News & Media

25 June 2010

NEVER AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS IT FIRST APPEARS

At first sight, it seemed that Concor SPG (Strategic Partner Group) had two relatively run-of-the-mill projects: a standard, eight-storey concrete parkade at Gautrain’s Hatfield station and the Gautrain station itself at Midrand. There were no particularly complex design features and no requirements for unfamiliar technology.

Yet according to managing director of Concor Building, Brad Wantenaar, credit is definitely due to the professionalism, teamwork and unreserved commitment of the Concor personnel employed on the projects that the work has been completed to the superb quality and safety standards that have distinguished them.

“We were appointed as subcontractor to the Consortium,” Wantenaar comments. “The area of the Hatfield multi-storey parkade extended over 78 000 square metres, requiring 27 200 cubic metres of concrete, 85 000 square metres of form work, 2 358 tons of reinforcing and 3 740 metres of precast parapets to construct the parkade which would be able to cater for about 2 300 parking bays. We also constructed the pile caps and took the building from the ground level to the top.” As always with Concor, the project was completed within budget and deadline, but it was certainly not without its challenges.

“Logistics and planning required ingenuity, tenacity and pin-point accuracy,” Wantenaar continues. “The location was positioned in a particularly awkward site, bounded by the existing train line to one side and car dealerships on the other, while roads to each end further restricted space. This eliminated any available land for stacking space for the cranes to offload material.” This, in turn, resulted in double and triple handling of material, which, once offloaded by one crane, had to be picked up and moved to a second, and sometimes a third area.

The situation significantly heightened risks and forced Concor to ramp up safety measures considerably, particularly since the cranes could not slew over the railway line to lift material over it. The very existence of a live railway line right next to operations also impacted on safety concerns. “Planning and logistics had to be extremely detailed to counter these risks,” Wantenaar points out.

The team’s success and expertise were highlighted by the remarkable safety track record, without any lost-time injuries taking place on site. And this despite the fact that considerable work had to be undertaken at night to ensure that operation of the railway and adjacent businesses was not negatively affected.

The weather further exacerbated already difficult conditions. “We experienced double the annual rainfall in the first three months,” he adds. “Nor was it just the rain which caused delays and hampered work, but the time required for pumping water and cleaning as well.”

Despite the unforeseen complexities, Concor completed the deck concrete work within 10 months of the allotted 14, doing an impressive 1 500 to 2 000 square metres of form work per week. “In doing the precast work, we achieved a peak of about 300 metres per week, which is also an impressive accomplishment.”

The project was further complicated by the requirement to complete method statements and risk assessments before any activities could be performed. “We had a fulltime engineer employed just preparing method statements,” Wantenaar continues. “Every single activity had to be signed off prior to commencement, from erecting cranes to pouring concrete and it became a very onerous and exacting task”.

“I am also convinced that it is only our extensive experience in cooperating with contractors and subcontractors on other projects that gave us the ability to deal with unforeseen interruptions in both the flow of communications and the supply of material and to ensure that quality and safety achieved the admirable standards they did.”

Similar challenges of interfacing and co-ordinating with both contractor and numerous subcontractors faced Concor Building on the Midrand station project. “We were required to complete a certain portion of the work among several other subcontractors,” Wantenaar explains. “Once again, our in-depth expertise in logistics and planning enabled us to rise to the very testing demands, ensuring that we fulfilled all requirements, co-ordinating activities with the progress of the actual track.”

Only once the track had been finalised could Concor commence the finishes on the platform. Times and specifications had to be respected and it was no mean feat that Concor kept delays that arose from inadequate correlation of schedules to an absolute minimum.

The Midrand station required 3 600 cubic metres of concrete, 5 500 square metres of form work and 202 tons of reinforcing. “Again, we had to produce detailed method statements and risk assessments as with the Hatfield project,” Wantenaar adds. “Despite all the complications, we once again excelled with both the quality and the safety standards of the work.”

All the steelwork for the platform was inspected before it was delivered to site. “The building itself is impressive,” he continues. “There is a great deal of attractive marmoran finish and the west façade is striking with its predominance of glass and aluminium.” All the wall finishes, were given an overcoat of graffiti-resistant paint.

“I give all the credit to the professionalism, innovation and dedication of the Concor team and our joint venture partners, SPG for resolving the ongoing and exacting demands of the projects and achieving significant safety and quality standards,” Wantenaar concluded. “We have gained additional experience from the projects which I believe has taught us invaluable lessons that will serve us well in the future.”

The eight storey concrete parkade at Gautrain’s Hatfield station.