Construction World December 2022

DURBANVILLE PREPARATORY SCHOOL SEATING

C MA member and global landscaping block des igner and l icense provider, Terraforce, has introduced the Four x Four ® Step Block Cap, a concrete panel 400 mm (width) x 200 mm (height ) x 50 mm ( thickness) , des igned for instal lat ion at the ends of landscaped seat ing rows and steps to create neater and more attract ive edging for outdoor seat ing instal lat ions . The world’s fi rst Four x Four ® Step Block Cap block instal lat ion was completed in June 2022 as part of a sports faci l i t ies upgrade at Durbanvi l le Preparator y School in Cape Town. The upgrade included the construct ion of 244 m of seat ing and steps between three and five rows high and bui l t on five elevat ions . The seat ing f ronted onto two new Astro Tur f fields and two grassed fields . I t was constructed wi th the Terraforce 4×4 Step™ block and the L12 block , and the Four x Four ® Step Block Caps were used to panel the edges of the last 4 x 4 blocks at the ends of the of seat ing and stai r rows . The project also included the construct ion of a vert ical wal l between the two Astro Tur f fields bui l t wi th L12 blocks . And in a fi rst for the Western Cape, the top blocks of

block manufacturer, Klapmuts Concrete. Overal l , 10 000 4×4 Step Blocks , 3 200 L12 blocks and approximately 150 caps were used for the project . The actual instal lat ion work was done by Decorton Retaining Systems as a sub-contractor to the main contractor, DP2 Construct ion. During the instal lat ion process addi t ional reinforcing was provided us ing dr y concrete to support the blocks . Cast wi th two bars of reinforcing wi th hooked ends , the Four x Four ® Step Block Cap i s easy to instal l . The host block i s s imply fi l led concrete into which the reinforcing i s pressed unt i l the capping panel i s flush wi th the block . One of the chal lenges of the project was the extremely long seat ing rows and sloped embankments which meant the seat ing had to be stepped down in several places . Moreover, the seats and stai rs were given a sl ight slope to al low for water run-of f. The introduct ion of the Four x Four ® Step Block Cap resul ted f rom a special request f rom the school which had previously undertaken s imi lar projects us ing the Terraforce blocks . As a resul t , the Four x Four ® Step Block Cap blocks wi l l now be made avai lable countr ywide and global ly through other Terraforce l icensees . 

the wal l were capped wi th the L12 Terraforce® Cap, a capping panel s imi lar to the Four x Four ® Step Block Cap. Al l the products used on the project , including the Four x Four ® Step Block Cap and the L12 Terraforce® Cap, were manufactured by l icensed Terraforce

• Company entering: Terraforce • End date: June 2022 • Main Contractor: DP2 Construction • Consulting Engineer: Lyners Consulting Engineers PROJECT INFORMATION

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21 st Best Project Awards 2022