42 / 72
DECEMBER • 2016
Construction
WORLD
40
Franki was awarded the contract in October 2015. They
commenced with the detailed design and mobilised to site
in December 2015 to commence site operations in early
January 2016. The foundations project was completed on
time in July 2016.
Franki used the Dynamic Compaction technique to compact the
in-situ materials to a design depth of 10 m below ground working
level. The compaction was carried out in three different phases
known as the primary, secondary and ironing phases, in this order.
Compaction of the deepest layer is achieved with the primary
phase. The secondary phase achieves compaction mainly in the
intermediate layers. The ironing phase ensures overlapping of the
initial phases by compacting the shallow layers between
the initial prints.
Franki employed the services of GETEC, a Keller company,
which specialises in vibration and movement/settlement
monitoring and recording.
A system was installed on existing tanks which allowed for
remote monitoring and reporting. Targets and a total survey station
were fixed to the existing tanks with remote references and a
predetermined reading timetable was set and readings were taken
automatically and transmitted to GETEC in the UK for analysis and
reporting. This together with a 3 m deep isolation trench allowed
operations to proceed without incident or stress, to the existing
nearby storage tanks.
Safety was as always paramount and Franki and their
subcontractor Civils 2000 were awarded the BCT Best Company
Safety Awareness trophy for 2016.
Specialist Contractors or Suppliers
B
DORMAC QUAY WALL
The new facility consists of the state of the art composite floating
dock supplied by Ukraine-based Pallada builders and a new 185 m
long, 16,9 m high (4 m above and 12 m under water) purpose built
quay constructed by Franki Africa.
The scope of work consisted of the construction of the main
quay structure, the closing in of the existing slipway, installation
of two large diameter mooring dolphins and the excavation and
dredging of the fill and in-situ harbour silts in front of the quay
wall. The engineering design of all civil and geotechnical work was
carried out by Franki Africa’s in-house technical team with support
from Young and Satharia Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers.
The main quay structure was designed for a total retained
As part of Dormac’s R300-million investment in the
Durban Harbour, Dormac Marine and Engineering’s new
floating dock facility, ‘Dormac Dock 1’ would go a long
way towards meeting the demand for ship repair in
South Africa’s busiest harbour.
height of 16 m under
various wave conditions
and berthing directions and
scenarios. The quay wall
consisted of 26 m long,
900 mm diameter
continuous flight auger
(CFA) piles with gaps
between piles sealed with
jet grout columns. The
soldier pile quay wall was
laterally restrained using
steel tie-backs anchored to
anchor piles behind the wall.
Project information
• Company entering: Franki Africa
• Client: Dormac
• Start date: December 2015
• End date: September 2016
• Main contractor: Franki Africa
• Consulting engineer: Young & Satharia
• Subcontractor: Subtech
• Subcontractor: Leomat
• Project value: R65 948 000
BURGAN CAPE TERMINALS FUEL STORAGE
Project information
• Company entering: Franki Africa
• Client: Burgan Cape Terminals
• Start date: December 2015
• End date: July 2016
• Main contractor: Chemi-Tech
• Subcontractor: Civils 2000
• Project value: R23 100 000
In 2015 BCT signed a 20 year lease agreement with the Port of
Cape Town for the use of the site on the Eastern Mole. The site is
a reclaimed area made up of demolition rubble of concrete and
the like in a variable soils matrix overlying weak soil horizons to
depths of 20 m and more. This presented an engineering challenge
to achieve acceptable settlement limits for the proposed large
storage tanks.
Burgan Cape Terminals (BCT) is an independent
storage company constituted by VTTI B.V.
(Holland). JICARO (RSA) and Thebe Investment
Corporation (RSA) to develop a much needed fuel
storage facility in the Port of Cape Town.
The innovative combination of CFA piling and jet grouting allowed
the lead time and construction programme to be reduced to
meet the fast-tracked deadlines. The soldier (CFA) piled wall
was finished with a continuous capping beam which provided
a connection between the soldier piles and the steel tie-back
anchors. Precast panels were positioned on the seaward side of
the capping beam, which acted both as a wall preventing water
ingress as well as the formwork for concreting.
The dock will allow an additional 45 dockings per year.
An extensive environmental impact assessment was carried out
prior to the civil works beginning and strict controls with continual
monitoring were required throughout construction. As this project
is the first in Durban Harbour to involve the removal of land (rather
than the reclamation thereof), the majority of the excavated
material was uncontaminated harbour silts and could be dumped
at specified marine dump sites or at land fill sites.
Both Franki and Dormac pride themselves on exceeding health
and safety standards and having amongst the best records in their
respective industries. All employees on this project underwent
job specific safety training and were subject to regular in-house
and external audits ensuring compliance. This contributed to the
overall success of the project and resulted in the works being
completed with 120 000 injury free man-hours.