Construction World December 2022

CONSULTING ENGINEERS

TASEZ ‘CLUSTER 2’ FORD FRAME

T he Ford Frame hub i s par t o f the Tshwane Automot i ve Spec i a l Economi c Zone ( TASEZ) , Af r i ca’s f i r st automot i ve c i t y. The zone has been conce i ved to be a cata l yst for emp l oyment , t rans format i on and soc i o- economi c deve l opment and i ndust r y growth by be i ng a node at t ract i ng automot i ve supp l i er s and automot i ve - re l ated manu facturer s , as semb l er s and suppor t i ng ser v i ces . TASEZ i s be i ng bu i l t as a par tner shi p between the Ford Motor Company o f Southern Af r i ca ( Ford) and the Depar tment o f Trade and I ndust r y (DT I ) . The Ford Frame hub i s a 100 000 m² fac i l i t y that conso l i dates o f f i ces , warehouse space for Ford and i t s supp l i er s , as we l l as a chas s i s E - coat i ng , wax i ng fac i l i t y, and as semb l y l i ne for the i r vehi c l es . Zutar i was appo i nted as the St ructura l Eng i neer s for the bu i l d i ng . The Ford Frame bu i l d i ng i s a mas s i ve st ructure wi th a footpr i nt o f 78 000 m² and a gros s bu i l d i ng area o f approx imate l y 100 000 m² ( i nc l ud i ng the basement ) ( i nc l ud i ng canop i es and basement s ) . The purpose o f the Ford Frame bu i l d i ng i s es sent i a l l y to ser ve as a manu factur i ng , pa i nt i ng , and storage factor y for the new Ford chas s i s i n South Af r i ca . The bu i l d i ng host s the l argest Chas s i s E - coat i ng p i t as we l l as the b i ggest ho i st st ructure i n Af r i ca . The qua l i t y o f the st ructura l eng i neer i ng des i gn was one o f the p i l l ar s cont r ibut i ng to a succes s f u l proj ect . There were many cha l l enges i n conce i v i ng and de l i ver i ng the st ructure for thi s proj ect , such as : • The bu i l d i ng had to be de l i vered wi thi n an ext reme l y shor t t ime f rame : 14 months f rom i ncept i on o f the des i gn proces s to de l i ver i ng the f i na l phase o f the bu i l d i ng to Ford for bene f i c i a l occupat i on . The bu i l d i ng had to be comp l eted i n phases so that Ford cou l d star t i nsta l l i ng the i r equ i pment , whi l e const ruct i on o f the rema i nder o f the bu i l d i ng was st i l l under way. Thi s posed numerous l og i st i ca l , operat i ona l , and st ructura l cha l l enges as par t s o f the bu i l d i ng had to be comp l ete l y stab l e on i t s own , whi l e other par t s were const ructed . • Due to the f i r st bu l l et above , the des i gn and de l i ver y o f thi s proj ect had to run concur rent l y. The team was i n constant co l l aborat i on wi th the Ford and TASEZ Representat i ves wi th des i gn coord i nat i on meet i ngs happeni ng da i l y for the f i r st few months . Thi s meant that Zutar i had to des i gn the bu i l d i ng st ructure to be as adaptab l e as pos s ib l e , s i nce many o f the des i gn parameter s and const ra i nt s were not known at the t ime o f const ruct i on . The st ructure had to prov i de Ford wi th the f l ex ib i l i t y to “change the i r mi nds” at a l ater stage , wi thi n reason . • On thi s bu i l d i ng , the st ructura l system i nter faced wi th a l l the d i sc i p l i nes and had to accommodate aesthet i ca l , mechani ca l , e l ect r i ca l , wet- ser v i ces and f i re eng i neer i ng requ i rement s . I t meant that , whereas on more convent i ona l warehous i ng or commerc i a l bu i l d i ngs the st ructura l eng i neer ma i nl y i nter faces wi th the archi tect , on the Ford Frame bu i l d i ng Zutar i had to co l l aborate and coord i nate d i rect l y wi th a l l t rades , whi l e

comp l y i ng wi th the r i g i d budgetar y a l l owances . The bu i l d i ng a l so had to be made as eas i l y const ructab l e for the cont ractor as pos s ib l e . Whi l e thi s had i t s cha l l enges , s i nce many o f the “ forces” were oppos i ng (budget vs speed o f const ruct i on , mechani ca l openi ngs /we i ght s vs st ructura l , the tenant s i nternat i ona l des i gn standards vs South Af r i can bu i l d i ng norms ) , i t a l so gave Zutar i the uni que oppor tuni t y to co- c reate the bu i l d i ng – whi ch i s an exc i t i ng prospect for a st ructura l eng i neer. requ i rement s on the st ructure resu l t i ng f rom the coat i ng tanks , p l ant and p l at forms suspended f rom roo f s as we l l as dynami c l oad i ng f rom overhead t rave l i ng c ranes demanded a qua l i t y and robust st ructura l des i gn . Ser v i ceab i l i t y l imi t states ( spec i f i ca l l y de f l ect i ons and v ibrat i ons ) were the governi ng factor i n most o f the cases . • From the above , i t i s ev i dent that the st ructura l des i gn had to f u l f i l many f unct i ons and had to be o f the hi ghest qua l i t y so that i t cou l d be i ntegrated wi th the fac i l i t y ’s f unct i ona l i t y, whi l e promot i ng fast-t rack const ruct i on and comp l y i ng wi th the budgetar y const ra i nt s . Zutar i promoted the use o f Rev i t /BIM i nteroperab i l i t y, whi ch a l so proved to be o f immense va l ue dur i ng the rev i ewi ng proces s o f st ructura l stee l workshop drawi ngs , where Zutar i ’s 3D mode l s were over l a i d on the cont ractor ’s fabr i cat i on mode l s , wi th no l os s o f accuracy/data dur i ng the impor t i ng / expor t i ng proces s . Thi s proces s a l so acce l erated turnaround t ime , a l l owi ng the cont ractor to fast t rack the i r fabr i cat i on . Nav i sworks was a l so used by the ent i re pro fes s i ona l team to as s i st i n the coord i nat i on o f ser v i ces and the reso l v i ng o f c l ashes between the var i ous ser v i ces , a l l to mi t i gate the r i sk o f any de l ays or abor t i ve works that cou l d l ead to negat i ve programme and cost imp l i cat i ons .  • Tenant Spec i f i c Load i ng and Funct i ona l Requ i rement s : The Ford spec i a l i st l oad i ng

PROJECT INFORMATION

• Company entering: Zutari • Client: Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) • Main Contractor: WBHO • Steelwork Contractor: Cadcon • Cladding Contractor: Tate & Nicholson • Flooring Contractor: CHC-SA Concrete Floors • Structural Engineer: Zutari • Architects: DGIT Architects • Quantity Surveyor: RPE Consultancy Services

74 21 st Best Project Awards 2022