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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
APRIL
2015
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
Sasani Studios is a renowned TV broad-
cast studio and post-production facility
that has since the 1980s been the home
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
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
>
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).
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.
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.
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
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP FOR SA BUILDING
INDUSTRY STALWART
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.