Construction World March 2019

PROJECTS & CONTRACTS

80% of the stadium piling completed.

A mong the important skills required to wear this crown, especially in these challenging economic conditions, is the ability to reconfigure original tender specs to suit local conditions, the ability to run successful branches in African countries and, where no branches exist, to work across borders, sometimes in very remote and harsh environments often having to transport heavy machinery over very long distances. Multisports Complex, Mauritius One of these successful branches is in Mauritius where Country Manager, Yannis Mongelard runs a tight and successful enterprise and one of the contracts which exemplifies both his branch’s and Franki’s all-round skills is the Mauritius Multisports project currently underway. The project involves the construction of a new sports complex for the Indian Ocean Games scheduled for July 2019 at Cote D’Or, St Pierre, Mauritius and includes athletic training grounds and track, a football pitch, an aquatic centre and a multipurpose gym. The Government of Mauritius contracted the construction and development of the complex to the Mauritius Multisports Infrastructure Ltd (MMIL), a state-owned company. Mongelard says that the tender, which was launched in December 2017 with anticipated start in early 2018, stipulated 96 days for piling work. “This was not possible for a host of different reasons at that time,” he says. Franki’s response was typical of the company’s It takes more than the highest levels of ground engineering expertise and experience to be Keller’s Franki Africa, Africa’s geotechnical champion. It also takes business acumen, customer service excellence, team-building skills, and a whole lot more. AFRICA’S GEOTECHNICAL CHAMPION

General view of the site with Franki hard at work in the foreground.

ability to size up a situation and offer the client a different – and better – alternative. “We submitted a solution which was cheaper, allowed for an earlier start and which could considerably cut down the duration of the job under normal circumstances. Moreover, it enabled us to work with the plant we had on the island at the time, which contributed significantly to the cost saving on the project,” Mongelard says. He adds that from the original piling-only solution in the tender, Franki further enhanced efficiencies with a solution comprising a mix of piling and ground improvement. “The original tender specs involved the installation of more than 850 Temporary Cased Auger piles of various sizes drilled to an average depth of 21 m. Our ultimate solution comprised ground improvement in conjunction with a mix of piling techniques optimised to support each of the structures.” Mongelard says piling and ground improvement was required following geotechnical investigations, which observed worse – than – expected ground conditions. Moreover, the required bearing capacity of the backfilled soils could not be achieved and deep foundations (piles) were opted for,” he says.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD MARCH 2019