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BEST
PR
O
JECTS
24
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
DECEMBER
2015
South African Breweries has invested
in a new state of the art maltings
plant located in Alrode, Alberton.
The maltings plant, which is not only a
first of its kind in Africa, will be the biggest
in Africa and third biggest in the world and
saw the congregation of a multicultural
design and construction team join SAB:
Malteurope and Hatch Goba. WBHO was
appointed to carry out all civil works on
the project.
WBHO kicked off construction in May
2014. The site team consisted of 31 foreman,
450 labour and 15 managerial staff. The orig-
inal scope of work was priced at R131-mil-
lion and was to last 12 months. After addi-
tional scope of work was included, the
contract value has increased to R190-million
SAB Alrode New Malting Plant
Civil Engineering Contractors
A1
and the duration has extended to 19 months.
Construction saw an excess of 13 000 m²
of structural concrete placed, and consisted
of 6 500 m² of formwork to bases and ground
beams, 10 000 m² of horizontal formwork
and 30 000 m² of vertical formwork. Five
tower cranes were erected on site, strategi-
cally planned to ensure that all areas of the
site were covered and wall formwork could
be placed and removed from all locations.
Due to the soil conditions on site (high
clay content with poor bearing capacity),
structures were designed to be supported
on piles. All floor slabs were designed as
suspended slabs and due to potential
heaving of the clay subgrade, a void below
ground slabs was required.
For the construction of the 6 000 m²
concrete slab for a silo terrace, a conven-
tional reinforced concrete slabwas designed.
Due to the nature of the in-situ material,
a 1 000 mm deep RC slab was required.
The opportunity for precast elements
was identified during the early phases of
construction, which saw the construction of
65 precast elements the majority of which
were ring beams.
Potentially the biggest risk on this
project was labour overspend and the
extremely tight programme.
Due to the soil conditions on site (high
clay content with poor bearing capacity),
structures were designed to be supported
on piles. All floor slabs were designed as
suspended slabs and due to potential
heaving of the clay subgrade, a void below
ground slabs was required.
For the construction of the 6 000 m²
concrete slab for a silo terrace, a conven-
tional reinforced concrete slabwas designed.
Due to the nature of the in-situ material,
a 1 000 mm deep RC slab was required.
A post tensioned slab was investigated and
the final solution was a 500 mm deep PT
slab designed by Chris Howes Construction.
The solution both accelerated construction
time and saved on material costs.
The opportunity for precast elements
was identified during the early phases of
construction, which saw the construction of
65 precast elements the majority of which
were ring beams.
The heart and soul of the germination
area an essential part of the malting plant,
was the germination bed walls. These
process walls required extreme attention
to detail. A total of seven germination beds,
68 m in length, 9,1 m wide and 4,9 m high
were to be constructed.
Project information
• Company entering: WBHO Construction
• Project start date: May 2014
• Project end date: December 2015
• Client: South African Breweries
• Main contractor: WBHO
• Principal agent: Hatch Goba
• Project value: R190-million