Keller Africa

RECOVERING IN THE FACE OF A CHALLENGING PAST YEAR

KELLER AFRICA

CONSTRUCTION

Rebuilding Construction Following the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke to Keller Africa, about how the company is recovering within the construction sector Writer: Marcus Kääpä Project Manager: Donovan Smith

Brian McDonald, Branch Manager of Keller Geotechnics SA (PTY) LTD.

The current South African construction market is tough,” states Brian McDonald, Branch Manager of Keller Geotechnics SA (PTY) LTD. Due to the industry-shaking COVID-19 pandemic, a large amount of national funding has been redirected to combat the spread of the coronavirus, and alongside this, the virus itself has (and is) creating challenges with regard to maintaining health and safety practices in the workplace and work sites.

Keller is the world’s largest geotechnical specialist contractor providing a wide portfolio of advanced foundation and ground improvement techniques used across the entire construction sector. Keller has three primary divisions namely North America, Europe, and AMEA (Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa), in total covering 21 business units, 190 branches, with 10,000 employees and 7,000 annual contracts.

Despite this current unique and challenging period, Brian is optimistic for the future of the industry in South Africa.

“I do expect to see things improve drastically in the coming two years, with more money being earmarked for infrastructure spend to boost the ailing economies,” he suggests.

Brian has been working for Keller since 1979, and his youth interest in engineering led him to the construction sector when opportunities began to arise.

“I was interested in civil engineering from a young age but ended up in construction purely because of timing,” he recalls.

“I was offered two opportunities, one in a consulting company and the other with Keller (Franki at that time).

I chose Keller because they offered an immediate start date. I joined Keller as a trainee technician, doing a Diploma in Engineering at the then Natal Technicon. I completed my diploma and was offered a full-time position in 1981.”

Brian then worked through the company starting in Durban as a Site Engineer working for Soiltech, a geotechnical investigation branch of Keller, being involved with multiple projects such as the drilling for tunnels along the Ulundi Richards Bay railway line and the soil study of the newly developed Richards Bay Harbour. He then moved to Lesotho to assist on the Lesotho Highlands hydro-electric power plant and header dam.

“Following this, I was promoted to Johannesburg to manage Soiltech where I held the position for six years, after which I rejoined Keller as a Contracts Manager looking after projects in the Gauteng area,” he tells us.

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KELLER AFRICA “I was then offered the opportunity to project manage the piling to the Mozal Smelter, in Mozambique, and then down to Richards Bay for Phase two of the Hillside Smelter. My career then took me to all parts of Southern Africa, from Angola in the West to Kenya in the East.

“I had a short stint with Soletanche Bachy and Stefanutti Socks Marine before re-joining Keller in 2016 to look after Sub-Saharan Africa.”

AT A GLANCE: COMPANY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Keller Africa’s product range includes: GROUND IMPROVEMENT: • Dynamic compaction • Dynamic replacement • Rigid inclusions • Vibro stone columns • Vibro compaction • Soil mixing DEEP FOUNDATIONS: • Franki (DCIS) piles • Bored piles • CFA piles • Rota piles • Micropiles EARTH RETENTION: • Anchors • Shotcrete/gunite • Soil nails • Contiguous pile walls • Sheet piles GROUTING • Jet grouting • Compaction grouting MARINE • Jetty and quay construction

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Keller Africa is a key player in the South African construction sector and sets itself apart from its industry peers through its range of professional services. The firm provides a wide range of offers including ground improvement, earth retention, piling and marine.

“No other Southern African based company offers the full package,” Brian affirms. “Keller Africa has the backing of the largest geotechnical company in the world, and our inhouse design department can produce world-class designs to suit the client’s needs.

“Keller employs around 1,500 geotechnical engineers worldwide, and over 200 of them focus purely on design. On top of this, 50 percent of our projects are design-and-build, where value engineering can reduce overall costs by up to 40 percent as well as save time in the process.”

This provision of world-class offerings to clients can be seen throughout Keller’s various continental projects.

Keller’s Mozambique LNG project exemplifies this.

The Mozambique LNG project, based in Cabo Delgado, was a twotrain, nominal 6.44 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) per train, LNG facility using APCI liquefaction technology.

Hydrocarbon condensate separated from the feed is processed and exported separately. The facility is to be constructed at a remote coastal location in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique.

“There were several challenges facing the project,” Brian elaborates.

“The shipping and transport of all the necessary equipment was an issue, as the only access to the site is by air or sea. On top of this, there are stringent performance requirements required and specified for dynamic compaction, and there were highly variable ground conditions that required constant adjustment of compaction energy to achieve such stringent performance specifications.”

