Construction World February 2020

PROJECTS & CONTRACTS

BOOSTING IMPRESSIVE WIND FARM BUILDING REFERENCE

Concor Infrastructure has established an impressive reference base for the successful construction of wind farms across South Africa. For the Golden Valley Wind Farm situated near Bedford in the Eastern Cape, Concor Infrastructure was responsible for 43 kilometres of access roads, the bases for 48 wind turbines and their adjoining hard stands. It managed to successfully complete the project despite a six month delay at its start, labour and resource challenges as well as challenging geological conditions. Construction World visited the wind farm and spoke to Concor Infrastructure’s Project Manager, Steven Verwey.

&OHDQ SRZHU IRU WZR GHFDGHV The Golden Valley facility is located near the town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape and is part of the fourth round of the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement 5(,333 SURJUDPPH 7KLV 0: SURMHFW LV D %LRWKHUP (QHUJ\ GHYHORSPHQW FRPSULVLQJ 0: *ROGZLQG WXUELQHV NP RI N9 RYHUKHDG OLQHV DQG D VXEVWDWLRQ Concor Infrastructure played an important and innovative role in the construction of this renewable energy project. The fourth round projects in the REIPPP programme will have a positive impact on the economies of the surrounding local communities, while complying with international environmental and social standards. Once operational, the project will provide clean power to the South African JULG IRU \HDUV :LQG IDUP FLYLOV H[SHUWLVH &RQFRU ,QIUDVWUXFWXUH EURXJKW LWV H[WHQVLYH H[SHULHQFH DQG H[SHUWLVH in civil engineering and sustainable project management to this construction project. This is the ninth wind farm it is building. Even though the project is not as remote as some of the other wind farm projects Concor Infrastructure has completed, the project had its own challenges which included timing, labour, resources and less than ideal geological conditions. Concor Infrastructure was responsible for the construction of WKH EDVHV RI IDUP̵V ZLQG WXUELQH JHQHUDWRUV WKH DGMRLQLQJ KDUG stands as well as all the internal roads – this amounted to an access URDG QHWZRUN RI NP ̸3ULRU WR EXLOGLQJ WKH DFFHVV URDGV ZH KDG to remove the invasive prickly pears which we harvested to cut and

EOHQG 7KLV ZDV WXUQHG LQWR IHHG IRU WKH ORFDO IDUPHUV̹ VD\V 9HUZH\ This aspect of the contract was done under the auspices of Prof. H O de Waal from the University of the Free State. ̸&RQFRU ,QIUDVWUXFWXUH ZDV UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DOO EODVWLQJ FXW DQG ͤOO 7KH DFFHVV URDG QHWZRUN DOVR KDV D VLJQLͤFDQW JUDGLHQW̹ adds Verwey. A major challenge ̸7KH SURMHFW FRPPHQFHG LQ 2FWREHU DQG DOWKRXJK VRPH GHOD\V ZHUH H[SHULHQFHG GXH WR ͤQDO DSSURYDO RI WKH IRXQGDWLRQ GHVLJQ WKH civil portion of this technically and geologically challenging project will be delivered within schedule and within budget. ̸&KDOOHQJHV ZHUH PHW KHDG RQ DQG DOWKRXJK VRPH RI WKH milestone dates were not met due to the approval delay, Concor will VWLOO PHHW WKH FRPSOHWLRQ GDWH :KDW LV DOVR VLJQLͤFDQW LV WKDW &RQFRU ,QIUDVWUXFWXUH KDV QRW GHOD\HG DQ\ RI WKH LQWHUIDFLQJ VL[ FRQWUDFWRUV ̰ ZKLFK LV TXLWH DQ DFKLHYHPHQW JLYHQ WKH VL[WK PRQWK LQLWLDO GHOD\̹ says Verwey. 6WHHSHVW JUDGLHQW IRU D ZLQG IDUP The Golden Valley Wind Farm required the services of a skilled DQG H[SHULHQFHG FRQWUDFWRU DV LW LV VLWXDWHG LQ DQ DUHD WKDW LV JHRJUDSKLFDOO\ FKDOOHQJLQJ $ VLJQLͤFDQW SHUFHQWDJH RI DFFHVV roads on the project have steep gradients. Verwey says the project’s biggest innovation was the adaptation of the engineering design to optimise it for the steep incline of PDQ\ RI WKH DFFHVV URDGV ̸7KLV ZDV D FRVW WLPH DQG TXDQWLW\ VDYLQJ̹ KH VD\V

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD FEBRUARY 2020