December 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
26
Civil Engineering Contractors
A
1
N12 – Tom Jones
R
eferred to as the ‘veins and arteries’ of South Africa’s economy,
themain highways in Gauteng cannot be congestedwith traffic,
but must be kept open in order to allowunimpeded growth.This
is the reasoning behind the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project
(GFIP), comprising various work packages to upgrade approximately
560 km of highway in the Gauteng province. Work Package K is a
part of the wider GFIP and covers 9,7 km of road on the N12 highway
between the Rietfontein Interchange and theTom Jones Interchange
in the East Rand.
A prominent component ofWork Package Kwas the Continuously
Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP) and the Ultra-Thin Continu-
ously ReinforcedConcrete Pavements (UTCRCP) that were constructed
with an asphalt overlay.
Concrete pavements were chosen primarily for their high lifetime
value (30+ years) and lower maintenance costs. Given the fact that
this is one of South Africa’smost densely trafficked roadways, it seems
the logical infrastructure to implement.
The skills learned in concreting roads can easily be transferred
to the civil engineering and building sectors. This particular project
was one of the first rolled out by SANRAL introducing UTCRCP at such
a high volume. While many hours of research may have gone into
fibre-reinforced concrete, applying it in this environment bordered
on ground-breaking experiences.
While there may still be a great deal more research performed
on perfecting the designs of concrete pavements, with further
investigations into shrinkage and temperature variation as
Rehabilitation and strengthening of graded strips for
runway 01/19 Cape Town International Airport
T
he rehabilitation and strengthening of runway 01/19 at Cape
Town International Airport afforded the civil engineering con-
tractor, Power Constructionwith theopportunity todemonstrate
their project management ability, focusing on time and riskmanage-
ment, without compromising quality or the safety of their staff.
The scope of the contract consisted of the following key activi-
ties: To re-grade and strengthen the existing runway slopes with the
construction of 35 000 tons of asphalt wearing course. Construc-
tion of strengthened graded strips which was done through bulk
earthworks of approximately 68 000 m
3
that were cut to stockpile for
future use. With the completion of the importation of approximately
30 000 m
3
G7 Quality gravel the final layer of 100 mm thick topsoil of
approximately 30 000m
3
was placed to accommodate the application
of 300 000 m
2
hydroseeding and 70 000 m
2
Cynodon roll on lawn.
While all of the above mentioned activities were constructed, the
electrical subcontractor installed approximately 240 kmof secondary
cableswhich energises the newly installed 512 newLED runway lights.
Throughout the 10 month project, the Cape Town Interna-
tional airport remained operational at all times. Working on an
active runway requires close co-operation between contractors,
engineers and safety personal from both ACSA and the contractor.
The above mentioned work was completed in shifts between mid-
night (24:00) and 5:30 in the morning. The construction work had to
be done before the first flight departs at 5:45. As the cleaning team’s
last minute sweeping continued on the runway, up to 24 000 daily
commuters, to various cities over South Africa, were checking in and
boarding for their flights.
Together with the challenges the contractor was also confronted
with some difficulties and associated risks involved in a project of this
nature. Due to the fact that the Cape Town International Airport is a
fully functional airport at all times, all shifts and/or activities had to
be pre-planned and executed with military precision.
The Cape Town International Airport is also a national key point
and therefore the access permits and approval of plant and staff
were very strictly managed by the Airports Company of South Africa
(ACSA). Health and Safety on the CapeTown International Airport is of
utmost importance and the client therefore had expectations beyond
the normal expected criteria of a construction contract. Daily safety
sessions were conducted to implement or communicate new risks
and/or hazards to all parties.
Project information
• Name: Rehabilitation and
strengthening of graded strips
for runway 01/19 Cape Town
International Airport
• Company entering: Power
Construction
• Project start date: 13 August 2012
• Project end date: 28 June 2013
• Client: Airports Company South
Africa (ACSA)
• Main contractor: Power Construction
• Project team: Royal HaskoningDHV /
ACSA/Power Construction
• Project manager: ACSA
• Consulting engineer: Royal
HaskoningDHV
• Project value: R155 000 000
Also entered category E
