IMIESA Jan/Feb 2024 49 According to Gavin Venter, Manager Saldanha and Strategic Projects at AfriSam, the enabling infrastructure for this quarry has been significant. “After conducting a number of wide-spaced prospecting campaigns – as well as closespaced drilling across 100 hectares – we identified the best limestone reserves on our mining right on the opposite side of the R31 national road, which runs between the new site and the plant,” he explains. “This means it is necessary to construct tunnels under the road to facilitate safe access between the new quarry site and the existing plant. Adding to the complexity is that the large Gamagara water pipeline runs parallel to the road.” The R31 road between Kimberley and Postmasburg carries high volumes of large ore trucks and abnormal load mining New limestone quarry for AfriSam at Ulco CEMENT & CONCRETE Hannes Meyer, AfriSam Cementitious Executive Gavin Venter, AfriSam Manager Saldanha and Strategic Projects equipment. It will be diverted in early 2024 to accommodate this traffic for about six months while extensive excavation and civil engineering work is undertaken to construct the tunnel underpass system. “In compliance with the road authority’s requirements, the tunnels will traverse the full 32 m width of the road reserve – to allow for future road widening, in addition to the pipeline servitude,” Venter continues. The two tunnels themselves will be over 50 m in length and will be separated to enhance safety as there will be counterflow traffic to and from the plant. These 5 m high by 5 m wide tunnels will be excavated to 12 m below the R31 road level and constructed as large culverts with steel reinforced in-situ cast concrete. The design work ensured a tunnel alignment to suit the future possibility of an in-pit crusher and conveyer belt. If such an option was financially justified in future, it would provide an alternative method to feed crushed material to the existing pre-blending stockpiles. The civils works also has to accommodate the 700 mm diameter Gamagara pipeline, supplying the Northern Cape with water from the Vaal River. To avoid the risk of disrupting this water supply, a concrete bridge has been constructed parallel to the existing pipeline, inside which a new 100 m stretch of pipeline was laid. “This provided the necessary support for the pipeline so that excavation and controlled blasting can be conducted underneath,” explains Venter. “As a further precaution, there is also a 100 mm per second vibration limit applied to any blasting activity around the pipeline bridge.” Work on the pipe bridge began in late 2022, with excavation work commencing in the third quarter of 2023, creating the initial slot on the south side of the R31. Once the road is diverted, the excavation of the tunnels can As the important mineral component of its cement, limestone will soon be mined from a new deposit by AfriSam’s Ulco cement plant in the Northern Cape. The relocated quarry will be capable of providing security of supply for about 40 years and will need to deliver around 2 million tonnes of limestone to Ulco each year. AfriSam’s Ulco cement factory is located in South Africa’s Northern Cape province and has a production capacity of 4 000 t of clinker per day
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATES IMESA AFFILIATE MEMBERS WWW.ULTRAVALVES .CO .ZA TOTAL P IPEL INE VALVE SOLUT IONS T E L : + 2 7 ( 0 ) 1 1 4 5 2 6 5 1 4 IMESA
IMIESA Jan/Feb 2024 51 CEMENT & CONCRETE Existing Ulco operation with new mining area outlined in red Ulco project area showing the development of the R31 bypass and drainage line diversion above it AECOM [email protected] AFI Consult [email protected] ARRB Systems [email protected] Asla Construction (Pty) Ltd [email protected] BMK Group [email protected] Bosch Projects (Pty) Ltd [email protected] BVI Consulting Engineers [email protected] CCG [email protected] / [email protected] Corrosion Institute of Southern Africa [email protected] Dlamindlovu Consulting Engineers & Project Managers [email protected] EFG Engineers [email protected] Elster Kent Metering [email protected] EMS Solutions [email protected] ENsync Engineers [email protected] ERWAT [email protected] Gabion Baskets [email protected] GIBB [email protected] GIGSA [email protected] GLS Consulting [email protected] Gorman Rupp [email protected] Gudunkomo Investments & Consulting [email protected] Hatch Africa (Pty) Ltd [email protected] HB Glass Filter Media [email protected] Herrenknecht [email protected] Huber Technology [email protected] Hydro-comp Enterprises [email protected] Infrachamps Consulting [email protected] INFRATEC [email protected] Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa [email protected] IQHINA Consulting Engineers & Project Managers [email protected] iX engineers (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Izinga Holdings [email protected] JBFE Consulting (Pty) Ltd [email protected] JG Afrika [email protected] KABE Consulting Engineers [email protected] Kago Consulting Engineers [email protected] Kantey & Templer (K&T) Consulting Engineers [email protected] Kitso Botlhale Consulting Engineers [email protected] KSB Pumps and Valves (Pty) Ltd [email protected] KUREMA Engineering (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Lektratek Water [email protected] Loshini Projects [email protected] Makhaotse Narasimulu & Associates [email protected] Mariswe (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Martin & East [email protected] M & C Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Mhiduve [email protected] MPAMOT (PTY) LTD [email protected] Mvubu