Liebherr-Africa Liebherr-Africa is a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Liebherr Group, operating in over 130 companies in many countries worldwide. Liebherr Africa has been serving the needs of the local construction, civil engineering and mining industries since 1958.

Liebherr’s portfolio of products and services is broad and highly sophisticated. Its product design and technology are set around practical deployment scenarios, marked by continually developing innovations and an uncompromising commitment to quality.

Through eight different divisions, Liebherr Africa is able to ensure the supply of a wide range of solution-driven products in order to satisfy diverse customer requirements, such as: • Earthmoving and mining excavators, shovels, wheel loaders, bull dozers and dump trucks.

• Tower, construction, all-terrain, mobile, gantry and ship-to-shore cranes.

• Reach stackers and telehandlers.

• Dredging, piling and drilling equipment.

• Recycling, forestry and material handling equipment.

• Batching plants and concrete mixers.

• Consumer, medical, laboratory and commercial fridges, freezers and wine coolers.

Headquartered in Springs, Gauteng, the company has branches in Cape Town, Durban, Middleburg, Brits and Kathu, as well as various agencies, depots and mine sites in regions across South Africa. Liebherr-Africa’s branches are fully equipped to provide local back-up service and spare parts for its machines and equipment with extended support and technical expertise available from the head office if necessary.

Liebherr-Africa’s overall aim is to ensure that all divisions work together and embrace a high-performance culture through committed service excellence while achieving customer satisfaction.

www.liebherr.com

Experience the Progress.

Liebherr deep foundation machinery • • • • •

High availability and long service-life due to robust equipment technology Low emission and high efficiency thanks to intelligent drive systems Operating comfort through innovative control concept Matching working tools ensure excellent productivity Optimized construction processes thanks to comprehensive consultation

Liebherr Africa - Springs 20 Vlakfontein Road Fulcrum Industrial Springs West Gauteng Tel: +27 (11) 365 2571 www.liebherr.com

KELLER AFRICA Keller’s solutions to these challenges included ground improvement using dynamic compaction and stone columns. The dynamic compaction works included a total of 1.5 million metresquared area with treatment depths of between five and 12 metres, and the stone column installation totalled 1,734 vibro replacement stone columns at a diameter and depth of 0.9 metres and 18 metres.

“The project should exceed expected results,” Brian tells us proudly. “It provided a ground improvement solution for the client while also resulting in significant cost savings and reduces carbon emission considerably.”

It is the partners, suppliers and employees that are the key to Keller Africa’s company operations.

“Subcontractors and suppliers form an integral part of Keller’s success, which would be impossible without reliable suppliers for materials, and plant spares,” Brian explains.

Okavango River Bridge

6 | Africa Outlook issue 89

“What we are looking for is a world class product that is readily available in all parts of Southern Africa. We expect a lot from all our suppliers and in turn, we would like to think that we treat them well, offering advanced notice for orders with a reliable payment plan to suit.

“Cash flow is as much our concern as it is for suppliers and subcontractors.”

As for its employees, Keller boasts a great staff retention record. These dedicated individuals and teams are shown the recognition they deserve through internal promotion. As a result of this, many of the firm’s current employees have over 20 years of company service under their belts, with some even exceeding beyond 40 years.

Into the future, these employees are incredibly important to the aims and goals of the company - that of streamlining company operations and minimising unnecessary business elements.

Geosure Since the company’s inception in 1992, Geosure has been a forerunner in the field of geotechnical engineering.

After the change of ownership and management in 1999, the company has shown a progressive growth in staff numbers and has diversified having expertise in the following fields: • Geotechnical Engineering (Investigations and Design); • Geohydrology and Groundwater Modelling; • Remediation of Contaminated Land; • Pile Integrity Testing (see information attached); • SANAS Accredited Soil & Rock Laboratory; • Geophysical Investigations; and • Inclinometer Surveys (slope stability).

Geosure has carried out work extensively throughout Africa and its knowledge of local conditions and cultures allows them to work efficiently and competitively in the African environment.

CONSTRUCTION

ENSURING RESPONSIBLE ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE SAFETY AND ADVANCEMENT OF OUR SOCIETY… Over the past years Geosure have invested substantial time and effort in developing pile integrity testing skills in South Africa.

With the support of international Technology our personnel have been trained abroad to operate the equipment and evaluate test results. The stature of testing together with the level of skill and experience achieved has established Geosure firmly as the leaders in the field of Pile Integrity Testing in Africa.

At present it is acknowledged that in Africa, Geosure has developed and pioneered integrity testing to the point where most piling contractors and consultants accept the test results with confidence.

