Work is surging ahead on the Gautrain, with tunnels being dug, viaducts swinging into place and cash being spent. Importantly, jobs are being created.

The huge Hakuna attached to viaduct 3 over Allandale Road in Midrand

HAKUNA and Matata are in place and the Gautrain viaducts are growing wonderfully. Hakuna is in place in Midrand and Matata is working away in Modderfontein.

Hakuna and Matata (together meaning "no worries", and made famous in The Lion King) are two launching girders, huge 400-ton vertical metal trusses or cranes that hug the viaducts or bridges, and help complete the placing of the large concrete segments on the piers or pillars.

Hakuna is working on viaduct three over Allandale Road in Midrand while Matata is at viaduct four, crossing Rietspruit Road and Olifantsfontein Street in Modderfontein.

In all there will be 15 viaducts flying over freeways and crossing valleys and rivers, totalling some 10,5 kilometres. The longest will be 650 metres.

"This international bridge deck assembly method enables construction to proceed with minimal disruption to existing infrastructure and traffic below," says the Gautrain construction update.

"Bombela CJV [Civils Joint Venture] has integrated the best international skills and technology in designing and building the viaduct structure along the Gautrain alignment," says Joos Marais, the deputy project director of Bombela CJV.

"The intention is for skills transfer to take place during this operation and to ensure that through the training processes, the South African crew are able to gain the relevant skills and knowledge from our expatriate team."

Construction is taking place along almost the entire route of the 80km Gautrain, running between the Joburg CBD, OR Tambo International Airport and the Pretoria CBD. There will be 10 stations, with 15 kilometres of tunnels running from Park Station to Rosebank and Sandton, and surfacing at Marlboro alongside Alexandra township. Most of the stations will be under construction this year.

Precast yard
The Gautrain's high-tech precast yard, which in future will be the bus depot, is situated between Midrand and Marlboro. Here the huge precast segments of the viaducts are being manufactured to precise measurements. The plant is producing 50 concrete segments a week, each slightly different, to cater for the varied angles of the viaducts as they span freeways and valleys along the route.

A close-up of Hakuna at viaduct 3

The precast yard has a generating capacity of 120 cubic metres of concrete per hour, supplying construction sites with ready-mixed concrete. It will be operational for the next two years, and is one of the biggest in Africa. One of its major tasks is to produce the large M-beams for the viaducts. These measure one metre in width, 2,5 metres in length and reach up to 1,5 metres in height; and they weigh 55 tons. They need to harden at the yard for 28 days before they are moved on site.

The yard is operated by means of computer, into which concrete mix requirements are typed, and "an intelligent conveyor belt" then ensures that the correct amount of sand and stone is mixed with cement.

By building the M-beams on site, and together with Hakuna and Matata, large sections of scaffolding are not necessary for construction. Some 500 people are employed at the precast yard, which also employs a top concrete chemist.

Bombela's Chris Andrew admits that in some places construction is ahead while it is behind in others. "We are dealing with three different metros," he explains. The metros involved are Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

He adds that some parties have co-operated with Gautrain demands while others have been difficult to negotiate with, believing that there is "a bottomless pit of money", which is not true.

Two phases
Construction will be undertaken in two phases, running concurrently. Phase one will run for 45 months, during which time the network and stations between the airport, Rhodesfield, Marlboro and Sandton will be completed. Phase two will be completed in 54 months, by 2011. In this phase, the remainder of the network - the link between Park Station and Sandton, and the route from Midrand to Hatfield in Pretoria - will be completed.

A crane lifts the steel structure that will become a precast segment

The tunnel boring machine arrived in Joburg in December and started work in January, boring the tunnel southwards towards Park Station. So far it has excavated 16 metres, and tunnelling northwards from Park Station has reached 154 metres. The machine was brought in for duty because of the nature of the earth south of Rosebank - it has a high water table with different compositions of hard rock, sand and soft water-logged soil.

The R300-million machine weighs 885 tons and is 145m long. It will only be used to bore three kilometres of the route, with conventional drilling and blasting techniques being used for the rest of the 5,5km route. It excavates about nine metres a day, operating on a 20-hour production shift, with a four-hour maintenance break. As the machine needs 3.2MW of power to drive it, it has its own substation at the Rosebank construction site.

Once the machine has finished its task, it will end up around the emergency exit at The Wilds in Houghton, and will be dismantled over three months. It is expected that it will be finished the tunnel by the end of 2008.

Tunnelling from Rosebank towards Sandton has reached 214 metres of a total of 4,3 kilometres. The tunnel from Sandton to Mushroom Park has moved 298 metres, while the tunnel southwards from Marlboro to Sandton has surged 1,3 kilometres into the earth. It is expected that this tunnel will be completed by the end of 2008.

Meanwhile, the construction of the trains is going ahead in France. The first 500 tons of specialised high-speed rails have arrived from that country, and a test track of six kilometres will be laid in Midrand. Some 18 500 tons of rails are expected to be delivered in the next 18 months.

Costing
Since the Gautrain project began in September 2006, R5,6-billion has been spent, of which the Gauteng government contributed R4,6-billion and the private sector just under R1-billion. By the end of March R7,7-billion will have been spent.

The finished precast segment

The total cost of the project is R25,2-billion, with R21,9-billion coming from the government.

Blacks hold 25 percent of the shares in the concession company, the turnkey contractor and the operating company. Blacks also hold 10 percent of the shares in the civil, electrical and mechanical contracts.

Around R1-billion has been spent on procurement from and sub-contracting to more than 190 black economic empowerment (BEE) companies. Some R430-million has been spent on sub-contracting to more than 60 new BEE groups. About R380-million has been spent on sub-contracting to more than 130 small, medium and micro enterprises.

By December 2007, Bombela and its sub-contractors had employed 5 513 people. Some 91 percent of these are locals, of which 4 456 are historically disadvantaged, 440 women and 38 disabled people. It is estimated that over the past 14 months Bombela has created more than 21 600 indirect jobs.

Around R440-million has been spent on local materials, plant and equipment.

So far the Gautrain has lured back 37 South African construction professionals who were working in the United Kingdom. Some 100 highly specialised construction people have been imported from the Philippines, India and the Southern African Development Community. The Gautrain project is also involved in training people, particularly in the construction and civil engineering fields.

More information can be obtained from the Gautrain website or from the Gautrain toll free number on 0800 Gautrain (0800 428 87246).

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