Meeting the N3 road upgrade project’s aggregates needs

That the sheer scale of the project places immense pressure on local aggregates suppliers is no overstatement but, with two strategically located quarries in the area, AfriSam is rising to the challenge.

Part of the 62 SIPs gazetted as part of the Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by Cabinet in 2020, the N3 national route upgrade –which focuses on an 80 km section from Durban to Pietermaritzburg – comprises 14 packages estimated to be in excess of R20 billion.

Aimed at strengthening the logistics and transport corridor between South Africa’s main industrial hubs, Johannesburg and Durban, the project will also improve access to Durban’s export and import facilities and raise efficiency along the corridor.

Dardanelles Interchange to Lynnfield Park Interchange

Work on the very first package of the project, the stretch between the Dardanelles Interchange and the Lynnfield Park Interchange, is continuing apace. The project entails upgrading of the existing four-lane dual carriageway to an eightlane dual carriageway by widening to the median and outer shoulders over a 6.4 km distance, as well as the construction of associated bridges and interchanges.

The massive scale of the project presents both opportunities and challenges for local aggregates producers. AfriSam’s Umlaas Road Quarry, located right at the doorstep of the current project, has seen a massive sales boom in the past two years. Kovid Singh, works manager: Umlaas Quarry, AfriSam, confirms that the operation more than doubled its preCovid volumes in 2021, maintaining the same volumes in 2022.

Despite being located some 30 km away from the current project, AfriSam’s Pietermaritzburg Quarry – providing backup supply to Umlaas Road Quarry – has had a fair share of the project volumes, largely supplying sub-base material such as G2, G4 and G5. Consequently, the operation has enjoyed a welcome increase in sales over and above the base load normally supplied into the Pietermaritzburg market, confirms Ernest Sebeelo, works manager: Pietermaritzburg Quarry, AfriSam.

Responding to a surge in demand

However, supplying aggregates to a project of this magnitude is not without its challenges. From the onset, explains Theolan Govender, regional manager: Construction Materials KZN, AfriSam, production planning was a challenge due to the uncertainty related to the commencement of the projects and the associated volumes.

“When we initially provided our tender proposals for the various road packages, we had to work on indicative production volumes and timing for supply. Once the volumes materialised, we had to progressively ramp up, thus changing strategy to balance production and maintenance,” Govender explains.

AfriSam had to make use of its existing infrastructure within the group. To more than double capacity at its Umlaas operation, the company mobilised two existing trains of mobile crushers and screens to site, one from Johannesburg and the other from its KZN-based Verulam Quarry.

Upgrades include an eight-lane dual carriageway, median and out shoulders, as well as the construction of bridges and interchanges

The AfriSam Umlaas Quarry team had to strategically produce and maintain both the mobile and fixed plants, running extended shifts to meet supply demands. Plant availability, stresses Singh, is key to meeting the project’s aggregates requirements.

Given the nature of the mobile machines, AfriSam had equipped the mobiles with the necessary internal and external resources to cater for maintenance and the availability of the equipment. As a result, the team has managed to drastically improve the mobile plant’s availability, providing increased uptime and volumes.

Mobile plants key to countering load-shedding impacts

Having a mobile plant on-site has not only helped boost production capacity, but also allows the team at the AfriSam Umlaas Quarry to keep producing during load-shedding, which is a challenge in Mkhambathini Local Municipality, says Singh.

“Load-shedding is a big setback for us in this area,” says Singh. “We have between four and six hours of power blackouts per day, which puts us on the back foot in terms of production. To minimise downtime on our fixed plant, we now switch it off just before load-shedding to avoid crusher blockages. Bringing a mobile plant has also helped us minimise the impact of load-shedding on our ability to meet our project requirements.”

AfriSam takes pride and care in producing quality aggregates to its customers timeously. “We have a laboratory on-site to ensure that we produce quality products within the required specification with the right consistency, which is key to the success of the road contractors,” says Govender.

New Class 1 specification

Producing the new Class 1 specification products, says Sebeelo, has come with the challenge of setting the operational processes to produce at lower tonnages as opposed to the more common specification materials. However, the AfriSam Pietermaritzburg Quarry team has managed to effectively plan and change modes to optimise on uptime. Some of the new Class 1 spec products include the 7.1 mm concrete stone and the 5.1 mm unwashed sand, which are not easy to produce, explains Sebeelo.

Flexibility wins the day

Govender says effective management of resources and equipment have been crucial to keeping up with the increased aggregates demand, especially at Umlaas Road Quarry where the site team is ‘doing more with less’.

“We have successfully transformed this quarry to meet the needs of the market. We have further managed to double our capacity while maintaining an effective, but optimal structure,” he adds.

“Throughout, the teams at Umlaas Road and Pietermaritzburg have maintained an impeccable safety record with no lost-time injuries recorded in the past two years. This feat would not be possible without the commitment of our employees who have successfully upheld AfriSam’s values of people, performance and planet,” Govender concludes.

