Construction World December 2015

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Civil Engineering Contractors

SAB Alrode New Malting Plant

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South African Breweries has invested in a new state of the art maltings plant located in Alrode, Alberton. The maltings plant, which is not only a first of its kind in Africa, will be the biggest in Africa and third biggest in the world and saw the congregation of a multicultural design and construction team join SAB: Malteurope and Hatch Goba. WBHO was appointed to carry out all civil works on the project. WBHO kicked off construction in May 2014. The site team consisted of 31 foreman, 450 labour and 15 managerial staff. The orig- inal scope of work was priced at R131-mil- lion and was to last 12 months. After addi- tional scope of work was included, the contract value has increased to R190-million

and the duration has extended to 19 months. Construction saw an excess of 13 000 m² of structural concrete placed, and consisted of 6 500 m² of formwork to bases and ground beams, 10 000 m² of horizontal formwork and 30 000 m² of vertical formwork. Five tower cranes were erected on site, strategi- cally planned to ensure that all areas of the site were covered and wall formwork could be placed and removed from all locations. Due to the soil conditions on site (high clay content with poor bearing capacity), structures were designed to be supported on piles. All floor slabs were designed as suspended slabs and due to potential heaving of the clay subgrade, a void below ground slabs was required. For the construction of the 6 000 m² concrete slab for a silo terrace, a conven- tional reinforced concrete slabwas designed. Due to the nature of the in-situ material, a 1 000 mm deep RC slab was required. The opportunity for precast elements was identified during the early phases of construction, which saw the construction of 65 precast elements the majority of which were ring beams. Potentially the biggest risk on this project was labour overspend and the extremely tight programme. Due to the soil conditions on site (high clay content with poor bearing capacity), structures were designed to be supported

on piles. All floor slabs were designed as suspended slabs and due to potential heaving of the clay subgrade, a void below ground slabs was required. For the construction of the 6 000 m² concrete slab for a silo terrace, a conven- tional reinforced concrete slabwas designed. Due to the nature of the in-situ material, a 1 000 mm deep RC slab was required. A post tensioned slab was investigated and the final solution was a 500 mm deep PT slab designed by Chris Howes Construction. The solution both accelerated construction time and saved on material costs. The opportunity for precast elements was identified during the early phases of construction, which saw the construction of 65 precast elements the majority of which were ring beams. The heart and soul of the germination area an essential part of the malting plant, was the germination bed walls. These process walls required extreme attention to detail. A total of seven germination beds, 68 m in length, 9,1 m wide and 4,9 m high were to be constructed.

Project information • Company entering: WBHO Construction • Project start date: May 2014 • Project end date: December 2015 • Client: South African Breweries • Main contractor: WBHO

• Principal agent: Hatch Goba • Project value: R190-million

2 15 BEST PR O JECTS

CONSTRUCTION WORLD DECEMBER 2015