The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2019 | Page 23

purpose of uplifting and empowering
contractors, thus enabling them to
improve their CIDB grading.
One such sub-contractor, Hakhensa,
is a CIDB grade 6 business which was
given an allotment of 126 units to
build, on the basis they employ and
train locals. TN Molefe, a CIDB grade
8 company. was appointed on the
same basis, under the stewardship
of SCM Construction, to develop
locals and encourage involvement by
as many grade 1 and 2 local firms as
possible. Mhlaba explains this might
include small operators that can
build one unit at a time, under the
supervision of TN Molefe.
At an early stage, the client opted
to convert the project to a mixed-
use one by establishing offtake
agreements between government
departments and local businesses
such as mines, to create an economic
component. “The thinking was that
local residents would require job
opportunities within walking distance
(where possible) and these offtake
agreements would help establish a
host of local businesses to supply the
mines, and such other businesses as
may in future be established,” says
Mhlaba. “In other respects the mixed
use concept led to including bank-
bonded units in addition to 100%
subsidised units.” In this respect it
mimics the Cosmo City concept with
all the elements that government
policy determines constitute a human
settlement: schools, shopping malls,
health facilities, police stations, a
community centre with a hall, parks
and recreational areas, a library, a
cemetery and several churches.
The co-ordinating civil engineer
for Montrose is SMEC South
Africa, which co-ordinates all the
other professionals (of which there
are a number, including architects
and quantity surveyors). It acts as a
technical adviser while simultaneously
designing the bulk earthworks
and roads. Other engineers were
responsible for the design of internal
roads, bridges and reticulation,
including bulk electrical supply, and
a 30MVA electricity sub-station, the
www.civilsonline.co.za
ON SITE
Drawings for Montrose Mega City.
latter being designed by Risimati
Engineers. The internal electrical
designs, as well as mechanical and
fire, from site boundary to each unit,
was designed by BES Africa.
The design of other internal services
including roads and stormwater (from
the site boundary to each unit) was
by Siyathunya. The civil engineering
contractor on Phase 1A is Trencon
Construction, for a contract valued
at R92-million for services such
as roads and water, and Phase 1C
TN Molefe valued at R22-million.
Phase 1B is seeing no activity for
now. In addition to the overarching
responsibility of SMEC, the overall
project manager, which now included
management of community links,
local authorities and clients, was SCM
Project Management.
Scope of Work
“It is a greenfields development on
what had previously been farms. It
provides subsidised housing: 100%
subsidy (1 608 units in phase 1)
and for military veterans (174 units),
social housing (1 915 units), bonded
units (1 225 units), and community
rental units (680) for a total of
5 602 units,” says Mhlaba. Under
government regulations, there are
qualifying criteria for each category,
such as a wage cap or provable
military experience.
There will ultimately be a population
of between 56 000 and 70 000 people
in the township. Phases 1 and 2 will
be split by the railway line, and as it
will be a busy place, Mhlaba explains
it will also require two bridges over
the railway line to link the two halves
without creating bottlenecks. The
regional shopping centre, workplaces
and other facilities may swell the
population during the day.
Assisting the development is the fact
that the local authority was a prime
mover behind it, and consequently let
no obstacles get in its path. “It was a
collaborative effort,” Mhlaba says.
The municipality has sufficient
capacity in terms of water and
electricity to provide for phase 1,
but thereafter some additional
infrastructure will need to be
constructed. “There’s sufficient
water for the initial 5 600 units, and
we are busy with the connection
of the sewer to the municipal line
where there is also existing capacity
without upgrades required,” Mhlaba
explains. “There is available electricity
up to a maximum of 3 000 units.
For the remainder of the 14 000
units, we’re involved in a three-way
agreement between ourselves, the
municipality and the Development
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