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MARKETPLACE
This outstanding achievement is the result of the exceptional attention
to detail and meticulous care taken by Liviero site teams in their work
areas, comments Brad Boertje, managing executive of Liviero Building.
“Our construction teams’ commitment to constantly striving for the safest
sites sets them apart, and this dedication is reflected in our latest results in
the MBSA’s prestigious, annual industry competition,” he states.
Liviero’s Eskom Wilge site took top honours in Category H, for contracts
between R300 and R500-million, while the contractor’s Jelf Taylor Crescent
site won Category F, for contracts between R75 and R150-million. Liviero’s
Pavilion team took first place in the competition’s Category E, for contracts
between R25 and R75-million.
Liviero was also among the top achievers in Categories D and G. The
company’s Midlands Medical Centre site secured third place in Category G,
for contracts between R150 and R300-million, and its KwaMnyandu Pedes-
trian Bridge contract took fourth place in Category D, for contracts between
R10 and R25-million.
The MBSA National Safety Competition follows on from regional events
in which Liviero also excelled, Boertje reports. The company’s KwaZulu-Natal
sites won five regional awards in this stage of the competition. In addition to
the many site-related awards, Liviero Plant was placed second in the regional
competition for plant and storage yards.
The annual MBSA safety awards ceremony was held at the International
Convention Centre in Durban, during the MBSA’s annual congress.
“We at Liviero are extremely proud of the efforts of all staff and stake-
holders in consistently setting the highest standards in occupational health
and safety,” Boertje concludes.
From left: Itumeleng Leshoedi (MBSA occupational health and safety
manager), Gift Shumba (Liviero site agent), Stephen Mayeza (Liviero
senior safety officer), and Neil Cloete (MBSA president).
SANRAL will adopt new specifications for the asphalt design
mix and for bitumen. The new specifications are more geared
towards a paradigm of scientific knowledge in comparison to
the South African mechanistic pavement design method.
The new methodology that the agency is adopting will rely on
temperature isotypes or temperature gradient regions in conjunction
with the four classes of traffic volume over road surfaces to determine the
bitumen design specifications. Bitumen is an essential product in road
construction and repair.
The major benefit of pairing the bitumen with the specific require-
ments of the climatic area and the traffic loading is that the longevity of
the bitumen and subsequently, the road surface, can be better under-
stood. From this understanding comes the ability to build roads that can
last longer, which will save tax payers’ money in the long run. SANRAL will
also introduce a new asphalt design method.
“Historically, we have drawn on the empirical method. However, we
have now put a lot of time into understanding the finite elements, and
the new mix design method will be more scientifically-orientated,” said
Sean Strydom, SANRAL southern region materials specialist.
The ability to analyse and predict what will happen in a structural
element over time is the very basis of structural design. This ability is
now within reach of the pavement engineer and the design of asphalt
layers from the same principles as structural design will result in more
cost effective road layers being constructed.
“SANRAL will introduce software drawing on the insight generated
by sophisticated mathematical models for every material layer in the
pavement, from the lower-level granular layers to the more expensive
upper layers which is cement and bitumen stabilised layers. Up until now
we have never looked at how these layers interact with each
other,” Strydom said.
“The software will also allow us to conduct an HDM4 analysis or
analysis of the lifecycle costs,” he said.
SANRAL also announced in March this year the opening of a new
engineering materials laboratory that will see road materials from across
the Eastern Cape now being tested in Port Elizabeth.
NATIONAL SAFETY
AWARDS WINNER
Liviero Building was the proud winner of three
awards in the 2016 Master Builders South Africa
(MBSA) National Safety Competition.
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Adoption of
NEW
SPECIFICATIONS
The South African National Roads Agency
SOC Limited (SANRAL) has announced
the adoption of two new road materials
engineering specifications for the
construction of the national road network
and other roads under its jurisdiction.
Sean Strydom, SANRAL southern region materials specialist (right), and
Yanga Mshweshwe of SANRAL’s Centre of Excellence determine the theoretical
maximum density of asphalt.
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The facility will double up as a skills development centre where graduate
engineers in SANRAL’s experiential learning programme can get exposure
to, and focus on, materials engineering.
The civil engineering materials testing lab enables SANRAL to test
the properties of construction materials used in road maintenance
activities as well as in development and upgrading of the national roads.
In addition it will give SANRAL a second-tier quality assessment tool
through comparative or correlation tests done independently from, but
concurrently with, the tests of site material labs conducted on conven-
tional road engineering projects in the province.
“Road materials engineering remains a critical part of ensuring a
world-class road infrastructure network. We are also excited by the new
research being undertaken by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in
terms of adding non-homogenous agents such as recycled tyre rubber in
combination with polymer particles into the design mix,” he said.
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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
NOVEMBER
2016