Construction of Hout Bay and Kommetjie chipping facilities, City of Cape Town
Construction of Hout Bay and Kommetjie chipping facilities, City of Cape Town
This project was for the construction of facilities at Hout Bay and Kommetjie, to house the chipping and mulching machinery, which enables uninterrupted processing of green waste all year round.
Client: City of Cape Town, Solid Waste Management Unit
Contract value: R 25 Million
Duration: 12 months
Completed: May 2020
Overview of the Project
The City of Cape Town’s Solid Waste Management Department is responsible for the operation of local refuse collections, handling and processing. Waste is separated by type of material and its possible use for recycling and the separation process reduces the volume of waste sent to landfills. One of the waste streams involves processing green garden waste and generating mulch for compost. This project was for the construction of facilities at Hout Bay and Kommetjie, to house the chipping and mulching machinery, which enables uninterrupted processing of green waste all year round.
Scope of Work
Construction of a large chipping facility building on a 5,456 m² site at Mandela Road, Hout Bay, and the 18,749 m² site on Wildevoelvlei Road, Kommetjie. Both buildings were constructed of structural steel portal frames supported by steel columns with the structure at Hout Bay being 4 bays at 6m spacings and the Kommetjie structure of 5 bays at 6m spacings. Both buildings are 15m wide.
The building work also included bricklaying, metalwork (sliding doors & mechanisms), insulation & roofing, electrical work, and mechanical ventilation. Both buildings also required the installation of fire protection systems including booster pumps, and 5000 liter buffer tanks fed by the municipal water system.
The civil works for the sites included construction of reinforced concrete platforms, stormwater drainage, chain-link mesh fencing, construction of a new brick wall and gabion retaining wall at Hout Bay, replacement of existing fencing, construction of new high security fences, and heavy-duty durable surfaces for stockpile areas (to reduce wastage and contamination of mulch).
Challenges & Successes
It was a requirement of the contract that the sites remain operational throughout the construction phase which meant that additional safety measures had to be taken to ensure the safety of the public visiting the site and the employees working there.
A significant challenge was also the security of the construction sites and the materials required for the construction. Maintaining a high level of security at the sites was paramount to the continuation of the workflow.
