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Majuba rail project, South Africa

29th April 2016

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Name and Location
Majuba rail project, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Client
Eskom.

Project Description
The Majuba rail project is a component of the Eskom Road-to-Rail Initiative, with the construction of a railway line that links the Majuba power station to the main coal railway hub in Ermelo, Mpumalanga.

The 68 km corridor is the first large greenfield freight-rail infrastructure project to be undertaken in South Africa since 1986 and will be operated by State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR).

The structures that will be constructed are 96 culverts, nine cattle creeps, 32 agricultural underpasses and over-passes, 18 bridges, one service duct and 40 cattle grids.

The overall objective is to ensure the security of coal supply through logistics solutions at Majuba, Tutuka, Camden, Grootvlei, Kendal and Hendrina power stations to cater for a throughput potential of 32-million tons a year of coal by rail. The coal will be unloaded at the terminal by the upgraded coal tippler system.

The line begins about 8 km west of Ermelo, in Mpumalanga, with the takeoff accessible from both directions of TFR’s existing coal corridor to Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal.

It is situated in the Gert Sibande district municipality and traverses two local municipalities, Msukaligwa and Pixley Ka Seme.
Eskom says the project will yield lower life-cycle transportation costs, improve coal-delivery turnaround times and enable Majuba to access more coal sources.

Value
The cost of the project has increased from R5.2-billion to R6-billion.

Duration
The project was expected to take three years to complete, from May 2013 to May 2016, but Eskom has subsequently revised the project’s completion date to December 2017.

Latest Developments
The structures and earthworks are 98.76% and 95.92% complete, with 55% of formation ready for track laying.

The majority of the site has been handed over to Aveng Rail, which is installing the rails and with IRCON installing the overhead traction equipment lines and signalling.

Aveng Grinaker-LTA, an operating group of Aveng, is responsible for all the construction activities required to get the formation ready for the laying of sleepers and track, comprising earthworks, layer works, drainage and concrete structures.

These include 1.06-million cubic metres of layer works, 1.2-million cubic metres of blasting in cuttings, 2.4-million cubic metres of unsuitable material spoiled and 2.8-million cubic metres of bulk fill.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Aveng Grinaker-LTA (main civil construction and earthworks); Aveng Rail (rail installation); Raytek-Ircon (overhead traction equipment lines and signalling installation).

On Budget and on Time?
No.

Contact Details for Project Information
Eskom media desk, tel +27 800 3304, fax +27 86 664 7699 or email mediadesk@eskom.co.za.
Eskom national call centre, tel 0860 037 566.
Aveng Grinaker-LTA, tel +27 11 578 6000, fax +27 11 578 6161 or email communications@grinaker-lta.co.za.Aveng Rail, tel +27 11 898 6800.
Raytek-Ircon, tel +27 32 946 2805.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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