Construction World September 2018

DBSA’s flagship project

Located on former Old Mutual Land, the project has been allocated R160-million in the 2018/19 period, and R524 million over the next three years, as noted in the Ekurhuleni 2017/18 Budget Highlights. Established in 1957, Tembisa is a major informal settlement to the north of Kempton Park on the East Rand in Gauteng. Junithan Moodley, Operations Director of the Motheo Construction Group’s civils division, explains that the next step is to appoint subcontractors in terms of relevant Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), as well to provide the DBSA with a detailed quality plan for the works, including the construction methodology to be adopted. The Motheo Construction Group has been awarded a R145-million contract by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) for bulk services at the Tembisa Extension 25 mega-project for the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

Motheo Construction Group has won a R145-million contract from the DBSA at the Tembisa Extension 25 mega-project.

“Our detailed programme for the scope of work will emphasise the critical path and completion date, which is an estimated 12 months for the entire package,” Moodley outlines. Site handover and mobilisation are currently underway. Well-known in the construction industry as a leading provider of social housing, the Motheo Construction Group’s civils division, under CEO Archie Rutherford, is aimed at transforming it into a one- stop contractor. The civils division specialises in the construction of roads and earthworks, as well as installation of services such as water, sewer and stormwater reticulation. It has also established a formidable concrete division specialising in all forms of structural concrete work. “We have a substantial pipeline of project work. I am confident that the group will grow to be in a position to compete with the large public construction companies in the future. Apart from being majority black women-owned, most of our staff are young, which means they represent the next generation of management and technical expertise,” Moodley concludes. 

Key role in coal terminal’s upgrade

Reinvesting in the future of the RBCT has been a greatly rewarding project so far, says Peter Mihalik, Aurecon Major Project Manager. “Like many companies that started in the mid-seventies, RBCT suffered from what can be called an Ageing Machine Syndrome. What was needed was the magic formula for when to replace complex, multifaceted machines such as the stack reclaimers and shiploaders. The original equipment had been built in 1976 and was designed for an operational life of 20 years. This is what led to the major equipment replacement strategy, of which the first phase has now been officially launched,” says Mihalik. The two new stack reclaimers have replaced old equipment that had been used for over four decades. The two new shiploaders are operating at 99% efficiency, resulting in a vastly improved turnaround time on incoming vessels. The old electrical substations had to be reconfigured to accommodate the new equipment.  The R1,34-billion investment in new stack reclaimers and shiploaders was officially switched on at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). Global engineering and infrastructure advisory company, Aurecon, is the project manager on the massive project, which has so far involved the design, supply and erection of two 6 000 t/h rail-mounted stacker reclaimers and two 10 000 t/h rail-mounted shiploaders.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2018