SA Affordable Housing May - June 2020 // ISSUE: 82 | Page 10

NEWS
Quality hollow-core slabs for
large low-cost housing project
Quality hollow-core slabs for large low-cost housing
project Located along Railway Street a large low-cost
housing project in Polokwane, Annadale Phase 2
comprises just more than 17 000m² of development. It
consists of 11 double- and triple-storey apartment blocks to
provide 500 additional low-cost housing units, including
30m² one- and 40m² two-bedroom units, in this growing
urban hub by February 2022.
The project is being driven by the Polokwane Housing
Association, a division of the Polokwane Municipality and
managed by multidisciplinary consultant, Chiefton
Consulting & Services.
By the beginning of 2020, Motheo Construction Group, the
principal contractor, was already forging ahead on the
construction of the first four apartment blocks.
CoreSlab, a leading South African precast-concrete
specialist is supplying a total of 16 000m² of hollow-core
slabs (HCS) to the project. A decision was taken by the
professional team to modify the initial design to
incorporate HCS as opposed to rib-and-block technologies
to significantly accelerate the project and reduce
construction costs.
CoreSlab was involved in the design of the HCS floor slabs to
ensure its swift approval by the National Home Builders
Registration Council. A decision to use HCS also proved to be
more cost-effective than rib-and-block systems, considering
the savings in equipment and construction materials. More
than 300 people will be employed on the construction site
when work commences on the roof structures in April 2020.
By February 2020, there were already 200 people employed
on the construction site. They include the five bricklaying
teams, each comprising 12 skilled bricklayers and 18 general
workers per subcontractor.
The HCS are dispatched to site on a just-in-time basis and
then lifted directly from CoreSlab’s truck trailers using a
mobile crane, with the team moving from one block to the
next according to a predetermined schedule that is
determined by the principal contractor on a weekly basis.
CoreSlab was also contracted to manufacture and install
all precast concrete stairs– a sizeable undertaking
considering that there are four flights per level for each of
the 11 residential blocks.
Moreover, CoreSlab, is undertaking all core drilling
services.
8 MAY - JUNE 2020 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www.saaffordablehousing.co.za