Johannesburg, Tuesday 26 January 2016: In a recent acquisition, South African founded engineering company DRA has purchased Cape Town-based ports and harbour engineering company RLH Consulting Engineers. This is yet another step for DRA, headquartered in Johannesburg, towards achieving their global diversification strategy.
DRA will leverage the wealth of industry experience of key personnel in RLH, spanning more than 30 years, which focus on international Port and Harbour developments and Coastal Engineering. The management and staff at RLH have worked on multi-million dollar projects together with leading international companies, and are dedicated to completing the work on time and within budget, which makes it a suitable acquisition as this philosophy fits closely with DRA’s objectives of enabling DRA’s clients to achieve their project goals optimally.
Additional services that DRA will now be able to offer current and future clients include:
RLH will be integrated into DRA’s new Cape Town office, servicing client projects in the South African region as well as up into West Africa.
“Diversification into marine engineering as offered by RLH, has been part of DRA’s strategy for the past year and we are very excited about RLH forming part of our team. The RLH culture and diligent approach to projects align well with that of DRA and we expect a smooth integration. I am excited about the prospects of our Cape Town offering which supports our innovation drive, “says Johann de Bruin, Managing Director, DRA Africa.
“RLH has a good working relationship with DRA going back a number of years, and has provided specialist marine design services to DRA on various projects internationally. We are excited about integrating into a global engineering company, with the associated increase in capacity in delivering EPCM projects that this will bring. We look forward to further developing and enhancing the engineering capabilities of the new marine division within DRA.” Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director, RLH Consulting Engineers
About DRA
The DRA Group (DRA) is a diversified global engineering group that delivers engineering services from concept to commissioning, comprising feasibility studies, design, construction, project management, operations and maintenance services for all mining, minerals processing and civil infrastructure services as well as the energy, water and agriculture sectors.
Started in 1984, DRA is a private company owned by its employees. It has evolved from a local design and construction management company to a global organization with expertise in a diverse range of engineering services. DRA provides highly flexible services, meeting the needs of multinational mining companies and investors, as well as junior and emerging producers. Its expertise covers a wide range of commodities including gold, platinum, coal, ferrous metals, diamonds, uranium, base metals, potash and rare earths.
DRA’s services include design and construction management of surface and underground mining projects, and associated infrastructure projects such as the design and build of ports, roads, bridges, power plants and accommodation. Project sizes range from small to large and include modular, EPC and EPCM, mine scheduling & planning and winder services.
DRA has offices in nine African countries as well as in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, India and the USA. DRA’s headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa provide engineering support to its operations across Africa and around the world. DRA Taggart has offices in Toronto, Canada and Pittsburgh, USA to support its operations in North and South America. DRA Pacific is based in Australia, with offices in Perth and Brisbane, which support regional projects as well as projects in the Pacific Rim, Asia, India and China.
About RLH
RLH is a South African-based engineering consulting firm specialising in the planning and design of coastal infrastructure, marine terminals and port infrastructure projects across the globe. They provide world-class services on EPCM contracts, from pre-feasibility planning and assessment through design, project management and construction supervision. Their specialist expertise in marine environmental analysis plays a major role in the initial planning and evaluation of marine infrastructure projects.