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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
MAY
2016
PROJECT PROFILE
ABOVE:
A total of 8 000 m
3
of concrete was poured
in six months.
RIGHT:
Some 770 t of reinforcement bar was used
in the construction of the forecourt.
Pours were undertaken during the winter
months of 2015, with temperatures starting
at zero degrees Celsius in the morning and
gradually building up to 30 degrees Celsius in
the afternoons, before cooling down.
At times, the concrete crews would start
pouring at 7:00 in the morning with shifts
varying from nine to 12 hours.
“We had to come up with a suitable
concrete mix to overcome this, and
relied heavily on extenders to keep the
material workable at all times,” he says,
adding that crews also had to be wary
of excessive cracking due to the extreme
temperature fluctuations.
Smaller concrete structures tackled by
Murray & Roberts Infrastructure as part of
the total works package included silt traps, a
conservancy tank, pipe support foundation
plinths, storm water channel and high-light
mast foundations, as well as a number of
slabs for the process water and potable water
tanks, nitrogen supply and fire water.
Ready to move
The contractor started demobilising from the
site in November 2015, after handing over to
the other contractors to complete the steel
fabrication, as well as electrical and mechan-
ical components of the infrastructure.
Krugel and many other members of the
Murray & Roberts Infrastructure team have
been stationed in the Northern Cape since
2005, when the company became involved
at Sishen mine as a subcontractor on a large
infrastructure project there.
Here, the contractor also later participated
in the massive Sishen Expansion Project
where it undertook the civils for the primary
crusher. Its strong relationship with the South
African mining giant, Kumba also saw it clinch
contracts at Kolomela mine.
It also secured contracts at Assmang’s
Khumani mine where it was involved in a
myriad of infrastructure delivery programmes
during the three phases of expansion there.
Included in the company’s impressive
portfolio of projects in the iron ore and
manganese mining province of South Africa
is the work it has undertaken at Assmang’s
Beeshoek mine.
In 2012, it was tasked with rerouting a
section of national road to allow for expan-
sion of the mining pit.
Krugel says that Murray & Roberts Infra-
structure’s impressive track-record at these
mines has given it a significant competitive
edge. It not only has a formidable presence in
the province, but the entire team has a thor-
ough understanding of the complex working
environment, where productivity and safety
are overriding factors.
He points out that the project achieved
the company’s overall safety objective
of Zero Harm in that no lost time injury
was experienced.
Jerome Govender, executive chairman of
Murray & Roberts Construction, says that it
therefore stands to reason that once mining
activity picks up again, which it certainly
will, Murray & Roberts Infrastructure will be
called on again by these major players in the
iron ore and manganese sectors to help them
prepare for the upturn.