The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2019 | Page 20

ON SITE
for rent by October 2019, and final
completion of the precinct by mid-
2020. The redevelopment will also
see the full pedestrianisation of Fox
Street, making a vibrant centre for
both working, living, and playing.
Ultimately, DiverCity aims to have
the whole of Fox Street modernised.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman
Mashaba shovelled the first
spadeful of soil to inaugurate the
commencement of the R2-billion
multi-use development at Jewel City.
Speaking at the ceremony,
Mashaba said that the total R2-billion
investment in the various phases was
“by far” the biggest development in
the city centre in the past 15–20
years. It was no surprise, he said,
given that in the past, business
was up against an obstructionist
government, whereas now they
are dealing with an investment-
friendly government working with
the private sector to facilitate such
developments.
“This R2-billion investment
is a catalyst for reigniting the City
of Johannesburg — a city with a
300 000-housing backlog, 160 000 of
our people looking for accommodation, and 900 000 people looking for jobs.
One in three of our residents are
unemployed, and if Johannesburg is not
succeeding, the rest of the country has
no chance. So, this project is important
for all South Africa.”
He pointed out the need for
affordable housing: there are two
major universities in the city with
major demand for affordable
student accommodation, as well
as commercial premises for SMEs,
considering so many small businesses
operate out of cramped quarters in
Soweto and Alexandra.
“We have identified a further 500
buildings across the city that we need
to private sector to develop, of which
84 buildings have already been put out
for requests for proposals.” He advised
contractors to come to the City for
help if their activities were obstructed,
“as we are not going to allow criminal
elements to dictate to us or to you or
to sabotage this project”.
“This project is important. In this
financial year, I have tasked the city
manager to bring in between R16-
billion and R20-billion in private
investment to create opportunities
for our inner-city residents. This is
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba. Director of Atterbury Property Fund, Phuti Mahanyele.
18 | CEC February 2019
the only way we can start providing
employment to our people and
attaining a minimum 5% growth by
2021,” Mashaba said.
Scope of work: The site
Nic Chapman, MD of Bamboo Rock
Construction (the contractor on site),
explains that while the development
is one of the largest seen in the CBD
in many years, the 4 500m 2 site on
which Bamboo Rock is working, is
relatively modest, involving a small
amount of demolition and bulk
earthworks on one of the six sites,
with a project value of R2-million.
“Before we got onto site, there
was a parking lot here. This entailed
uplifting paving and curbing and its
removal off site. There was a small
excavation of a box cut — cut to
spoil operations involved 7 500m 3
and bringing in G5 material for a
selected layer on the building
footprint to reinstate the basement
area of 650m 3 ,” says Chapman.
The project tender had involved
the removal of 20m 3 of concrete, but
in the event, says Chapman, 1 000m 3
of concrete was found in situ below
ground from years ago. It turned
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