Construction World April 2020

CEMENT & CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY

PRECAST CONCRETE HELPS FAST-TRACK STRATEGIC LINK Construction of a new access road to Marula PlatinumMine on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo is nearing completion.

Left: The 52 high quality M2 bridge beams – 13 per 15,43 m-long span – were manufactured and installed by Coreslab. Right: A decision was taken by Risimati Consulting Engineers to use precast-concrete beams when a flash-flood washed away all of the earthworks in 2019.

J ointly funded by Marula Platinum Mine and Roads Agency Limpopo, WKH QHZ URDG ZLOO TXLFNO\ DQG HͦFLHQWO\ connect employees from surrounding communities, such as Diphale Village, with the Implats operation. Matlokwa Transport & Construction was awarded the contract to build the road and DVVRFLDWHG P ORQJ EULGJH RYHU 0RRSHWVL River. Notably, the design of the bridge incorporates precast-concrete beams, despite the structure being only between 5 m and 8 m in height and crossing an intermittent river. Lesila Moloka, Site Agent of Matlokwa Transport & Construction, says that while the engineering design initially incorporated cast-in-place concrete beams, a decision was taken by Risimati Consulting Engineers to use precast-concrete beams when a ͥDVK ͥRRG ZDVKHG DZD\ DOO RI WKH HDUWKZRUNV LQ ̸:H KDG WR VLJQLͤFDQWO\ DFFHOHUDWH WKH construction programme to keep the project on track. This approach proved to be a faster and more cost-effective means of constructing the superstructure. Mobilising to site in the beginning of January, our precast-concrete bridge beam supplier was able to complete the entire installation in only four days as planned to enable our teams to commence working on the superstructure immediately,” Moloka says. The 52 high quality M2 bridge beams ̰ SHU P ORQJ VSDQ ̰ ZHUH manufactured and installed by Coreslab, which also worked closely with Risimati

Consulting Engineers to optimise the design of the bridge. Notably, Coreslab was also tasked with WKH PDQXIDFWXUH DQG LQVWDOODWLRQ RI WKH SUHFDVW FRQFUHWH EULGJH EHDULQJV ̰ LQ ZKDW LV D ͤUVW SURMHFW RI LWV NLQG IRU WKLV OHDGLQJ precast-concrete bridge beam specialist. 2Q WKLV SURMHFW &RUHVODE XVHG DQ W mobile crane with a reach of between 7,5 t DQG W WR OLIW DQG DVVLVW LWV WHDP SODFH WKH precast-concrete elements. The precast-concrete elements were dispatched from the company’s state-of- the-art factory in Polokwane, just more than an hour-and-a-half commute from the construction site in Burgersfort, and lifted directly from the specialised trailers. Also designed to handle the high volume of heavy commercial vehicles that service WKH PLQH RQ D GDLO\ EDVLV WKH NP ORQJ DQG P ZLGH &DWHJRU\ & URDG FRPSULVHV base and sub-base, upper and lower select,

D URDGEHG DQG URFN ͤOO OD\HUV ZLWK D GRXEOH seal asphalt surfacing. Matlokwa Transport & Construction is sourcing some of the aggregate requirements for the road from its own crushing operation. The crushing and screening plant is located at Modikwa mine, another platinum operation in the area, where the company SURGXFHV PP DQG PP DV ZHOO DV sand from waste rock. Jaco de Bruin, managing director of Coreslab, says that he is proud of the company’s association with this contractor, which has a cidb 7 grading and a national footprint. “Notably, this project has created HPSOR\PHQW RSSRUWXQLWLHV IRU PRUH WKDQ people from surrounding communities once it peaked last year. This project stands out as another stellar example of the role that infrastructure delivery has to play in creating much-needed employment in the country,” De Bruin concludes. ƒ

Coreslab was also tasked with the manufacture and installation of the 104 precast-concrete bridge bearings.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2020