innovations
mid-July to the end of October 2017,
with a Saint-Gobain PAM specialist
available during the vessel offloading.
With an evident note of pride, Sithole
adds: “This is Saint-Gobain PAM’s first
mine project in South Africa and we are
confident that our products are durable
to meet the lifespan of the mine. By
choosing PAM, you are choosing a
reliable, watertight installation, with a
rapid return on investment.
“This expertise is what bagged us the
project,” he concludes with a grin. u
About Saint-Gobain PAM
For more than 150 years, Saint-Gobain
PAM has designed, produced, and sold
complete pipeline systems for water
and sewerage applications; therefore,
when choosing Saint-Gobain PAM, you
are choosing a leading company with a
strong global industrial presence, enriched
by its technical culture and high-quality
solutions. The PAM brand has become
the global reference in the pipeline world
thanks to innovations and the quality
of the company’s technical solutions.
Water Sewage & Effluent May/June 2018
17
A ductile iron section with a 11.25 spigot and socket bend installed at
the back. The workers are busy constructing a thrust block to keep
the pipe in place, which was installed by Afriline Civils.
The pipe comes in six-metre lengths,
but even in the EN 545 specification,
the pipe can be slightly shorter or
longer, he explains. “To accommodate
the required overlap section, as a
result the contractor had to cut the
pipes in some instances. While this
may sound like a small job, the reality
is that there were almost 5 000 pipe
sections for the project.”
Sithole continues, “On the project,
there were three main companies: the
pipe installer, the engineers, and Saint-
Gobain PAM. With three companies
working on that project, we developed
a really good working relationship;
with collaboration from all parties,
working on problems together and
finding solutions together.” He further
explains that Saint-Gobain PAM’s
relationship with its clients is based on
a true partnership.
The manager goes on to explain the
logistical challenge that the project
encountered: “You must realise that to
deliver the pipes and fittings to the mine in
the desert from Cape Town port took over
270 trucks, each travelling over a distance
of more than 700km. This is an incredible
logistics success story in itself, handled
by an experienced logistics company.
“Every day there were four or five
trucks travelling to site,” he adds.
The pipes were delivered in three
batches of shipment, starting from
The most challenging part of the job: through the kloof about 1 000m from the Orange River. Note the
flexibility on the ductile iron joints. Each joint has a flex of two degrees. This point was a test lay.