Ovum Corporation

Ovum Corporation Bringing fertile engineering ideas to life
Civil Engineering Consultancy

Today, we honour the courage of the youth of 1976 and celebrate the innovators, leaders, and changemakers shaping South ...
16/06/2026

Today, we honour the courage of the youth of 1976 and celebrate the innovators, leaders, and changemakers shaping South Africa's future.

At the heart of civil engineering is building for tomorrow, and that starts with investing in young minds.

From smarter infrastructure and sustainable development to resilient transport networks, today's youth will help create the communities of the future.

This Youth Day, let's continue to inspire, mentor, and empower the next generation to dream big and build boldly.

Because when we invest in youth, we invest in progress.

Conveyors are getting smarter. Today's conveyor systems do far more than move materials. They're helping businesses impr...
11/06/2026

Conveyors are getting smarter.

Today's conveyor systems do far more than move materials. They're helping businesses improve efficiency, reduce downtime, and cut costs through:
✔ AI-powered predictive maintenance
✔ IoT-enabled performance monitoring
✔ Energy-efficient motor technology
✔ Modular, scalable designs
✔ Sustainable, eco-friendly materials

From manufacturing and mining to food processing, smart conveyor technology is transforming operations.

Which innovation do you think will have the biggest impact on your industry?

Conveyors keep industries moving, but choosing the right system makes all the difference.Manufacturing✔ Belt Conveyors✔ ...
09/06/2026

Conveyors keep industries moving, but choosing the right system makes all the difference.

Manufacturing
✔ Belt Conveyors
✔ Chain Conveyors
✔ Automated Roller Conveyors

Mining
✔ Heavy-Duty Belt Conveyors
✔ Bucket Elevators
✔ Overland Conveyors

Food Processing
✔ Modular Plastic Belt Conveyors
✔ Stainless Steel Conveyors
✔ Vacuum Conveyors

The right conveyor reduces downtime, boosts efficiency, and improves ROI.

At O**m Corporation, we help businesses find conveyor solutions that work smarter, not harder.

What's the biggest material handling challenge in your operation?

Conveyor systems are the backbone of efficient material handling across civil, structural, chemical, and process enginee...
04/06/2026

Conveyor systems are the backbone of efficient material handling across civil, structural, chemical, and process engineering. From heavy construction materials to precise chemical compounds, every system relies on four key components:

🔹 Belts – Durable, specialised surfaces designed to handle demanding materials and environments.
🔹 Rollers – Support the belt, reduce friction, and improve system efficiency.
🔹 Motors – Provide the power and speed control needed for reliable operation.
🔹 Pulleys – Guide belt movement and ensure effective power transfer.

Modern conveyor systems go beyond the basics with intelligent tensioning, automated tracking, and integrated control networks that improve performance, reduce downtime, and optimise material flow.

As engineering technology continues to evolve, conveyor systems remain essential for delivering reliable, efficient, and innovative material handling solutions.

Have you ever wondered what keeps industries moving (literally)? Conveyor belts may not be the flashiest part of industr...
03/06/2026

Have you ever wondered what keeps industries moving (literally)? Conveyor belts may not be the flashiest part of industrial operations, but they’re the workhorses that keep production lines running smoothly.
Not all conveyor belts are created equal, choosing the right one can mean the difference between seamless efficiency and constant headaches. Let’s break it down:

🔹 Rubber Conveyor Belts – Tough, durable, and built for heavy lifting! Perfect for mining, quarries, and rugged material handling. If it’s rough, rubber’s got it covered.
🔹 Modular Plastic Belts – The ultimate shape-shifter! Interlocking plastic modules make it easy to clean and repair. It is ideal for food, pharma, and industries where hygiene is key.
🔹 Metal Conveyor Belts – Strong, heat-resistant, and built for extreme conditions! Whether you’re baking bread or forging metal, these belts can take the heat (literally).

Which type of conveyor belt keeps your industry running? Drop a comment below!

