Capital Equipment News November 2015

COVER STORY

D481/D482 road from Katoba to Chirundu via Chiawa. The contract commenced in May 2015 with a scheduled completion date of November 2017. This project is divided into three stages of which the middle portion comprises an ap- proximately 17 km section in mountainous terrain that has not yet been awarded and is pending finalisation of the scoping report by Zambia’s Road Development Agency (RDA). At this stage, CGC’s current scope entails 81 km of road (featuring a 6,5 km carriage- way and a north and south bound 3 m shoul- der): the first 15 km starting from Katoba to the foot of the mountain; and the third 66 km portion commencing on the other side and heading to Chirundu. As on the D152, the condition of the existing gravel road is poor. The current total width on the D481/D482 is between 3 to 4 m and provides limited accessibility for non-four wheel drive vehicles, especially during the rainy season, which is in-between the sum- mer months from November to April each year. Over the present 81 km route award- ed to date, CGC will be sourcing around 540 000 m³ of aggregates from quarries established in the area. The 200 mm sub-

base layer on the D481/D482 will be cement stabilised using CGC’s rotary mixers.

Work since May 2015 has focused on the initial 5 km section handed over by the RDA, and construction is progressing well as CGC tackles the challenges of completing exten- sive excavations in the marshy ground condi- tions characteristic of this area. These large- scale excavations then need to be filled with rock to the level of the new road base. Here, alongside its Cat units for bulk earthworks, CGC is employing local labour for the rock fill placement. Cut to spoil quantities will be around 700 000 m³ for the current 81 km contract. To meet material requirements, a fleet of up to 60 tipper trucks is being deployed: 25 for aggregate and asphalt delivery, and the bal- ance for earthworks. To date, CGC reports excellent availability on its Cat hydraulic excavators, which form a core component in the multi-faceted earth- works programmes, as well as in the truck loading operation. CGC, established in 1982 and headquar- tered in Beijing, has been part of Zambia’s built environment landscape since 1998, with a dedicated focus on road construc- tion. According to US based Engineering

News-Record’s Top 250 International Con- tractors Survey, China Geo-Engineering Corporation is ranked in 215 th position. The company has 23 overseas branches, with a major presence across the African continent, where CGC continues to establish vital infra- structure projects. For Zambia, the Link 8000 (also known as the Accelerated National Roads Construction Programme) is a socio-economic initiative that will ‘transform Zambia into a truly land- linked country in the sub-region’ via a world class asphalt pavement network. b

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