Civil Engineering April 2021 | Vol 29 No 3

Delivering INNOVATIVE geotechnical SolutionS GROUP G eo C iv WWW.GEOCIVGROUP.CO.ZA greg Whittaker – Managing Director • 082 9400 385 • greg@geociv.co.za Jean Breedt – Operations Director • 082 936 3103 • jean@geociv.co.za In 2020, albeit during the Covid-19 Pandemic, we had an amazing year of tremendous “Mega Projects”, making 2020 one of our best years ever, detailed below are a triumvirate of projects that the GEO CIV team excelled themselves in. 1) FORD PRESS PLANT & UPGRADE SILVERTON:- Scope of Works :- • -3000 No Auger piles • -250 No SDA Micro Piles • -450 tons of steel installed • -3750 m3 of concrete placed This project is part of a multi-Billion Rand investment into the Auto-manu- facturing industry of South Africa that aims to boost the economy by a variety of contributing factors. It is therefore a great honour for GEO CIV GROUP to be a part of such a flagship project. 2) MSIKABA RIVER BRIDGE :- The site location in the Eastern Cape was always going to make a project of this size challenging, 1000km from our base in Johannesburg and 20km to the closest town. Temperatures in the summer can reach a searing 40 degrees and below zero in the winter makes a challenge for any workforce. general overview Msikaba River bridge being the 2nd highest cable way suspension in Africa is not only one the most prestigious construction projects in Southern Africa in modern times, the required lateral support and rockfall protection made this project the biggest lateral support works GEO CIV GROUP has under- gone in its 25 year history. Duration GEO CIV GROUP initially set out to complete the lateral support works within 5 month tendered duration, with regular updates to the support works, the required support works and other extra items added on as we went along, and this changed our duration to 10 months. Scope of Works :- • 4000m2 of Rock anchors and Gunite / Shotcrete protection • 4000m2 of Drape netting with tensioned cables • 8000m2 of de-barring and high pressure cleaning • 24 no. high spec, pressure grouted micro piles for the imminent instal- lation of the cable car to carry staff from one bank to another • Over 100 barrier holes for protection of the workforce • Numerous micro piles to assist the contractor in difficult to reach zones 3) BOOYSENDAL MINE INFRASTRUCTURE :- Northam Platinum has invested billions in infrastructure develop- ment and has been expanding the mine’s operations for the past 10 years to exploit the large deposits of platinum and chrome within the mountains. Booysendal mine will never be an easy site to work on, due to the vast area the mine covers, moun- tainous terrain, cold and wet weather conditions, and constant traffic along the mountain passes. Scope of Works :- • Slope protection works by means of lateral support at heights up to 12m: • 2750m2 x 100mm thick reinforced shotcrete • 450 no. 4m deep threadbar 500 soil nails and rock bolts installed at height • 240 no. self-drilling soil nails installed at height • Lateral Support box cuts for conveyor foundations: • 650m2 x 150mm thick reinforced shotcrete completed. • 450 no. threadbar 500 soil nails completed. • Fibre reinforced shotcrete for run-off ponds: • 250m2 x 75mm thick steel fibre reinforced shotcrete placed for lining of run-off ponds • Rope conveyor anchors: Limited access, self-drilling anchors installed for assembly of the North Rope Conveyor – total of 20 anchors to depths of 8m As the GEO CIV TEAM, we are challenged by our clients’ projects and we love delivering Innovative solutions to solve our Clients challenges. We do work on a national Footprint, please contact us regarding your Specialist geotechnical works. info@geociv.co.za