Civil engineering contractor Liviero Civils has contributed to a range of works on the Gautrain rapid-rail link project at Rosebank and Sandton stations.

Liviero was awarded the contract for the Sandton road diversions, one of the first contracts on the Gautrain project. These enabling works were necessary for the management of traffic around Sandton station during the construction phase and included the relocation of the existing taxi rank, concrete works around the north and south access shafts, as well as the establishment of the site around the Mushroom Farm Park access shaft.

“Liviero was subsequently awarded the contract for the bulk earthworks and lateral support to the Sandton station parkade. This contract was successfully completed in January 2008,” says Liviero Civils MD Stuart Knight.

At Rosebank station, Liviero was awarded the tunnel boring machine starter slab contract. Lasting about 18 weeks, the contract was completed in January 2008.
“These slabs entail the supply and fixing of all rebar, erection of formwork and pouring of in situ concrete,” says Knight.

The base slab varies in thickness from 700 mm to 1,2 m, required more than 3 000 m3 of concrete and 500 t of rebar, and is situated at a depth of 25 m below Oxford road.

Liviero has also been awarded the civil works contract to con- struct the Rosebank under-ground station. Knight says the expected completion date for these civil works is October 2009.

A 7-m high, single-sided shutter system is being used to cast the station walls, which Knight says is not common in South Africa. As a result, the brace frames for the system had to be imported.

Liviero has also been involved in the preparatory works for Viaduct 13 in Modderfontein as well as the construction of the new Kelvin rail siding.

Liviero Civils contract director Charles Wright says the Gautrain is one of the largest civil construction contracts in South African history and while the scope of works is sometimes extremely challenging from a practical point of view, the major challenge on the contract is the collabor-ation between all the different parties involved on the project.

“There is a great deal of interdependence on this job and I am pleased that the Liviero team has proved itself to be a very efficient and effective partner on this contract,” says Wright.

Knight comments that the restricted size of the Rosebank site is a challenge and efficient use has to be made of the construction and lay-down areas, requiring effective and detailed planning.

A challenge facing the indus- try is the scarcity of skilled resources and Knight says that Liviero is looking to employ suitable staff to facilitate the continued growth of the company.

Liviero Civils has been awarded a total of six contracts on the Gautrain project and the combined value of these will exceed R150-million.

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