In March 2025, Manchester United confirmed plans for New Trafford Stadium, a 100,000-seat arena by Foster + Partners, se...
26/05/2026

In March 2025, Manchester United confirmed plans for New Trafford Stadium, a 100,000-seat arena by Foster + Partners, set to become Europe’s second-largest football stadium after the Nou Camp. The club hopes to be playing there by the 2030/31 season.

Normally, a stadium of this scale takes around a decade to deliver. So how do you cut that in half?

The answer is prefabrication at huge scale:
Sir Norman Foster’s concept uses around 160 prefabricated components, assembled Meccano-style and shipped via the Manchester Ship Canal. A waterway once central to northern industry could become the logistics route for one of the UK’s most ambitious builds.

The pitch is going underground:
The playing surface will sit 15.9 metres below ground level, creating major geotechnical and groundwater challenges near the Ship Canal and beside an operational stadium.

The canopy is the showpiece, and the risk:
A vast umbrella canopy covering a plaza twice the size of Trafalgar Square would harvest rainwater, generate solar energy, and amplify crowd noise. Three masts support it, with the tallest reaching 200 metres and including a viewing platform.

But reports suggest the canopy alone could add £200 million, raising questions over whether it survives value engineering.

This is bigger than a stadium:
The wider masterplan includes rebuilding Old Trafford station, new public routes, parks, mixed-use development, and entertainment spaces. The stadium is the anchor, but the infrastructure is the real legacy.

The timeline is already under pressure:
Planning is not expected before September 2027, club borrowings have risen to £777 million, and a 2030 opening now looks ambitious. Building on a constrained brownfield site beside rail lines and a live stadium adds major programme risk.

The vision is bold: a sunken pitch, modular superstructure delivered by canal, and a landmark canopy over a civic plaza.

But ambition and delivery are very different things. The Red Devils want the world’s greatest stadium. The engineers have to build it.

What do you think is the biggest construction risk on the New Trafford project? 👇

The Ciel Dubai Marina opened in November 2025 and was certified by Guinness World Records in December as the tallest hot...
19/05/2026

The Ciel Dubai Marina opened in November 2025 and was certified by Guinness World Records in December as the tallest hotel in the world, standing 377 metres across 82 storeys in Dubai Marina.

But how it was built is more impressive than the title itself.

The site was already compromised:
A cancelled project had left existing pile foundations across the site, so engineers had to design around what was already underground before new works even began. Hardly the blank canvas people imagine.

The shape is structural, not aesthetic:
Exposed to strong Gulf winds, the tower faced major lateral loads at height. Engineers spent two years testing hundreds of scale models before choosing a tapered oval form, rotated slightly into the wind to reduce vortex shedding. Every curve had a purpose.

Concrete does the heavy lifting:
Rather than rely on steel, the tower uses a reinforced concrete core with radial buttresses running the full height. Built with a jump form system, these were poured first, followed by post-tensioned floor slabs nearly 2.5 metres thick in places.

The core exceeds 80 MPa compressive strength, while high-strength steel above 460 MPa enabled slimmer structural elements and more usable floor space.

Outriggers control movement:
Mechanical floors contain outrigger beams linking the radial walls to the core, adding stiffness against wind forces and limiting sway.

The foundation is massive:
It required around 12,000 cubic metres of concrete, 2,700 tonnes of steel, and 180,000 Bartec couplers across key structural connections.

A record-breaker almost by accident:
As amenities were added, the tower kept rising because there was nowhere else to place them. Architect Yahya Jan told the developer they were nearing record territory. The response: Let’s make that happen.

This is modern supertall engineering: constrained sites, extreme wind loads, post-tensioned concrete, outrigger systems, and years of wind tunnel testing before a single pile is cast. The glamour is in the outcome. The engineering is in everything before it.

What aspect of supertall structural engineering do you think is most underappreciated? 👇

On 24 September 2025, a 30m by 30m sinkhole over 50m deep suddenly opened outside Vajira Hospital in Bangkok’s Sam Sen d...
14/05/2026

On 24 September 2025, a 30m by 30m sinkhole over 50m deep suddenly opened outside Vajira Hospital in Bangkok’s Sam Sen district. The collapse was linked directly to one of the city’s largest infrastructure projects.

Here’s what civil engineers should take from it.

