November 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
51
products & services
THE BASE MATERIALS ORDER
comprises
about 120 000 tons of G5 base material and
55 000 m³ of heavy line ballast, as well as ap-
proximately 1 500 m³ of readymix concrete.
These products are being supplied out of
AfriSam’s Rooikraal and Sub-Nigel operations,
located on the East Rand. The order includes
material for the upgrading of two concrete
bridges and a number of culverts.
AfriSam’s George Hesse, key account con-
sultant responsible for Transnet, says at pres-
ent all the coal required by the power station
is being transported by road haulage. The
recommissioning of this section of railway
line will not only save Eskomexpenditure on
road haulage costs, but will also reduce the
cost of externalities such as damage to public
roads, traffic congestion and vehicle exhaust
pollution in the area. Most importantly, the
loss of lives and injury of people in the com-
munities due to accidents will be mitigated.
“Although the order was placedwith us in
Supplies railway line
reinstatement project
AfriSam, one of the leading suppliers of ballast to the South African railway
sector, has secured an order to supply base materials and ballast to a
Transnet Freight Rail undertaking that will see the full reinstatement
of the 22 km Balfour to Grootvlei railway link by the end of 2013.
This railway line will be used to transport coal from coalfields in
Mpumalanga and the Free State to Eskom’s Grootvlei Power Station
near Balfour in Mpumalanga.
January 2013, we’ve been part of theTransnet
Freight Rail team for this project since 2012,”
Hesse says. “We have since become embed-
ded in this project team, attending weekly
planning and progress meetings, and this
close co-operation has generated a supply
partnership that has resulted in the order be-
ing executedwithin the required timeframes.”
Activities on the Balfour to Grootvlei rail-
way line reduced significantly when Eskom
mothballed the Grootvlei power station in
1990, but when South Africa experienced
a power crisis in the late 2000’s, the power
station was returned to service.
“Unfortunately, in the years following
the 1990 mothballing of the power station,
the railway link line used to bring in coal
fell into disuse and later most of the 22 km
line was actually stolen, including the line,
sleepers and switchgear,”Hesse explains.“The
reinstatement project includes the line being
upgraded to higher axle loading specification
in line with the Transnet Freight Rail network
standards whichwill eventually allowheavier
trains to supply the required coal.”
AfriSam is also supplying other Transnet
Freight Rail upgrade undertakings, includ-
ing sections of the main Johannesburg to
KwaZulu-Natal line from Heidelberg to Dur-
ban, sections from Ladysmith to Newcastle
and portions of the Mpumulanga - Richards
Bay coal line.
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ABOVE AND BELOW:
AfriSam is supplying 1 500 m³ of readymix concrete for Transnet’s
Balfour to Grootvlei railway link project.
AfriSam is one of the leading suppliers of
ballast to the South African railway sector.
The supplied material will be used for the
upgrading of two concrete bridges and
a number of culverts.
