Frans van der Merwe
Continent-nominated Member
Africa
Name: Frans van der Merwe
Position: Senior Design Engineer, Franki Africa and Chairman SAICE Geotechnical Division, South Africa
Birthdate: October 1986
Email: [email protected]
Frans van der Merwe is a registered Professional Engineer with over 16 years of experience in geotechnical engineering and serves as Senior Design Engineer at Franki Africa in Cape Town. He specialises in foundation engineering, ground improvement, deep excavations, lateral support systems and design-build geotechnical solutions.
He is Chairman of the SAICE Geotechnical Division (GeoDiv) and SABS TC98 SC06, which is responsible for developing South Africa’s geotechnical design codes, and leads the ongoing updates to the SAICE Lateral Support Code of Practice. His expertise includes advanced numerical modelling, soil-structure interaction and the delivery of practical, constructible engineering solutions.
Frans has worked on several of South Africa’s most challenging infrastructure and building projects, including the Mt Edgecombe Interchange, the N3 Mariannhill to Key Ridge upgrade, Impofu Windfarm and major deep excavations such as 23 Victoria Road and Dube Tradeport. He remains actively involved in mentoring, professional development and postgraduate teaching at the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University.