Housing in Southern Africa February 2016

Energy Efficiency, Green building & IBTs

Kusile nears completion

H owever, the construction of any power station comes with environmental implica- tions, which can only be neutralised through geosynthetics. To this end, construction and en- gineering group GAST was awarded the contract to manage the geosyn- thetic requirements of the Kusile Power Station. The contract was awarded through WBHO, based on GAST’s record of 11 500 successfully completed projects and its accredita- tion from the United Nations and the World Bank. The Kusile Geosynthetics project, which is entering its closing stages, has been seen as one of the largest andmost complex geosynthetic proj- ects in the SouthernHemisphere. This is owing to the volumes and intrica- cies of providing an environmentally friendly geosynthetic solution and secure platform for Kusile Ash and Coal over the 6 ha site. GAST Group CEO, Kevin Gast ex- plains that, “Geosynthetics has become the standard solution in relation to environmental protection in the past ten years in South Africa, taking guidance from International Standards and the hard work of or- ganisations like the Geosynthetics In- terest Group of South Africa (GIGSA). GAST, as one of a handful of entities specialising in this field, is proud to have been involved with such a sig- nificant project. Over the past four years, GAST has supplied and installed a significant number of advanced geosynthet- ic solutions to help minimise the

KusilePower Station isunder pressure tobeoperational by2018 inorder tostart contributingmuch-neededpower to theSouthAfricaneconomy.

geosynthetics inmost environmental protection systems, the Kusile Ash Dumps have provided amuchneeded springboard for future job creation. “Kusile was a complicated project froma technical perspective and from a commercial perspective. We are looking forward to handing over the keys to Eskom on this R180 million project in due course” says Gast. ■

environmental impact of the power station. Geomembranes, geotextiles and various drainage layers were required to help create a barrier be- tween the environment and Kusile’s multiple ash dumps and dirty dams. GAST employed over 50 com- munity members during this project thus transferring skills in a special- ised field. As new legislation calls for

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