Spoornet chooses PE for massive rail length export to Zimbabwe

VARIOUS Spoornet divisions have joined forces to provide 216-metre rail lengths to Zimbabwe rail.
The operation starts in Port Elizabeth where Portnet has been unloading 20 000 tons of 18-metre rail lengths manufactured by British Steel onto Spoornet rail trucks.
Port Elizabeth harbour was chosen for the operation because of its capacity to handle large break-bulk cargoes says Spoornet corporate relations officer in Port Elizabeth, Philip Langenhoven.
The rails are being transported to Port Elizabeth in five shipments, the first of which arrived in May. The third, aboard the Michael Stenko, was of 6500 rails weighing 5265 tons.
During preparations for the current shipment Spoornet collected a special selection of well over a hundred wagons from various parts of South Africa, says Langenhoven. Between 45 and 60 rails are loaded on each truck and are then secured with lashing chains and rubber dunnage, with wooden dunnage placed between layers for the protection of the rails.
After the loading process the trains depart for the Transwerk workshops at Beaconsfield in Kimberley, where Transwerk adds value by butt-welding the rails into 216 metre lengths, he says.
At Beaconsfield - the only technical facility in Africa with the equipment to weld together such lengths - 100 joints a day are being welded.
To carry the 216-metre rails Spoornet joins up to 15 trucks. The rails are packed in three layers with 18 rails per layer and delivered to Murray and Roberts in Colleen Bawn, Zimbabwe.
A direct rail link is being constructed between Colleen Bawn and Beit Bridge to shorten the Beit Bridge - Bulawayo route.
By Ed Richardson