The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2019 | Page 24

Sam Mhlaba, CEO of Montrose City
Mega Development.
Project launch.
Bank of Southern Africa (also a
partner in the SPV) and have reached
agreement on a plan of action which
will be implemented during the next
two years as phase 2 materialises, to
provide sufficient electricity.”
For instance, there are plans for two
adjacent solar plants covering 30ha
each over a 20-year period, which may
ultimately provide power. Further
‘greening’ of the community will
stem from plans to recycle grey water
within the community for industrial
purposes rather than returning used
water to the municipal infrastructure.
These will become part of phase 2.
Mhlaba says that during the
construction peak, between one and
two million cubic metres of concrete
were being poured each week. The
scale of the work means a number
of different suppliers are involved,
including AfriSam, WG Wearne and
Senzobex, while cement was also
provided by PPC, and third-party
suppliers such as Cashbuild and Bricks
for Africa.
The current state of the project:
• The installation of services was
started, which includes water
reticulation, sanitation/sewer,
roads and storm water.
• In September 2018 the installation
of services on Phase 1C was
started.
• In October 2018 the construction
of top structure commenced units
which include military veterans
units, and BNG RDP units.
22 | CEC July 2019
ON SITE
• E
 stimated completion of services
being installed on Phase 1A is June
2019.
• 
Estimated completion of the
services being installed on Phase
1C is July 2019.
• Estimated completion of the top
structures is on June 2019.
• In June pipe jacking will commence
for the following across or
underneath the railway line: storm
water, electricity, sewer/sanitation.
• Developers are currently busy with
the town planning services for Phase
2, which will yield 8 190 units
known as Montrose Ext 1.
• The duration is six years, which
will overlap with phase 1.
• Developers are in talks with Prasa
and Transnet on the development of
a passenger train station similar to
Johannesburg Park Passenger Station.
Materials used to date:
• Cement stock bricks – 10 million
bricks
• Maxi bricks – 1.5 million bricks
• Clay bricks – 1.2 million bricks
• 
Concrete steel reinforcement
600t
• Concrete – 10 000m 3
• Cement – 18 000 bags of cement
32.5kg
• Aggregates – 15 000m 3 building
sand and 7 500m 3 plaster sand
• Roads and storm water – Asphalt
roads 17.1km
• Sanitation/sewerage – 17.1km
• Water reticulation – 19.3km
Challenges
There was a lot of rock on site,
requiring both packing by jackhammer
and excavator, and blasting. This
delayed the start of civils work by
some time, says Mhlaba.
There was considerable community
excitement and expectation at
the commencement of works, says
Mhlaba, but not unexpected given
the high levels of poverty and
unemployment in the area. This was
resolved through communication and
education: “People realised this was a
long-term project and they should not
be impatient to see some benefits, as
we will get to everyone.”
Bulk infrastructure was an initial
problem but was escalated and resolved
with the municipal service providers to
prevent hindrance to the development,
especially the larger phase 2.
In a development as complex as this
one, the developer could not afford
to sit back and rely on the pace of
government action, as momentum
was vital. Mhlaba says SCM took the
initiative in bringing together all the
parties – Transnet, Prasa, Department
of Education, Human Settlements,
to ensure all the legs moved in a
synchronised fashion. “It was a journey
that began in 2015 until we broke
ground in November 2017. As the land
was a farm, it had to be converted to
a township for planning purposes. We
acted as enabler of all the professionals,
and the myriad processes: EIA,
www.civilsonline.co.za