In today’s construction equipment market, after-sales service has reached critical importance. Leading the field in this vital aspect is Kemach JCB, distributors of JCB equipment in South Africa.
“The aftermarket adds value for customers as correct maintenance enhances the residual value of a machine and eradicates downtime. For us it builds very good customer relationships,” says Kemach JCB’s CEO Les Lothian.
The Kemach JCB infrastructure certainly provides the perfect platform for a wide footprint: it has 12 of their own facilities and six sub-dealers.
Work may have been undertaken outside the so-called ‘red zone’ at Sishen mine in the Northern Cape, but this did not make one of the last contracts Murray & Roberts Infrastructure undertook for Kumba any easier.
Following the completion of another civil engineering construction contract at the iron ore mine later this year, the leading South African infrastructure specialist, which forms part of Murray & Roberts Construction, will be establishing itself elsewhere in the country to start working on a road construction contract for a major local roads agency.
From left: One of the challenges was managing the workability of the concrete in the cold winter months when the pours were done; as many as 10 different interfaces were on the go at any given time; and 770 t of reinforcement bar was used in the construction of the forecourt.
A one-of-a-kind cast-in-place structure is currently under way near Munich: the ESO Supernova Planetarium and Visitors Centre. The building's cubature takes its cue from a narrow double star system. The architecture of the construction project is characterised by inclinations up to 23 degrees and demands the ultimate in artful engineering from contractor and formwork supplier.
For a cost-effective execution solution, PERI’s Israeli engineers combined several climbing system variants. The system concept was perfectly matched with the climbing formwork and protection panels as well as exactly meeting construction site requirements.
From left: The two domes of the ESO Supernova Planetarium are reminiscent of a lying eight.Photo:Doka; fine adjustments are accomplished by using top-mounted forming boxes. Photo: Doka; and the self-climbing ACS P Platform variant has been adapted to suit the central 8 m x 10 m core ground plan (Photo: PERI).
Various stories in our ‘project and contracts’ section deal with refurbishments.
TAL supplied adhesives for the installation of 6 000 m² of mosaics to refurbish the Innes Chambers office building – an iconic structure in the Johannesburg CBD skyline, distinguished by its sun-screening structure that consists of a series of Y-shaped columns.
For most in the building sector, a project of the sheer magnitude and complexities of the Menlyn Park Reconfiguration Phase II project comes once or twice in their lifetime.
This is just one of the reasons why Murray & Roberts Buildings operations director, Rui Santos, is so excited about handing over the project to Pareto at the end of November this year. The contractor has been working round the clock to meet this deadline. Murray & Roberts Buildings is a division of Murray & Roberts Construction.
Sun City’s four hotels and the entertainment zones have or are in the process of being revamped in a five-year, R1-billion upgrade which will be complete in 2017.
From left: The Innes Chambers office building; Menlyn Park and Sun City.