As back up to the fieldwork and technical teams we have our own soil and rock laboratory (specialising in both civil and geotechnical engineering applications) in which we are able to test any material for roads, earthworks and structures.

With the depth and breadth of our technical skills and experience, Geosure is ideally placed to assist in providing geotechnical and geohydrological solutions for the region. In geotechnical engineering we offer a complete service which includes geotechnical investigations, design and supervision of construction for projects ranging from routine foundation investigations to complex large capital projects.

Geosure has several site laboratories throughout the province of KwaZulu Natal. We currently have a branch in Gauteng (Johannesburg) and have established a satellite office in the Western Cape (Cape Town).

In addition, the company is wholly owned and managed by previously disadvantaged individuals and has a Level 1 BBBEE Rating.

PO BOX 1461, WESTVILLE, 3630 • 122 INTERSITE AVENUE, UMGENI BUSINESS PARK, DURBAN, 4001 TEL: +27 (0)31 266 0458 / 0861 GEOSURE (0861 436 7873) • FAX: 086 689 5506 MOBILE: Deven +27 (0)82 784 0544 | Venai +27 (0)83 447 3556 E-MAIL: info@geosure.co.za | www.geosure.co.za Branches: Laboratory +27 (0)31 701 9732 | Gauteng & Western Cape 0861 GEOSURE (436 7873)

No one handles cargo like we do.

Merzario Tanzania Ltd (MTL) is a full service transport company based in Tanzania. MTL has been operating in Africa for more than 25 years servicing the transport industry. We are proud to have grown with the transport industry in Tanzania and Africa as a whole, providing services above standards and expectations of our clients in the lines of Dry Cargo, Abnormal/Out of Gauge Cargo and Transit Cargo.

Okavango River Bridge

Merzario (T) Limited Kipawa, Kiwalani Area, P.O.Box 41025, Dar es Salaam T +255 22 286 52 62 E info@merzariotz.com www.merzariotz.com

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KELLER AFRICA

Sappi SAICCOR

Sappi SAICCOR

PROJECTS RUFUJI BRIDGE AND OKAVANGO RIVER BRIDGE (TANZANIA) The project is aimed to construct a permanent bridge across the Rufiji River, Stiegler’s Gorge. The underlying soil revealed a combination of hard sandstone and softer mudstone rock layers (among other softer ground matter) and so piling was required to support the necessary bridge piers and abutments.

Challenges arose from the hard sandstone, meaning that specialised drilling equipment was required to excavate the rock to depths of 29 metres. In the end, a total of 82 piles were used and designed to carry a working load of 9.5 meganewtons (MN).

Sappi SAICCOR

SAPPI SAICCOR - PROJECT VULINDLELA (KZN, SOUTH AFRICA) This is an expansion project of Umkomaas Sappi Saiccor Mill aimed to increase the plant capacity, decrease production costs, introduce new technology, optimise processes, and improve environmental emissions as well as improving water efficiency.

2,022 Franki Piles were installed to record depths of 24 metres on this project.

HARBOUR ARCH (CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA) Harbour Arch is a mix-use development project that will encapsulate the principles of new urban living. Its six towers will be located alongside landscaped public spaces including shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, offices, gyms, and apartments in the city’s central business district.

As well as removing in excess of 60,000 metre-cubed of bulk earthworks, Keller installed CFA soldier piles with jet grout columns, anchors and gunite for lateral support.

Harbour Arch

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CONSTRUCTION

Harbour Arch

“For the coming year, Keller is in recovery mode,” Brian elaborates.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Keller Africa was forced to restructure and consolidate the company into a leaner structure.

“Our near-term goal is to maintain a positive bottom line and look after our cash. To this end we have closed a few of the non-profitable offices in Africa and are concentrating on our core market and clients. We have restructured in such a way that focuses on three different areas: South Africa, Mauritius, and East Africa. We are concentrating on tapping into the potential oil and gas on the East Coast of Africa, the potential infrastructure spend in South Africa and the continued government spend in Mauritius and the Indian

Ocean Islands.

“Our intention is to introduce more ground improvement techniques that will substantially cut the cost of foundations and increase the viability of certain projects. For instance, changing the planned foundations of the LNG tanks in Mozambique from piles to dynamic compaction, we saved the client more than 50 percent on that portion of the project.”

KELLER AFRICA Tel: +27 11 062 7600 info.za@keller.com www.keller-africa.co.za

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KELLER AFRICA 16 Industry Road, Clayville Industrial, Olifantsfontein 1666 Gauteng, South Africa Tel: +27 11 062 7600 info.za@keller.com www.keller-africa.co.za

PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE