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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
AUGUST
2015
PROJECT PROFILE
ABOVE:
A 50 t crane will be used to place trees
in special concrete boxes in this external garden
area.
LEFT:
One of the signature siding walls
which required high quality concrete to achieve
the necessary finish.
Huge project
Bridge Park forms part of a larger precinct
development at Century City. Murray & Roberts
Western Cape’s success at this prestigious office
development resulted in it securing another
contract, Century City Square, which is domi-
nated by the iconic Apex Building, as well as
housing a conference centre, a hotel, a mixed
use building including offices, showrooms and
apartments as well as parking. It will feature a
canal system on two sides of the development
with pedestrian and vehicle bridges.
“It is a massive project, not only in terms
of the entire footprint, but also in terms of the
complexity of the individual elements. Bridge
Park, for example, is a single component of the
entire precinct. By itself it was a challenging
project that demanded attention to the finest
detail and strict project management practices.
This allowed us to not only meet, but exceed
the client’s requirements,” Jacobs says.
The project has recorded impressive statis-
tics: 17 500 m
3
of concrete was used, in addition
to 1 734 t of rebar and 6 500 m
2
of brickwork.
The plastering comprised 19 934 m
2
of screeds,
9 131 m
2
of internal work and 9 757 m
2
of
external work; 9 757 m
2
of Marmoran coating
was used, as well as 28 426 m
2
of paint.
Bridge Park demonstrates the capability
of Murray & Roberts Western Cape to meet
the complex challenges posed by such major
projects. A particular focus was the subse-
quent smooth transition to working at Century
City Square, without unnecessary duplica-
tion of infrastructure. “The site itself is quite
constrained, if you take the canal and road
system into account, in addition to the Bridge
Park office development itself.
“As we progressed with Bridge Park, and
later began to work on Century City Square
as well, the site area between the projects
had to be carefully managed for equipment
access and transportation of construction
materials. However, our major strength is our
project management capability. Our resources
and processes in this regard not only assisted
with Bridge Park, but allowed us to integrate
seamlessly with Century City Square,” Jacobs
explains.
He attributes the smooth progress at
Bridge Park to the co-operation of the entire
professional team, in conjunction with the
input of the client. “It has been a very tight
programme. We secured the Bridge Park
contract on a highly competitive tender basis.
It has been a fantastic achievement on the
part of the entire Murray & Roberts Western
Cape team. We also have an excellent team of
consultants that facilitated the process. At the
end of the day it is the total team effort that
sees a major project like Bridge Park through
from start to finish,” Jacobs says.
Murray & Roberts Western Cape has
clocked up over 500 000 manhours without a
single lost-time incident at Bridge Park to date,
testament to the safety culture fostered by the
Murray & Roberts Group’s STOP.THINK.ACT 24/7
programme. “We take health and safety very
seriously and are very proud of our achieve-
ment in this regard on this complex project
site,” Jacobs concludes.