Construction World November 2023

a seamless and cohesive manner was a huge achievement. These challenges were overcome by carefully-designed jigging systems used for the fabrication of the components, and then trial assembling the major structural components and interfaces between them. Also impressive is the fact that the engineer who designed the structure came up with a very elegant solution for the problem posed: the need for a lot of column-free space. To solve this, an arched roof was used along the entire 220 metre length - supported at each end using a structural framing system. The aesthetics and project execution - including the engineering, connections used, the seamlessness thereof and how the structure was erected - is quite amazing and a testament to the power of structural steel as a material of construction,” Gebremeskel comments. A record-breaking distribution centre Structural steel also played a pivotal role in the Pick ‘n Pay Distribution Centre East Port project, joint winner of the

Construction and steelwork contractor Tass Engineering. This so-called ‘market of the future’ was constructed for the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency to act as a regional catalyst for growth, creating jobs and improving food security. Serving the local and international food industry, it is more effective and efficient than existing, traditional fresh produce markets. The steelwork roof covers a 29 000 m 2 floor and is designed to provide maximum usable floor space with minimal support columns. The building was also designed to accommodate future alterations and expansion. The main challenge was the sheer size of the roof structure and its structural framing system, which posed a significant logistical challenge to transport - from the Kempton Park fabrication site to the market site over 300 km away in Mbombela. To address this challenge, modular components were transported in smaller sections and then erected on site. “Fitting all the pieces of this Meccano-like construction in

31 CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2023