Construction World October 2021

accredited quality management system,” Wagener says. Scope of work As part of the work scope, the Infrastructure Division is also rerouting an existing main access road, as well as constructing a new shaft access road and internal roads on top of the platform. This is in addition to the 800 m 3 of concrete work that the company is undertaking as part of the contract. It includes constructing the stormwater control dam and silt trap, as well as Armorflex-lined stormwater trench. The company has also been tasked with constructing 120 m of stormwater culverts and pipes for the various roads, as well as excavating the buried section of the new route for a Magalies Water line and constructing the plinths for the portion that runs above ground. M&D’s scope of work also includes building the perimeter fencing and retaining walls that total about 1 790 m 2 . M&D made a solid start on this contract when it mobilised to site on 24 May 2021. The company had already optimised its processes and ensured compliance with mine and project specific requirements during its previous work constructing the access road to the smelter, two concrete bunkers, buildings and undertaking associated infrastructure work at Zondereinde mine. The Infrastructure Division was, therefore, able to again focus only on other critical factors, counting maintaining high levels of productivity and efficiency. By September 2021, the company had already finalised 35% of the project and had received very favourable feedback from the client on its performance thus far. Wagener is confident that all work will be finalised by the contractual completion date of 29 April 2022. The project will peak in January 2022 by which time there will be about 150 M&D workers on site. “M&D wants to be associated with successful clients and projects in the mining industry. This project provides us with an opportunity to do so. The mining industry is playing a critical role in salvaging South Africa’s economy that has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Surging demand and prices for commodities, including PGMs, have generated record mining-company profits and strengthened government revenue. Our Infrastructure Division, which is a leader in surface infrastructure for mines, is strategically positioned to benefit from this cycle,” Rukesh Raghubir, CEO of M&D, concludes. 

a tight deadline to avoid delaying the works programme of the shaft development team. Completing this project within the specified contractual period requires moving a fixed amount of material every day. Marthinus Erasmus provided invaluable advice by suggesting the deployment of larger haulage trucks and double-handling methods to further fast- track production. These combined with incentive schemes have helped to ensure that the team meets its daily targets. Moreover, daily planning meetings are held between team members to confirm that they are always aligned with M&D’s core values, while also facilitating teamwork that is conducive to high levels of productivity and efficiency. There is also constant communication and planning between M&D and DRA, the engineer that is monitoring the construction works. DRA is represented on site by Werner Henning, Contract Manager, and Dries Taljaard, Construction Manager. Relying on M&D’s Plant Division The Infrastructure Division is relying extensively on the skills and expertise of M&D’s Plant Division. Led by Mark Drury, the Plant Division is ensuring that the various items of plant and equipment on this contract are adequately maintained and serviced within the constraints of a very demanding schedule to mitigate downtime. Certainly, credit also needs to be given to the company’s many equipment suppliers for the quality technical support that they are supplying to the M&D team on this fast-track contract. A total of 64 machines from the Plant Division’s fleet were deployed to this construction site. They include 5 x articulated-dump trucks; 32 x 10 m 3 and 9 x 15 m 3 tipper trucks; 3 x 14 KL water trucks; 3 x 19 T rollers; 2 x bulldozers; 6 x excavators; 1 x loader; 2 x motor graders; and 1 x diesel bowser. Drury and his team also worked with the Infrastructure Division to develop a cloud-based diesel management system that has been integrated with the site-based administration system on this project. It enables the team to monitor performance daily to maintain high levels of productivity. “Mark and his team have again performed with distinction. The strong support that we receive from his team to keep machines in tip-top condition has helped us to stay focused on delivering quality and safe construction services. These objectives are also in line with M&D’s own ISO-

23 CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2021