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CMA News & Articles - The CMA is the precast concrete industry association of South Africa. Find our members on our website to source quality precast concrete products, professional built environment service(engineers, architects, contractors and more).

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Municipalities revolutionise reservoir construction to ensure water security for constituents

Coreslab, a leading South African precast-concrete specialist, is assisting South African municipalities devise innovative ways of delivering world-class water and sanitation infrastructure services.

By mid-2021, Coreslab will have assisted municipalities and their professional teams to deliver more than 140ML of water-storage capacity, despite the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown period on its projects. These include 30ML and 25ML reservoirs that are being built for the Water and Sanitation Department of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in the Springs area.

Tasked with planning and implementing water and sanitation operations on behalf of the metropolitan municipality, the department has embarked on a large bulk-water augmentation drive in the rapidly developing suburban area east of Johannesburg.

A component of this programme entails constructing new reservoirs in various suburbs to significantly strengthen existing water-storage and supply capacity. This large investment made into developing bulk-water distribution infrastructure will also support planned large developments, including a mega-city, in the area.

Cost-savings are realised in Formwork and scaffolding, as well as concrete and rebar.  Coreslab

Cost-savings are realised in Formwork and scaffolding, as well as concrete and rebar.

Three of these large reservoirs, ranging between 25ML and 30ML in capacity, are being constructed using state-of-the-art precast-concrete technology that will provide a higher quality final structure to reduce maintenance and repair requirements over the lifecycle of the infrastructure.

Coreslab’s system is manufactured in a controlled factory environment that is far removed from the many variables encountered on a traditional construction site, and the elements that make up the walls and roofs of the new reservoirs are at least 70MPa.

The various precast-concrete elements are manufactured during the earthworks and preparatory phases and are then transported to site where they are installed.

Notably, many months have been saved in construction time using this system by enabling the various trades to work simultaneously.

However, the real innovation lies in the way in which the structure is post-tensioned and sealed.

Vertical and horizontal tensioning is deployed to resist applied forces, and the reservoirs sealed using a special grout that has been designed to reach a compressive strength of

100MPa within four days. The grout further reacts when it contacts water when the reservoir is being filled.

Cost-savings are realised in formwork and scaffolding, as well as concrete and rebar. This is in addition to the savings achieved by eliminating the wastage of materials due to having to correct mistakes made on site.

Notably, it is also a safer method of constructing these structures. The various elements that make up the structure are manufactured at ground level and installed by skilled and experienced installation teams that work at heights.

Many months have been saved in construction time using the system by enabling the various trades to work simultaneously. Coreslab

Many months have been saved in construction time using the system by enabling the various trades to work simultaneously.

Considering the technical nature of these projects, they have mainly been let out to very experienced contractors with a solid track-record successfully completing reservoirs. This has created high barriers to entry for newer participants in the South African contracting industry, especially at a time when water infrastructure has become a high priority area for the public sector.

However, by removing most of the risk associated with these critical builds, client bodies, such as the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, is also able to award more of these projects to lower-tier contractors and newer entrants to the market.

This broadens the socio-economic reach of the municipality’s infrastructure projects, which are also geared at driving change in the South African construction industry by ensuring that it becomes more inclusive.

Certainly, these projects are also intended to create many opportunities for employment, as well as skills training and development during the construction phases.

The intense focus on this aspect of all government infrastructure projects can be evidenced on the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality’s construction sites. Many locals have been employed by the principal contractors to construct the in-situ concrete floor slabs, as well as the ring-beam foundation and column footing for the reservoir roof. This is in addition to participating in the construction of the reservoir chambers and other associated work as part of the programme. The main beneficiaries of these projects thus far have been unemployed women and youth from previously disadvantaged communities on at least one of these projects.

In so doing, the municipality has also demonstrated that this technology complements labour-based construction methods. It has successfully struck a delicate balance between deploying advanced technology to significantly accelerate water supply, while also ensuring its projects benefit as many people as possible during the construction phases.

These opportunities are complemented by the many permanent jobs that are being created in Coreslab’s precast-concrete factory where the system is being manufactured. The gradual uptake in this technology by large municipalities to accelerate water delivery will, inevitably, create more opportunities for employment, as well as skills training and development by the South African precast-concrete industry.

The various precast-concrete elements are manufactured during the earthworks and preparatory phases and are then transported to site where they are installed. Coreslab

The various precast-concrete elements are manufactured during the earthworks and preparatory phases and are then transported to site where they are installed.

“The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality’s Water and Sanitation Department is revolutionising the construction of reservoirs to ensure water security for its constituents. Certainly, the way in which government has successfully managed the spread of the virus has validated Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices. Water infrastructure is a significant component of WASH. Moreover, the department is investing in home-grown innovation. This is also in line with government’s drive to create a robust local industrial sector that has the capacity to meaningfully contribute towards its significant infrastructure projects. Localisation has become a major focus considering the impact of the Covid-19 virus on the economy and the livelihoods of many South Africans,” Jaco de Bruin, Managing Director of Coreslab, concludes.

Coreslab

CoreSlab is a proud producer members of the CMA. 



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