MechChem Africa August 2018

⎪ Asset, maintenance and risk management ⎪

Waterproofing challenges on exterior façades of a hotel in Lusaka, Zambia, led to the extension of the project time to install flashing as a waterproofing material, which required the erection of temporary rigging set-ups for safety reasons by specialists from Skyriders. Scaling new heights for hotel waterproofing in Zambia

S kyriders Access Specialists show- cased the flexibility of its rope- access solutions with a recent wa- terproofing contract on a 19-storey hotel building, in Lusaka, Zambia, for amajor hotel group. The initial scope of work was to assist the primarycontractorwithwaterproofingonone or two problem areas in the building, a one- or two-day undertaking at best. “However, it quickly turned intoa seven-weekproject, run- ningfromFebruarytoMarch2018,becauseof substantial waterproofing challenges on the exterior façades,” says Skyriders’ marketing manager, Mike Zinn. While minimal gaps in the building’s façade could simply be filled with silicon sealant, this was not a viable option for the larger gaps. Hence flashing was selected as the best waterproofing material, which prevents water ingress from joints, as well as forming a weather-resistant barrier system. “In addition, the building areas that re- quiredattentionlackedanystraightverticalor horizontal surface, whichmade traditional ac- cess almost impossible. Therefore, aquickand simple rope-access solution was adopted as themostcost-effectivemaintenancemethod,” Zinn notes. Toenhance safetywhileworking-at-height

during this project, temporary rigging set-ups were erected to allow for sufficient deviation to access the areas that required attention.

A quick and simple rope-access solution was adopted because traditional access was impossible due to the lack of any straight vertical or horizontal surface. Another logistical challenge posed by this project was the actual supply chain of the waterproofing material itself, sourced from another subcontractor. The hotel industry inZambia presents sig- nificant growth opportunities for Skyriders to supply specialist rope-access services to aid essential maintenance work such as waterproofing. Not only is the company ISO9001-, ISO14000- and ISO18000-certi- fied, as per the requirement of multinational hotel chains, but it also adheres to the highest health and safety standards. “The fact that we are able to offer our specialist rope-access services into the rest of Africa via our South African home base adds to our cost-competitiveness, as we are able to take advantage of any exchange-rate fluctuations, and pass these onto our African customers directly,” Zinn concludes. q

A two-person Skyriders team installed working- at-height safety anchors for Maredi Telecoms in Polokwane.

August 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 13