The Civil Engineering Contractor March 2019 | Page 22

Fast-tracking water
to a parched region
of Mpumalanga
This is an adjacent reservoir by Corestruc, further along in the process.
ON SITE
By Eamonn Ryan
Precast-concrete specialist Corestruc is constructing a 10 megalitre (Mℓ) reservoir in
the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality north of Pretoria using precast walls. It is part
of a programme by the municipality to strengthen water supply to the towns of Bundu,
Boekenhouthoek, Mathysenloop, and Machipe in Mpumalanga.
H
illy terrain, a rural
environment, and the distance
from economic centres were
key challenges. Works commenced
in 2018 with the construction of a
concrete weir and abstraction works,
both commissioned in August 2018,
and a bulk pipeline from Bundu to
Boekenhouthoek completed before the
end of September as part of the first
phase of the programme.
Meanwhile, the construction of
the first module of a 7.5Mℓ/day
water-treatment plant in Bundu was
completed in June 2018. Notably, this
will be Bundu’s first water-treatment
plant and the entire facility is on
track for completion by mid-2019.
A total of 5Mℓ/day of water will be
20 | CEC March 2019
sourced from the Moses River to
alleviate much of the pressure on
existing supplies from various water
service authorities.
Previously, the municipality
sourced 15Mℓ/day from the City of
Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality,
5Mℓ/day from Dr J S Moroka Local
Municipality, and 35Mℓ/day from
Rand Water Board. This supply
was inconsistent and, as a result,
led to widespread water restrictions
in
Bundu,
Boekenhouthoek,
Mathysenloop, and Machipe.
Tshwane-based Ceenex, a local
water infrastructure specialist, has
been involved in the project since
the early master-planning phases.
The firm of consulting engineers
was also later appointed by the
municipality to supervise the
construction works, which includes
the 10Mℓ command reservoir that
was built as part of the second phase
of the project.
On this component of the
programme, Ceenex is a subconsultant
to Monde Consulting Engineers &
Project Managers, which is supervising
the construction of the reservoir. Both
consulting engineers assisted in refining
the unique design of the 10Mℓ structure,
which is only the second in the country
to be built using a new novel precast-
concrete system. The other was built in
Kwa-Mahlangu as part of a larger water-
supply scheme that is also being driven
by Thembisile Hani Local Municipality.
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