Construction World February 2018

Small Limpopo town stabilised Lying approximately 93 kilometres northwest of Polokwane is the small town of Senwabarwana whose internal

stabilise the in-situ aggregate and provide a sub-base without using cement or imported material. Compared to the alternative option of sourcing and acquiring permission to open a borrow pit and using cement stabilisation, the installation of TriAx greatly expedited the entire project and resulted in massive savings for the local municipality. 

When the Blouberg Local Municipality gave Nyeleti Consulting a limited budget with which to upgrade the roads of Senwabar- wana, the engineer approached Kaytech’s Danie Herbst for a cost-effective solution that would allow for the utilisation of the in-situ G6-G7 material and the employment of unskilled labour wherever possible. After considering the original design specifications, Kaytech decided that Tensar TriAx TX160 geogrid would tick all the boxes. The rigid polypropylene triangular geometry of TriAx is a revolutionary geogrid design providing near uniform radial stiffness through 360°. Compared to bi-axial geogrids, TriAx enables greater reduction in aggregate thickness thereby reducing the road network, comprising mostly unpaved gravel roads, was recently upgraded using an innovative Kaytech- supplied product.

Rolls were not cut, rather overlapped to fit.

Rolls being utilised fully and not cut after training.

quantity of aggregate required as well as the volume to be excavated. As a completely multi-directional product with near isotropic properties, TriAx produces a mechanically stabilised layer of unsurpassed performance. ML Phadima Construction commenced the upgrading project in November 2016. Being an emerging contractor with no prior experience using geotextiles, Kaytech provided training on the correct method of rolling out and overlapping the TriAx geogrid as well as how to endtip the granular fill material. Since TriAx is simple to install, the contractor easily learnt the ropes, thereby installing 7 200 m 2 in much less time than originally anticipated. This was a highly successful project in which the sole use of TriAx was sufficient to mechanically

Local labour was employed.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD FEBRUARY 2018