JSE-listed civil engineering and con-struction group Esorfranki says it exceeded its pipe jacking project targets for 2011.

Esorfranki pipejacking manager Anton Naude says the company was awarded a R2.5-million contract by city water services provider Johannesburg Water to conduct 60 m of jacking underneath the Jukskei river, in Johannesburg, at a depth of about 12 m.

Further, the company reports that it also completed a R20-million sewer reticulation upgrade jacking project for civil contractor China Jiangsu International, in Gaborone, Botswana, in November.

Esorfranki undertook concrete pipe jacking, which comprises the use of a steel shield with a hydraulic jack positioned at the front of the pipeline, at the Gaborone project.

Naude says this project was carried out under very difficult conditions, with a high water table and hard rock encountered underground. The jacking sites for the 1 800 mm sewer pipes are located across the city centre, allowing limited working space to sink the jacking pits.

Esorfranki is also working on a R7.7-million contract at State-owned power utility Eskom’s Medupi power station to jack 1 800 mm pipes through solid rock. The company is undertaking the work at Medupi as a subcontractor to multidisciplinary construction group Stefanutti Stocks.

Also at Medupi, the company is con-ducting a R7.9-million pipe jacking project for civils contractor Civcon, involving two pipe jacks that are 1 860 m long.

In addition, the company recently completed a R19-million pipe jacking project for JSE-listed construction group WBHO on the Secunda to Sasolburg petrochemicals pipeline. It deployed eight pipe jacking teams on the project to carry out 1 200 mm and 1 800 mm pipejacks under 23 roads and railway lines.

Other current contracts include a pipe culvert at Lynnwood Road, in Pretoria, for the City of Tshwane metropolitan municipality and a culvert for pedestrians and vehicles at the North West University, in Potchefstroom.

Meanwhile, the company has completed a culvert jacking project 45 cm beneath a tar road at OR Tambo International Airport, in Kempton Park.

The concrete culvert is 7 m wide, 3 m high and 17 m long, and was commissioned to serve as a pedestrian walkway to and from the Gautrain station.

“Esorfranki has been party to every Southern African pipe jacking record set to date and has contributed extensively to bringing the viability of the technique to the civil engineering fraternity in the region.

“Our expertise in this field dates back to 1978 and includes water supply, railway crossing, gas pipeline and bridge jacking projects across South Africa and neighbouring African countries,” concludes Naude.

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