Steel Construction Vol 40 No 4 - Metal Cladding and Light Steel Frame | Page 32

SAISC SUBSIDIARIES: POLASA

The SAISC and guests from the
Department of Trade and Industry
take a road trip to

Kusile Power Station

by Kobus De Beer, Director, Polasa

www.polasa.co.za

The Southern African Institute of Steel
Construction (SAISC) believes in informed
decision making. For the past three
years we’ve arranged a visit for DTI, IDC,
Treasury, SARS Customs and others to the
Kusile Power Station Construction Site
near Bronkhorstspruit. The objective is
for visitors to experience the size and
scope of the largest construction project
in the Southern hemisphere, where world
class fabricated structural steel is used
extensively. Our host was Mitsubishi
Hitachi Power Systems Africa (Pty) Ltd.
The six boiler houses at Kusile are in
varying degrees of construction with the
first unit heading for completion within
this year. To see a 17 000 ton fabricated
structural steel building rise 110m into
the sky supported by four 3m x 3m square
fabricated steel columns on each corner
is impressive! There is no substitute for
being there in person and experiencing
the dynamics of this world class project.
The massive roof structure is lifted into
position using strand jacking and the boiler
and all ancillary equipment hangs from this
roof. A number of the largest construction
cranes used in the world are working here.
The short bus ride provided an excellent
opportunity for networking as well as

30 Steel Construction Vol. 40 No. 4 2016

showcasing the activities of the SAISC
and current projects our members are
involved in.
The excursion was used to highlight some
of the many unseen aspects of structural
steel fabrication and construction:
• The overall design of the power
station is the responsibility of the main
contractors (Mitsubishi Hitachi Power
Systems Africa (Pty) Ltd and Alstom)
who have to specify how this complex
system, comprising six coal fired
boilers, six steam driven generators
with air cooling must operate to each
reliably achieve the required 800 MW
electricity output for many years.
• Based on this the main structural steel
contractor then has to do detailed
designs and drawings to ensure that
the structural steel components will
comply with the specified dimensions
and strength requirements. It is also
very important to design for ease of
construction as many pieces have to be
fitted at height and rely on matching
lengths and holes!
• The steel used has to comply with
strict requirements of chemical
content, properties and dimensions and
every piece of steel must be traceable
to its original casting or batch.