Construction of the R25-billion Gautrain project is on schedule, the Bombela Civils Joint Venture said on Wednesday.
Project director Charles-Etienne Perrier said construction of the 10 stations that will link Pretoria and Johannesburg as well as Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport, is on schedule despite a ”few difficulties”.
He said the first phase, the airport-Sandton link, will be completed by mid-2010 and the second and final phase by March 2011. The final phase will see Hatfield in Pretoria linked to Park station in Johannesburg’s CBD — a trip that will take 42 minutes.
A media trip to the Rosebank construction site and Marlboro portal site found heavy machinery and a large workforce hard at work behind the screen hoardings used to lessen the noise.
At the Rosebank site, about 300 employees have excavated a 20m-deep shaft, which is shallower in other places. While the car park and station entrance will be above ground, the station itself will be 20m underneath.
Once construction is completed, the area will be covered in and Oxford Street will be opened again for road users in both directions. ”Oxford Street will be exactly like it was before,” said Perrier.
Tunnelling
At the beginning of November, a tunnel-boring machine (TBM) will be used to dig the tunnel from Rosebank to Park station. While drilling and explosives are being used to excavate all other sites, due to the geological fault between the Rosebank and Park station the TBM needs to be used.
According to Perrier, the ground is too soft to use explosives and drilling equipment in the area.
The TBM is currently under construction in Germany and will be shipped to South Africa in October. It will drill through 10m of ground per day.
The estimated cost for its design, construction, shipping and installation is approximately R230-million, said deputy project director Jooste Marais. ”We had to build one specially for this project. At the end of the day we are hoping to sell it,” he said.
Marais said a similar TBM — with the correct specifications — was not available in any other countries for the time period it was needed and therefore one had to be built. He said the tunnels will be 6,8m in diameter with a ground cover of 30m in some places.
Drilling and the use of explosives at the Marlboro portal will also excavate 10m of ground per day. There are currently two explosions every day in 12-hour intervals.
Marlboro portal general foreman Tienie Fraser said the aim is to increase the distance of ground excavated from 10m to 11m per day. He said 320m has been excavated to date, with 2,4km still to be done to meet up with the team at the Mushroom Farm Park station in Sandton.
Safety first
Fraser said the safety record at the site is very good. He attributed this to a ”well-oiled” and educated team.
But a Catholic patron saint also watches over the safety of the tunnel workers. At the entrance to the Marlboro portal tunnel is a small shrine to St Barbara, the patron saint of tunnel workers. A candle burning at the shrine symbolises her saintly protection and brings a European tradition of tunnel workers to South Africa.
French engineers brought the patroness’ statue from France and it was placed at the entrance to the tunnel in February. A priest performed a blessing at the time.
From Marlboro portal, the train will travel above ground and over viaducts.
There will be six trains dedicated to the OR Tambo-Sandton route, with three trains in each direction. The trains will take 12 minutes from one point to the next. Twelve trains, six in each direction, will be dedicated to the Hatfield-Park Station route.
The chief executive of the Gautrain Management Agency, Jack van der Merwe, said R3-million an hour is being spent in 37 workstreams: 35 in South Africa and one in Germany and one in Britain. Twenty-four trains are being constructed in Britain.
The total cost of the project is estimated at R25-billion, of which R21,9-billion has been allocated by national and provincial government.
Perrier said the workforce is made up of 15 nationalities. However, 97% of employees are South African. — Sapa