Construction World January 2023

ROADS & BRIDGES

MSIKABAADVANCESON MULTIPLE FRONTS

Construction of the Msikaba Bridge near Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape – which started in earnest in late 2019 – continues to make good progress. The bridge’s four huge anchor blocks are now nearing completion, over 50% of the concrete for the bridge’s two 127 m high pylons has been poured and the complex deck construction phase of the project is about to start.

O n the safety front, the project has a superb record, with 3 million LTI-free hours being notched up on 21 October 2022. This is a major achievement for a technically demanding project which has a large workforce (more than 500 people currently), who have mainly been recruited locally and who, for the most part, had no formal sector work experience of any kind prior to recruitment. The Msikaba Bridge, which forms part of the South African National Roads Agency Limited’s (SANRAL) N2 Wild Coast project, is being constructed by the CME JV, a partnership between Concor and MECSA, both 100% black owned Grade 9CE South African construction companies. Along with the still-to-be-built Mtentu Bridge, Msikaba – which will span the spectacular 198-m deep Msikaba River gorge – will drastically cut travel times for vehicles travelling between the Eastern Cape and KZN with the time saving being up to three hours in

the case of heavy freight vehicles. Commenting on the Msikaba Project, Concor’s Laurence Savage, who is Project Director, says “the cable-stayed bridge, which will contain 48 500 m 3 of concrete and 2 900 tonnes of structural steel, is probably the most complex structure of its type ever to be built in South Africa and probably in Africa, and particularly when you understand the remoteness and logistical challenges faced in an environment where two weather systems confluence resulting in substantial wind challenges.” “Msikaba will be a truly iconic structure,” he says. “At 580 m in length, it will the longest cable-stayed bridge – in terms of main span – in Africa and it will have the second longest main span of any bridge on the continent. At 192 m above the floor of the gorge, it will also rank as one of the highest bridges in Africa, only exceeded by the Bloukrans Bridge at 216 m and, once it is completed, Mtentu at 223 m.” Cable-stayed designs

30 CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2023