The Civil Engineering Contractor November 2018 | Page 20

ON SITE
Dolomitic site
provides technical
challenges
By Eamonn Ryan
Motheo Construction Group
is undertaking the bulk
services work on a highly
sensitive site in Tembisa,
where 80% of the area is
dolomitic. The nature of
the geology has introduced
considerable
complexity
to the low-cost housing
project, with Motheo having
to follow strict guidelines on
the management of water
run-off and erosion.
T
he open veld of Tembisa
Extension 25, adjacent to
Tembisa Hospital and a half-
constructed church, and previously
home to only a small settlement of
homeless people, is in the process
of becoming an almost R700-
million mini city. Established in
1957, Tembisa is a major informal
settlement to the north of Kempton
Park on the East Rand in Gauteng.
The site is approximately 58.391ha
and will accommodate full subsidy
and social housing units.
Motheo Construction Group has
been awarded a R145-million
contract by the Development
Bank of Southern Africa
(DBSA) for bulk services
of the residential project:
a mega project for the
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan
Municipality’s
Human
Settlements department.
The project will ultimately
see the construction of
3 510 residential units of three and
four storeys, with mostly two- and
some one-bedroom units of flatlets
of affordable housing in a slightly
different format. Ekurhuleni has
allocated R160-million of the total
in its 2018/19 budget, with a further
R524-million over the next three
years, as noted in the Ekurhuleni
2017/18 Budget Highlights.
Junithan Moodley, operations
director of the Motheo Construction
Group’s Civils division, explains
that the next step is to appoint
subcontractors in terms of relevant
small and medium enterprises
(SMEs), with preference being
given to those from the area. “Our
detailed programme for the scope
of work will emphasise the critical
path and completion date, which
is an estimated 12 months for this
package,” Moodley says.
Well known in the construction
industry as a leading provider of social
housing, the Motheo Construction
Four attenuation ponds are being constructed to manage
water run-off caused by fl ash fl oods.
18 | CEC November 2018
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