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Reinforced concrete - its history in South Africa
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[These are notes - full entry still to be created]
The first attempt at disseminating information on 'ferro-concrete' in South Africa was a paper by H Kestner presented to the South Africa Association for the Advancement of Science in 1906 title ' Theoretical investigations regarding ferro-concrete'. Reinforced concrete was introduced into Cape Town by Charles Henry SMITH in 1906 in the construction of the Maxwell Earp's Building (later known as Kodak House) and from which he wrote an article for the local journal 'Reinforced concrete in relation to colonial building' (SAAE+S Journal, Aug 1906:162-3)
FW WALDRON is credited as being primarily responsible for the first engineered reinforced concrete Road Bridge over the Kowie River (Henry Putt Bridge) in Port Alfred. The design of this bridge, in essence a series of continuous girders supported on piles, would have been considered daring at the time if executed in steel, in reinforced concrete it was considered shear lunacy! WALDRON presented the design in 1907 to the Cape Society of Civil Engineers. (Fredman 1964:36, 37 (ill), 39).
On 8 April 1908 Professor H PAYNE presented a paper to the Cape Society of Civil Engineers on the theory of reinforced concrete design, reporting on tests carried out for the PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT of the CAPE COLONY on reinforced concrete beams at the South African College (later the University of Cape Town and University of South Africa) in Cape Town where he served as professor of engineering (Fredman, 1964:33-35).
JS DONALDSON designed the first concrete building in Johannesburg, for Messrs Lensfeldt and Co, Lensfeldt Building, in of May 13, 1937 according to information recorded by his widow Lillian Donaldson in his RIBA Biographical file in London, titled 'A Rand Pioneer'.
The Wolmarans Street or Great Synagogue (1912-1914) of the architect-engineer T SCHAERER is covered by the first steel reinforced concrete dome in South Africa.
The firm of civil engineering consultants FE KANTHACK and PARTNERS were responsible for one of the monuments to reinforced concrete buildings of Johannesburg in the 1930s, Lewis and Marks Building where the spiral stair to the rear of the building demonstrates the plastic potential of reinforced concrete as a building material.