BENEFICIATION
Precast concrete
comes of age
Bridge-beam moulds. The company manufactures all its forms and moulds to guarantee accurate casting. To mitigate downtime, the company also has
its own workshop and maintenance team. CoreEngineering also has the skills and capacities to manufacture all the ‘cast-in’ components for CoreSlab’s
comprehensive range of precast concrete products.
Bridge-beam moulds. The company manufactures all its forms and moulds to guarantee accurate casting. To mitigate downtime, the company also has
its own workshop and maintenance team. CoreEngineering also has the skills and capacities to manufacture all the ‘cast-in’ components for CoreSlab’s
comprehensive range of precast concrete products.
All photos by Eamonn Ryan
Quarry Southern Africa’s
Eamonn Ryan paid a visit to
CoreSlab, a manufacturer of
precast concrete systems,
based on the outskirts of
Polokwane, to see how the
aggregate of a nearby quarry
– Roodepoort Crushers – is
beneficiated into precast
concrete slabs.
www.quarryonline.co.za
T
he company was established in
2008 initially manufacturing
just rib-and-block, but with
a strategic plan to enter the
hollow-core-slab market, which it did that
same year. Both suspended concrete slab
technologies are used in the commercial
and industrial markets, with 70% to
80% of the company’s hollow-core slabs
destined for the residential market, and
approximately 20% for reservoirs’ roof
structures.
CoreSlab was among the leaders in
South Africa in the manufacturing,
supplying, and installing of precast
hollow-core slabs — which a decade ago
was a difficult sell. Today, it is far less of
a hard sell, says Jaco de Bruin, MD of
CoreSlab. Hollow-core slabs are used,
in addition to multistorey buildings, in
reservoirs, stadia, and bridges where they
replace in situ concrete pouring. Although
CoreSlab’s vast Polokwane manufacturing
plant is sited next to its supplier quarry,
that was not a factor in its choice of
location. There are in fact, three quarries
surrounding it, but the site was chosen
primarily for its price and convenience.
It still manufactures both product
lines, which is essential due to the
complementary strengths and weaknesses
of each type, says De Bruin. “Some of
the more established contractors don’t
like hollow-core because they have the
QUARRY SA | MAY/JUNE 2019_29