Construction World January 2016

CONSTRUCTION WORLD

JANUARY

2016

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

The dam, owned by the Department

of Water Affairs, is a gravity dam that

was built in 1935 and constructed from

concrete to resist large volumes of water pres-

sure. The damwall is set to be raised by 13metres

and is one of South Africa’s largest projects set to

be completed in a five year roll-out plan.

Kwikspace’s involvement has played an

integral supporting role to the success of the

larger Clanwilliam Dam project and has erected

two main building structures comprising two

pre-fabricated office blocks next to each other:

the contractor’s block (952 m²) with 40 offices

and the engineer’s block (607 m²) providing 25

offices. The project includes five buildings in

total, three of which are workshops with portal

frames and sheeted cladding and roller shutter

vehicle access doors.

The fire retardant feature of the buildings

is comprised of panels that are manufactured

The expert team at Xylem South Africa, a part of the global water

solutions behemoth, Xylem Inc., has been hard at work over the

past few months in preparation for the opening of its new rental

hub premises in Gauteng.

This new purpose-built facility opened its doors on 1 October –

expanding Xylem’s global investment into emergingmarkets and augmented

rental development into Africa.

The rental hub offers customers ease of access and greater affordability

to world-class pump rental solutions within a centralised hub.

Over the past few years Xylem South Africa has positioned itself as

the go-to company for pumping solutions. The company operates within

the entire water cycle and is deeply entrenched as a trusted name in the

mining, construction, municipal, agricultural, marine, disaster relief and

residential spheres.

The company has greatly expanded its regional footprint with branches

currently servicing clients in Gauteng, NorthWest, Western Cape, Limpopo,

Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. With this strong national presence, the

team at Xylem South Africa in conjunction with its global parent company,

decided to invest into the expansion of Xylem’s rental service offering in

sub-Saharan Africa.

“We saw a greater need for tailor-made rental solutions developing in

South Africa and its neighbouring countries,” explains Dirk Bekker, rental

manager at Xylem South Africa.

“There are many benefits to rental solutions. Clients can focus on core

business, they can scale up your their fleet, clients pay only for the equip-

ment and services they need to minimise operating costs, Xylem designs,

builds, tests and rents it own equipment – we’ll always select and apply the

right solution for our clients’ needs. Renting can assist clients in reducing

capital expenditure while still retaining access to top of the range, word-

leading pump brands,” he adds.

The hub operates nationally through Xylem’s regional depots and

delivery and transport options to other areas can be discussed upon request.

Flexibility and adaptability is key with the Rental Hub – the knowledge-

able and experienced technical specialists at Xylem’s rental hub will be

able to put together hands-on solutions for customers – while backing it

up with solid technical advice and comprehensive maintenance strategies.

FIRE RETARDANT BUILDINGS

Kwikspace, sub-Saharan Africa’s leader in prefabricated modular

building solutions has delivered specialised site constructed fire-

proof buildings, unique to Kwikspace’s 40 mm polyurethane panel

offering, to the Clanwilliam Dam site.

with a magnesium oxide portion sandwiched

between the outer panels. This provides a fire

safety feature where, in the event of fire, the

panels will resist burning for up to 30 minutes.

All the walls are filled with insulating material

and lined on the inside with approved materials.

The buildings will provide comfortable,

air-conditioned office space with high quality

finishes to engineering, design, management,

administrative and construction supervision

personnel. Attention to detail includes windows

that were fitted with burglar proofing and mesh

fly-screens, thermally insulated ceilings with

air-conditioning/ heater units and flooring fitted

to client specifications.

Solar geyser and energy saving electric

installations and the planting of indigenous

grasses were also part of the eco-friendly turnkey

solution provided by Kwikspace. A special

rainwater harvesting system was designed and

implemented to supplement normal water

supply to the offices. Local labour and semi-

skilled personnel were employed throughout

the course of the construction period.

Comments Kwikspace executive manager,

Con de Villiers: “Our expertise in rapid site

setups in remote locations has ensured that

the two-and-a-half month on-site construc-

tion deadline was successfully met, all under

challenging weather conditions and a severe

sloping site.”

Kwikspace is ISO 9001 certified and con-

forms to the South African Bureaus of Standards

(SABS) and SANS 10400 for all their building

designs, unless otherwise specified by the client’s

local standards.

AFRICA’S LARGEST PUMP RENTAL HUB

Forever the industry trailblazer, Xylem South Africa

opened its new pump rental hub – the largest of

its kind on the African continent.

Xylem SA MD, Pierre Fourie.