Botswana

Nationwide blackout

Botswana suffered a countrywide electricity blackout, leaving many households and businesses without electricity. Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) – the stateowned company responsible for electricity generation, transmission and distribution – blamed the blackout on a ‘grid disturbance’, the cause of which is unknown.

The ‘disturbance’ affected a transmission line connecting Botswana to South Africa, and caused a total breakdown of units at the coal-fired Morupule Power Station, which supplies most of Botswana’s electricity.

Egypt

British water signs MoU

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been agreed on between Egypt and the UK’s leading water sector trade association to establish a framework for bilateral cooperation on water projects for 27 governorates and the new cities across Egypt.

The units were later restarted and taken online – a process that can take days. Botswana imposed power cuts, and homes and businesses did not have electricity for up to eight hours a day. The country has a large coal reserve and almost all its electricity comes from coal-fired power stations. companies. We have 40 new cities under development including a new capital city – this is a huge area of development, requiring extensive water and sanitation infrastructure, technologies and services,” says Dr Sayed Ismail, deputy minister: Infrastructure in the Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities & Urban Communities.

The MoU will make it easier for the UK water industry to participate in the opportunities in Egypt, and for Egyptian companies to access UK knowledge and experience.

“Egypt’s water and sanitation sector is undergoing a huge transformation and we need the expertise of British

Among the 40 new cities is the new administrative capital of Egypt – which has a planned population of 10 million inhabitants and will feature green spaces, as well as separate residential and industrial sectors.

Another new city – New Alamein – is one of the most ambitious of Egypt’s smart cities, covering 50 000 acres and with a proposed population of three million. Styled as Egypt’s ‘Gate to Africa’, it will be made up of separate tourist, residential, industrial and historic sectors.

While undertaking such rapid expansion, the Egyptian government wants to build the capacity of employees in the water and sanitation sector, specifically in areas like facility management and service delivery.

“We are particularly interested in working with British companies on two key technologies – desalination and sludge-to-energy. We want to close the loop by generating energy and increasing water reuse while minimising costs,” says Ismail.

Investment in desalination is critical to Egypt’s plans for a more sustainable water future. There are plans for around 20 new desalination plants across the country, which the Egyptian government seeks to build in collaboration with the private sector.

“The River Nile is the main source of water – and the main source of life – for all Egyptians. At the moment, 90% of our water is taken from there, but we need to diversify our other resources, especially in coastal areas, the north of Egypt and the eastern borders near the Red Sea. This is where we see desalination playing a significant role,” he concludes.

Uganda

1 500 km long railway works resumes

Construction works on East Africa’s ambitious standard-gauge railway line linking the port of Mombasa to Kampala and Kigali could soon be revived, following a deal inked between Uganda and Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi.

Yapi Merkezi is the same company contracted for the Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway.

The planned 1 500 km long railway from Mombasa to Kigali had fallen behind schedule, with only Kenya having completed the initial phase of the project from Mombasa to Nairobi.

It is not yet clear when construction works are set to begin, but Uganda has completed the feasibility and designs for the 273 km long line between Malaba, in Kenya, and Kampala. The Ugandan section is estimated to cost US$2.3 billion (R44.5 billion).

Rwanda, on the other hand, earlier indicated that it had completed the preliminary engineering design of the new line from Kampala to Kigali, through Mirama Hills.

The standard-gauge railway from Kampala to Kigali is part of the Northern Corridor infrastructure project designed to connect Mombasa to Malaba on the border with Uganda, and onward to Kampala, Uganda’s capital, and eventually Kigali in Rwanda, with a branch line to Kisumu, and another line to Juba in South Sudan through Kasese and Pakwach.

MOZAMBIQUE Green light for flood protection project

In March 2022, heavy rains caused nearly 500 people to flee their flooded homes, while making roads impassable and cutting off electricity supplies.

Fortunately, Beira will soon be better equipped to deal with floods with the construction of an approximately 100 hectare retention basin. To reduce persistent flooding in the city, the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources is also considering the construction of spillway control stations equipped with gates, the Estoril outfall and its outlet channel to the mouth of the Maria River. Bridges and service roads will be built along the new drainage channels. About 13 km of existing drainage network will also be rehabilitated to support the new system.

The project, which will benefit other towns in Sofala province, will also establish an early warning system for disaster management, as well as build institutional capacity for the operation and maintenance of the future infrastructure. It is scheduled for delivery in 18 months.

Mozambican authorities are also announcing the restoration of the dune belt that protects the city with vegetation, the protection of coastal sections with rocks, the construction of a concrete protection wall (Mangal area in Praia Nova), the repair and reinforcement of the old wall (Mangal area in Praia Nova), and the construction of Clay Dique (in the Regulo Luis area, Estoril).

Financial support has been received from the Netherlands and the World Bank.