Construction World April 2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

The new zinc alum roof.

The preparation included ensuring that the zinc alum roof sheets were rolled to the correct size, that the supporting beams were properly prepared and certified, and that everything was delivered to the site on schedule. “In addition, there were aspects like health checks and safety lectures for the workers, ensuring that all the necessary tools are available on site and making sure that the site manager has access to an office with Internet connectivity, so he can stay in touch with the head office, so any potential challenges can quickly be dealt with.” “Another feature of this project is that R&D is focused on improving skills. This means that we will bring in three or four new employees to gain experience here, over the course of the entire project. By allowing them to learn on the job, they are able to gain valuable experience that will stand them in good stead as they continue their career,” says Williams. This high level of preparation is vital, continues Williams, because ABI needed the plant to remain fully functional during the re-roofing project. The nature of the plant is such that it would not be cost effective to ABI to shut it down for any extended period, which is yet another reason why the company turned to R&D in the first place – the company has a reputation for being able to undertake projects like this without impacting on the work done within the facility. He points out that the intense prepara- tion beforehand has so far meant that the project has remained on track and, when the new roof is fully installed, it will be both safer and more ergonomically friendly than the one it has replaced, meaning it should provide effective protection from the elements for several decades at least. Better light and more ergonomically sound Johny Kruger, site manager at ABI Devland,

points out that the ergonomics of the newroof can be found in how effectively it improves the natural light coming into the plant. “The old roof had been designed with raised segments, which in turn had glass fibre sheeting on the sides. This was supposed to allow light in, but it is very old technology and was probably not really ideal even when it was implemented – let alone when one considers how little light was coming in after decades of weathering,” he says. Kruger indicates that in order to increase the natural light coming in, R&D utilised polycarbonate sheeting to allow sunlight into the building. He says that one in every five roofing sheets was made of this polycar- bonate material, which diffuses the light and ensures that there are no bright pinpoints of light at certain times of the day. These, after all, can be blinding and thus create a safety hazard.

“We are utilising a colour known as Opal White, which offered the best diffusion of light when we tested different colour sheets. Even though only 20% of the roof is composed of these sheets, we expect it to increase the amount of available light entering the building from under 400 lux to upwards of 1 300 lux.” This, continues Kruger, not only improves working conditions within the plant, but also reduces ABI’s electricity costs. In fact, he says, R&D estimates that within a decade years, the electricity savings alone will enable ABI to recoup the cost of the entire roofing project. “Safety laws around lighting inside a plant of this nature are quite strict and as I understand it, the minimum lux that is acceptable is around 500 lux. With the new roof, the plant achieves over 1 000 lux, even

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Inside view of the zinc alum and polycarbonate roof panels. Natural light comparison – the new roof (left) versus the old one (right).

CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2015