Construction World February 2019

The planting of the precast columns in this project was a first for South Africa.

There were two precast manufacturing yards serving the project.

moulds for the precast concrete elements resulted in a Grade 1 finish for 90% of the project. Skills return to SA While precast concrete is extensively used in South African construction, the country has lost many of the original skill- set that was present in the 1970s. With MECSA’s specialised expertise in precast, many of these skills have returned through the project’s skills transfer in precast-related fields. This upskilling has applied across the board with not just labour as the beneficiaries, but also professionals, engineers

PASA Director, Thulani Sibande. and architects. This has represented a significant learning experience, with each person on the job given the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and to put this into practice on the project. Another important aspect of the Fourways Mall expansion was its innovation in dealing with the limitations of precast; while retail environment architectures often like to bring in free-form shapes especially around the courts, precast generally provides a rectilinear solution. The project managed to successfully marry the in-situ system with the precast system, with the in-situ elements providing the circular and free-form shapes . 

Delivery of in-situ concrete also needed to be carefully planned.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD FEBRUARY 2019