Consulting & Project Managers [email protected] Nyeleti Consulting [email protected] Odour Engineering Systems [email protected] Prociv Consulting & Projects Management [email protected] Rainbow Reservoirs [email protected] Re-Solve Consulting (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Ribicon Consulting Group (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Royal HaskoningDHV [email protected] SABITA [email protected] SAFRIPOL [email protected] SAGI [email protected] SALGA [email protected] SAPPMA [email protected] / [email protected] SARF [email protected] SBS Water Systems [email protected] Silulumanzi [email protected] Siroccon International (Pty) Ltd [email protected] SiVEST SA [email protected] Sizabantu Piping Systems (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Siza Water (RF) Pty Ltd [email protected] Sky High Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd [email protected] SKYV Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd [email protected] Smartlock [email protected] SMEC [email protected] SOUTH AFRICAN VALUE EDUCATION [email protected] Southern African Society for Trenchless Technology [email protected] SRK Consulting [email protected] Star Of Life Emergency Trading CC [email protected] Structa Group [email protected] TPA Consulting [email protected] Ultra Control Valves [email protected] V3 Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd [email protected] VIP Consulting Engineers [email protected] VNA [email protected] Water Institute of Southern Africa [email protected] Wam Technology CC [email protected] Wilo South Africa [email protected] WRCON [email protected] Zutari [email protected] begin and is expected to be complete by end February 2024. This will be followed by the construction of the two tunnels. The supply of readymix – which will include AfriSam cement – will come from Kimberley, about 80 km south. With ambient daytime temperatures that can rise to 40 degrees, this will require careful use of admixtures to achieve the required slump by the time readymix trucks arrive on site. Mining topography “Mining is expected to begin in the second half of 2024, with an unusual topography in which the quarry will be mined into an escarpment,” says Hannes Meyer, Cementitious Executive at AfriSam. “Transportation of mined material is therefore mainly downhill. With the gradient of the haul road slopes limited to 5 degrees, AfriSam’s truck-trailer combinations have been designed to be much more energy efficient than conventional off-road dump trucks.” AfriSam commissioned various specialist studies as part of its environmental impact assessment to investigate the new quarry’s potential effects on wetlands, terrestrial life, hydrology, heritage and traffic. Authorisation was granted to mine in the vicinity of water features on the proposed mining area, with a seasonal drainage line that had to be diverted to avoid the exit slot of the new haul road.
AfriSam 44 AKS Lining Systems 20, OBC APE Pumps | Mather+Platt 11 Astec 41 Bosun Concrete Products 31 BVi Consulting Engineers 8 Envitech 21 Gabion Baskets 17 IMESA 20, 48, 50 KSB Group 4 Lintec & Linnhoff 2 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS S ANEDI, which was appointed by the DBSA as the project’s implementing agent, has announced that 39 buses and the associated charging infrastructure will be purchased and rolled out with the US$4,7 m in funding secured. The project will be implemented over a period of five years, with half the buses being commissioned in the first two years. The City of Tshwane will be allocated 20 buses and eThekwini 19. “During this time, we will demonstrate the technical, operational, legal, economic and other feasibility factors, and bed down the specifications of the ecosystem needed By the end of 2025, a growing number of electric commuter buses could be on the roads of Tshwane and eThekwini as part of a pilot project funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and managed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). to support electric buses in South Africa,” explains Tebogo Snyer, project manager for SANEDI’s cleaner mobility programme. Snyer says that although the intention is to procure locally as much as possible, the buses will have to be imported as no local manufacturing capacity exists as present. “We do manufacture some electric charging equipment in South Africa, but what we need to procure will depend on the buses we decide to test.” Electric vehicles are one component of the worldwide drive to cleaner mobility, which includes natural gas. Currently, electric vehicle technology is the furthest developed and continues to advance due to the interest TRANSPORTATION Rand Water 13, 32 SIKA IBC Sizabantu Piping Systems IFC Sudpave | Bergesen Agencies 27 Vega OFC, 6 Across the world cities are shifting to electric buses as a cleaner and smarter solution PILOT SCALE ELECTRIC BUS DRIVE FOR TSHWANE AND ETHEKWINI in it across the globe and the significant resources that China, in particular, is investing in growing the sector. Cost of ownership Snyer expects the technology to revolutionise the transport sector in the next three to five years on the back of improved and cheaper batteries, which will also lower the cost of ownership significantly. Currently, total of cost of ownership is 5% to 10% less than internal combustion buses, but the much higher upfront capital outlay limits adoption. The main selling points, however, are the absence of emissions and giving South Africa an alternative to imported diesel. 52 IMIESA Jan/Feb 2024
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