Contractors near completion of Saldanha Bay quay extension

The LAST of 104 large precast concrete counterfort units has now been placed for the extension of the general cargo quay at Saldanha Bay, and both construction and Portnet officials are satisfied that the project will be handed over around mid-year.
The units each weigh 350t, reaching a height of 17,5m, a width of 6m and a length of 16m.
These units are almost double the size originally proposed by Portnet, but a proposal by contractors Murray and Roberts in their tender gave an alternative to the original design, and led to the present procedure.
Portnet's design was based on positioning the counterfort units using a 200t capacity floating crane. M&R, with international group LAMA who are undertaking the project with them, suggested instead the use of a barge mounted gantry crane with a carrying capacity of 300t, which is now being used.
The upgrade is necessary to cope with the anticipated increase in steel export volumes from the Saldanha Steel Project.
When completed a precast fender beam spanning between the counterforts and a portion of the backfill will support the superstructure, which contains two service tunnels. Roads and services are to be constructed progressively as the wall and backfilling operations proceed.
The overall project value will be approximately R75 million, with huge quantities of materials having been involved. These include 3 000 t of reinforcing steel, 45 000 cu m of concrete and 950 000 cu m of backfilling.
By Leonard Neill