Steel raised to new heights on Gautrain cranes
Crane gantries on four Gautrain sites supplied and erected by Cosira Group
02 December, 2008
When long-established international crane company Morris Cranes required gantries to be manufactured and erected for cranes servicing the Gautrain project, they turned to a South African company with a similar reputation for quality and reliability – the Cosira Group.
Constructed in stages, one site at a time, the massive gantry structures support the Morris Overhead High Speed Cranes. The gantries required a total of 220 tonnes of structural steel to complete. The cranes are used to hoist or lower equipment, supplies and machinery down the construction access portals to the Gautrain tunnel. This is according to Cosira Project Manager Hein Buys.
Says Buys: “It was an interesting project, as everything required underground, from caterpillar earthmoving equipment to screwdrivers, was to be lowered by the cranes operating on the gantries we were helping to build. The Morris cranes were also to hoist the rock excavated from the tunnel out of the portals, and load it into dump trucks. Space constraints played a significant part, as much of the above-ground activity took place in densely populated areas.
Logistics required careful and innovative handling. Gantry sections were fabricated and pre-assembled at Cosira's Johannesburg, Heriotdale premises due to the lack of on-site working and storage space; and deliveries of the huge, abnormal-load sections had to be staggered and sequenced for the same reason.”
Cosira were awarded the contract, by Bombela Civils Joint Venture (B CJV) on the basis of their solid industry reputation, and the four Gautrain gantry sites – Mushroom Farm Park, Sandton South, Emergency Shaft 5 (a service entrance) and Park Station in Johannesburg, were handed over to Morris Cranes in the last quarter of 2007.
Nic Swanepoel, Project Manager, B CJV, notes: “Although the contract was awarded in July 2006, fabrication and assembly of the structures did not begin until March of 2007 due to final design modifications. Cosira assisted us by accelerating their production schedule, particularly at the Mushroom Farm Park site where the gantry was completed ahead of schedule, despite the later start. They have made a significant contribution towards maintaining construction momentum on the overall project.”
Cosira have considerable experience in the design, pre-fabrication and logistics of large structural steel projects. The Group won a Steel Award in 2007 for the fabrication and trial erection of a modular diamond recovery plant, which was shipped to Canada in thirty container-profiled loads, which fitted together when assembled at the destination near the Arctic Circle.
A massive, Cosira-designed innovative A-frame structure solved a lifting challenge for a South African mine, and a recently completed pedestrian bridge, shipped to Ireland in a single container, was erected there, onto pre-constructed civils, in just five days.
John da Silva, CEO of the Cosira Group, concludes: “The computerised cranes will be doing precision hoisting and lowering in tight portal areas, where personnel may be busy with other tasks. The equipment had to be safe and reliable, operating from safe, reliable structures.
We are proud that our reputation preceded us on this project, and allowed us to be a part of such an important infrastructure project. Cosira's contribution is now part of Gautrain history, and in turn, Gautrain has become part of Cosira's enviable project track record.”