Construction World April 2016

CEMENT AND CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

St Helena RUNWAY PROJECT successfully COMPLETED on TIME

> Johannesburg-based concrete specialist KP Projects formed part of the team working on the six-month-long runway portion of the St Helena Airport construction project, which officially started in March 2015 and was completed in September 2015. The company grooved approximately 77 000 m 2 across the St Helena airport runway and saw-cut approximately 61 000 linear metres and sealed the concrete joints. KP Projects project manager Darin Phillips explains that grooving of a runway removes surface water and ensures surface adhesion to increase control during the aircraft’s braking action. “The special grooves made are 4 mm deep x 4 mm wide and are spaced at 28 mm and 23 mm apart. The grooves were spaced unevenly to avoid causing any resonance.” The grooves were made using blades supplied by Diamond Products – a leading specialist in the manufacture, assembly and sale of diamond tools and equipment for industrial applications – which supplied a custom-made 368 mm diameter Arix-blade for use on the grooving machine. A Diamond Products 300 mm GC77 cutting blade was used for saw cutting all the joints. Phillips indicates that slight adjustments had to be made to the blade, in order to achieve the 43-lines-per-cut that was specified. “The work also involved cutting off the corner or edges of the longitudinal joints (Chamfering) using Diamond Products’ 30 degree chamfering After decades of relying on one passenger ship as the only means of access to and from its shores, the remotely-located South Atlantic island of St Helena will welcome its first air travel guests in 2016, following the much anticipated completion of its £200-million airport construction project, in which South African companies have played a vital role.

About St Helena Airport Saint Helena Airport has been under construction since early 2012. South African airport operator Lanseria Airport is the appointed airport operator, and scheduled air services from Johannesburg are expected to commence in May 2016. The official opening of the airport will result in the retirement of the RMS St Helena, the only transport that regularly serves the island.

They saw-cut approximately 61 000 linear metres and sealed the concrete joints.

blade. Our scope of work took a trained 22-strong team to complete the task, four from KP Projects and 18 local workers.” According to Phillips, inferior diamond blades would have compro- mised the contract deadline, in addition to negatively affecting machine availability too. “Higher grade blades, such as those supplied by Diamond Products, are more efficient and therefore increase produc- tivity, while minimising the risk of unnecessary downtime,” he continues. The British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena is located approxi- mately 4 000 km east of Rio de Janeiro and 1 950 km west of the Kunene river, which marks the border between Namibia and Angola. Phillips admits that the secluded location, together with wet and windy condi- tions, proved to be a major challenge to KP Projects. “There is limited technical support on the island, and tools have to be sent back to South Africa for repairs and servicing, which impacts negatively on uptime. Diamond Products’ blades were able to efficiently cut through everything that we needed them to. Another benefit is that the blades have a 30 percent longer wear rate, allowing us to complete tasks more efficiently. KP Projects has been using Diamond Products for more than a decade, and is highly satisfied with the overall offering.”

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The company grooved approximately 77 000 m 2 across the St Helena airport runway.

KP Projects formed part of the team working on the six-month-long runway portion.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2016