The geology was always the risk:
Bangkok sits on thick soft Holocene clay over older sediments, a profile prone to subsidence and difficult underground works. Historic groundwater pumping caused settlement rates of up to 10cm per year in the 1980s. Tunnelling in soft alluvial soils with high groundwater is one of geotechnical engineering’s toughest challenges. Bangkok does not offer forgiving ground.

The failure sequence matters:
The sinkhole formed at the future Vajira Hospital station, one of the route’s most complex zones, where tunnels were being built at depths of 15m and 30m. Soil and water entered through a gap at the station-tunnel interface, undermining the stacked 6.3m twin tunnels. A ruptured 1.2m water main then accelerated soil loss and triggered pavement collapse.

This is exactly why tunnel-to-station interfaces are considered high-risk nodes on metro projects.

The emergency response showed the scale:
Concrete was poured into the cavity, but works paused when material seeped into a nearby tunnel through a wall breach. Authorities then sealed the area, installed monitoring systems, and planned a permanent retaining wall.

The cost and delay are major:
Estimated damage is 700–800 million baht, with repairs likely to take a year. A line due in 2028 may now open in 2030 or 2031.

What our industry should learn:
• Real-time geotechnical monitoring is essential
• Station-tunnel interfaces need highest-risk treatment
• Utility coordination must sit inside the risk register
• Critical joints need redundancy, not only strength

No one was killed. That was not luck. It was 7am on a quiet road.

What lessons should the wider tunnelling and geotechnical community take from Bangkok? Share your thoughts 👇

While the rest of the world is still debating whether 3D printing construction is viable, China is out here doing it at ...
12/05/2026

While the rest of the world is still debating whether 3D printing construction is viable, China is out here doing it at scale.

Here's what's actually happening on the ground right now:

A team from China Three Gorges University used 3D printing to construct an 8-metre-tall, 100-square-metre two-storey building in just 22 days, with only 3 workers on site. Scribd

In Xiong'an New Area near Beijing, one of the world's largest 3D-printed buildings is rising: a five-storey cultural centre featuring sweeping 20-metre cantilevered roofs. Its complex double-curved facade, which would have been near-impossible with traditional aluminium panels, was achieved using 3D-printed panels made from modified plastic, layered with millimetre precision.

In Hubei province, a rural housing project is being delivered where 90 percent of each structure is prefabricated, allowing the main structure of a home to be completed in just 4 to 5 days.

Now let's talk about what this means from a civil engineering standpoint, because this is more than just a novelty.

The material science is advancing fast.

Teams at Zhejiang University have been developing low-carbon concrete made from solid waste for use in 3D-printed structures, while also designing in requirements for heat insulation, sound insulation, and earthquake resistance from the initial design stage. This isn't prototype territory anymore.

Waste reduction is significant.

The method can reduce material consumption by 20 to 30 percent and eliminates the need for traditional formwork, cutting construction waste at the source. For an industry that accounts for roughly 30% of global waste, that's not a small number.

Quality control is going digital.

On the Xiong'an project, drones equipped with laser scanners monitor the structure continuously, allowing engineers to detect deviations and make immediate adjustments. If a scan shows even a 5-centimetre deviation, the team knows immediately and can correct course.

The questions civil engineers should be asking aren't "does this work?" anymore. China has answered that. The real questions now are: how do we update our structural codes to accommodate printed concrete? How do we train the next generation of engineers to design for additive manufacturing? And how long before this technology reshapes procurement, labour, and project delivery on a global scale?

The printer doesn't care about tradition. It just builds.

Are you working with or following 3D printing in construction? What's the biggest barrier you see to mainstream adoption? Let's discuss below 👇

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate the strength, care, and inspiration that mothers bring to our workplaces and communities...
10/05/2026

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate the strength, care, and inspiration that mothers bring to our workplaces and communities.

Thank you for all that you do, today and every day.

Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at O**m Corporation. 🌸
**m

Address

48 Mowbray Avenue, Western Extension Benoni
Johannesburg
1501

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ovum Corporation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Ovum Corporation:

Shortcuts

Share

Category