>>"Excuse me, Your Holiness," says the driver, "Would you please take
> your
>>seat so we can leave?"
>>
>>"Well, to tell you the truth," says the Pope, "they never let me drive
>>at the Vatican, and I'd really like to drive today."
>>
>>"I'm sorry but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! And what if
>>something should happen?" continues the driver, wishing he'd never
> gone
>>to work that morning.
>>
>>"There might be something extra in it for you," says the Pope.
>>
>>Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind
>>the wheel.
>>
>>The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the
> airport,
>>the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 105 mph.
>>
>>"Please slow down, Your Holiness!!!" pleads the worried driver, but the
>>Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
>>
>>"Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my licence," moans the driver.
>>
>>The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the Police approach,
>>but the policeman takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle,
>>and get on the radio.
>>
>>"I need to talk to the Chief Inspector," he says to the dispatcher.
>>
>>The Chief Inspector gets on the radio and the policeman tells him that
>>he's stopped a limo going a hundred and five.
>>
>>"So arrest him," says the Chief.
>>
>>"I don't think we want to do that, he's really important," said the PC.
>>
>>The Chief exclaimed," All the more reason!"
>>
>>"No, I mean really important," said the PC.
>>
>>The Chief then asked, "Who've you got there, the Mayor?"
>>
>>PC: "Bigger."
>>
>>Chief: "MP?"
>>
>>PC: "Bigger."
>>
>>"Well," said the Chief, "Who is it?"
>>
>>PC: "I think it must be God!"
>>
>>Chief: "What makes you think it's God?
>>
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>> >
>>
>> >
>>
>> >
>>
>>PC: "He's got the Pope as a chauffeur!!"

:am:

Enjoy your day! Bright and sunny here! :yes:

Moving the airport to Atlantis to make space for what could be the "Midrand of Cape Town" is at the core of bold new thinking among city planners.

The concept of freeing the present 1 000ha airport site would create a potentially vast economic engine to trigger job growth, break down racial fragmentation and dramatically ease poverty in the city.

The concept is not an imminent plan so much as a deliberately provocative "argument" by city planners to focus Cape Town's attention on an increasingly demanding future.

It is coupled with fresh thinking about seeing the city not as an administrative municipal entity, but as a "functional region" that takes in everything from Table Bay to Saldanha Bay in the west, Worcester in the north and Hermanus in the east.

The far-reaching conceptual outline - Cape Town 2030: An Argument for the Long-term Spatial Development of Cape Town - is the subject of intensive discussion in city committees and in meetings with politicians and officials in other spheres of government.

The overall intent of the exercise is to provoke a wide and vigorous public debate about Cape Town's future.

The planners suggest much post-1994 planning has necessarily been limited to meeting basic needs and this has narrowed the scope for tackling the city's most pressing long-term challenges.

Against this background, the city document is presented as "an argument for debate, an exciting vision of what is possible in
spatial terms".

The key figures in the plan, city executive director of strategy and development Stephen Boshoff and the international award-winning director of city spatial development and urban design, Barbara Southworth, both caution that failing to "think big" in making dramatic and unthinkable choices about the future city would amount to an abdication of responsibility.

"If we don't shape the future, the future will shape us," Boshoff warns.

Rising to the challenge, they say, is the key to emboldening Cape Town's efforts to deal with its most pressing challenges - economic growth, investment, jobs, transport, housing and corporate and individual opportunity.

Mayor Helen Zille, who was given a special briefing on the 2030 vision last week, said: "There can be no doubt that we need a shared vision for the long-term future of this great city, and these proposals are an excellent starting point for the discussion we must have."


She added: "Cape Town 2030 is the culmination of work done, over many months, by a group of young, visionary, progressive planners in the city. I have been excited and challenged by their work, and I am very pleased that such committed, talented people have chosen to stay in the public sector in Cape Town. The discussion about Cape Town's future must now begin, and I hope everyone will be involved."

The Cape Town 2030 document raises the prospect of:


The vast central area of the Cape Flats becoming the economic powerhouse of the city region, drawing investment, creating jobs, reducing the cost and distance of daily commutes for hundreds of thousands of people, finally shattering the apartheid-era racial enclaves of the city economy, and accelerating growth.

Planners say the area has the potential to be the "Midrand of Cape Town" by:


Developing a heavy industry component at the "second port" of Saldanha, with stronger three-way links between the West Coast development node and Atlantis - already home to significant and growing industry and, potentially, a new international airport and the financial and commercial hub of Cape Town.


Densifying residential development in tandem with an intensive focus on creating "dignified living spaces" - with new parks and linked green areas, shopping and facilities - and creating the scope for seafront property development in Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain, to allow the False Bay suburbs the opportunities, and the significant real estate, that are taken for granted everywhere else, from Blouberg to Camps Bay.


Sticking to the city's present environmental "footprint", with a strong emphasis on preserving the integrity of ecological assets.


Radically rethinking the transport network, breaking the pattern of traditional routes and infrastructure focused on access to the central city, boosting public transport as the priority carrier, and working towards an equitable pattern of access across the metropole.


Creating new parks and extended inter-linked green belts, and establishing a range of "special places" - such as heritage sites, cultural and entertainment venues - to enhance the quality of life of residents and add to the mix of landmark venues.

michaelm@incape.co.za

NewsRoom Wrote:there would be major problems at points of entry when visitors to the country were forced to dismantle their phones so that serial numbers could be recorded.
.....
In any event serious criminals or those engaged in subversive activities would find ways round the problem possibly by using false identities and addresses to buy new phones. source CBN

Finally a question I could answer

But that isn't important, what's important is that you know the answer :haha:

Good morning and happy Monday everyone.

What country was the third to put a human in orbit?

Good morning on this Monday morning and I hope that you all had a superb weekend and are ready for the working week ahead of you. :jive:

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday young man and do hope that you have a wonderful birthday - please enjoy your teenage years.

:bday3: :bday3: