Page 50 - Bulletin 23- 2020

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occupied by the waterside housing and canals, most of the work in reshaping the ground was
done using excavators “in the dry”.

Deepening Sandvlei using suction dredging was problematic. We had learned from the

Council that there had been previous unsuccessful attempts to dredge the vlei by
inexperienced contractors - “in the dry” using bulldozers and also “in the wet” with small

dredgers. So, we were aware of potential difficulties.

We called for tenders and the lowest tenderer was the world-renowned Dutch dredging firm,

HAM, who were working at the Cape Town docks at the time. They proposed to complete the

dredging of the vlei in just a few weeks. Unfortunately, this would be a problem for the
landscaping teams who could not stabilise the reclaimed areas against wind erosion in such a

short time.

The next lowest qualifying tenderer was inexperienced but “they had hired staff with

dredging experience”. Because of the use of public funds (through partnership with the City

Council), we were obliged to appoint the tenderer, who unfortunately went into liquidation
and the work was completed later by others at a greater cost. (Figs. 2.11 & 2.12.)

Reshaping the landscape

From the outset we were aware that there was a public perception that the development site at
Muizenberg was windswept and unattractive. Remarkably, both David Jack and Michael

Lowe, our planners, had personal knowledge of a comparable project in California, “The Sea

Ranch”. Under the direction of a famous landscape designer, Lawrence Halprin, this had been
transformed from an “wild, unfriendly, mostly-uninhabited and sometimes belligerent” wind-

exposed site, to a highly successful wind-protected residential development.

As a result of these concerns Anglo appointed two extraordinarily talented US consultants

based in San Francisco who had worked on Sea Ranch:

- Richard Schadt was responsible for the Landscape Design of the whole project.
- Richard Reynolds prepared a comprehensive report at the start of our project and

provided useful advice.

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