Construction World April 2015

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

PILING FOR ‘SOAP CITY’ STUDIOS Leading piling company, Gauteng Piling, recently completed the sinking of 91 augercast piles to form the foundation for the new Stage 1 and 4 building in Sasani Studios’ ‘Soap City’ complex in Highlands Park, Johannesburg.

Sasani Studios is a renowned TV broad- cast studio and post-production facility that has since the 1980s been the home

ranged from 7 m to 12 m, and their diameter from 450 mm to 950 mm. “As Gauteng Piling had handled piling on several occasions on the same site before, we were well prepared for the drilling operations, and knew what to expect as far as soil condi- tions were concerned. The soil quality was, in general, good but we did in places strike underground concrete from old foundations. The heavy summer rains also flooded the site’s lower platform and the main contractor had to import and compact material to make the site more workable,” Lekutu states. Gauteng Piling employed two Williams rigs from its fleet for the Sasani Studios piling: a Williams LDH digger with 5,5 t-m torque – which has for long been the benchmark for auger cast machines in the piling industry – and a Williams LLDH machine with 8,8 t-m torque. An auger cast pile is formed by drilling a hole into the ground, placing some steel rein- forcement into the hole and then filling the hole with concrete. No steel casings had to be inserted on this contract. Auger cast piles cause minimal disturbance, and are often used for noise and environmentally sensitive sites. Since its establishment in Johannesburg in July 1996, Gauteng Piling has developed into one of the leading piling contractors in South Africa. The company has to date completed over 1 500 projects and its current fleet consists

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for many major TV soap operas and reality shows. Sasani was the technical partner to South Africa's first and longest running soapie, Egoli , and currently is the technical partner to e-TV’s Scandal and RhythmCity , which operate out of the Sasani studios in Highlands North, and 7de Laan , which is managed and supported in studios off-site. Sasani Studios has also been responsible for delivering the popular reality show, Big Brother Africa , for the past four years. Gauteng Piling has worked on Sasani Studios projects before: its last project for the company was in 2013 when Gauteng Piling provided the piling for the fast-track construc- tion of two studios on the Highlands North site to cater for Scandal and Rhythm City . The piling company was consequently directly appointed by Sasani management to handle the foundations for the new double-storey studio complex being built by main contractor, Chakita Construction. Keo Lekutu, Gauteng Piling site manager for the project, says the new studio complex will be used for the filming of a high-profile TV reality show and will accommodate change rooms, wardrobe area, acting stages and sound rooms. Gauteng Piling had to provide 91 augercast piles in a period of 2,5 weeks. The depth of the piles Kimberly-born Maas studied Civil Engi- neering at the University of Pretoria through a bursary from the Department of Water Affairs for whom he worked for two years, initially in Planning in Pretoria and then in Master Builders Association (MBA) North has bestowed Honorary Life Membership on one of the stalwarts and highly respectedmembers of the South African construction industry, Nico Maas. > Lea Smith, outgoing president of MBA North (left), awards Honorary Life Membership of the Association to Nico Maas, chairman of Gauteng Piling, and a past president of both Master Builders SA and Gauteng Master Builders Association.

of 20 auger drilling machines, two cranes, two bore rigs, four Grundo hammers, and two lateral support machines. Under the leadership of Hennie Bester, past president of Master Builders Association North, Gauteng Piling providedmore than 500 piles for the construction of Southern African’s largest single-phase retail centre, Mall of Africa, now under construction in Midrand. Other recent contracts handled by Gauteng Piling include the piling for the large-scaled Value Logistics warehouse in Kempton Park, the Fire & Ice Hotel in Pretoria, The Grove Shopping Centre and Bon Accord Police Station in Pretoria, and a newCity Lodge Hotel being built in Newtown, as well as extensions to the Market Theatre complex also under construction in Newtown. The company also handled the piling for a new FAW auto dealership in Croydon in Ekurhuleni, as well as the I’langa Mall in Mbombela (Nelspruit). Gauteng Piling site foreman, Tshifhiwa Ndwambi, pictured at one of the 91 piles the company provided for a new Sasani Studios building at Highlands North.

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HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP FOR SA BUILDING INDUSTRY STALWART

CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2015