Company Announcement - Murray & Roberts Infrastructure has successfully completed a challenging runway rehabilitation project at George Airport in the Western Cape for the Airports Company South Africa that involved placing 2 080 t of Novachip Ultra Thin Friction Course on top of the new asphalt on the runway. In addition the runway extensions and intersections comprised 1 920 t of medium graded asphalt while 12 710 t of medium graded asphalt was used for the runway reprofiling.

Activities at the bustling local airport could not be hampered by the construction work, which meant that Murray & Roberts Infrastructure had to work during the night and hand over a pristine site every morning. “The actual re-profiling of the runway with asphalt was a challenge,” Wouter Schreuder, Site Agent, says. “We had to temporarily shorten the runway during construction, which meant that aircraft had to land without using their instrument landing systems.” Work on the project commenced on 13 November 2013 and was wrapped up on 23 July this year. ACSA initiated the project in order to improve safety at George Airport in terms of run-off and storm water drainage. In addition the project was aimed at improving the structural capacity of the pavement surface. The scope of work comprised the extension of Runway 11/29, the extension of the aeronautical ground lighting network and re-profiling of identified runway sections. Murray & Roberts Infrastructure worked in close conjunction with ADB Electrical on the major works. “We had to build from an uneven existing runway surface to the final design level. This necessitated numerous layers of asphalt placed on top of each other in order to achieve the required level,” Schreuder says. Challenges included the fact that Murray & Roberts Infrastructure was not permitted to have any steps on the runway. “We had to create ramps after each shift’s paving operation before the runway could be opened in the morning. These had to be removed once the layer was constructed in this particular area.”

Cleaning of the runway after each shift was equally challenging in that the area had to be clean and free of any debris pending an inspection by George Airport’s fire and rescue services before opening the runway in the morning. “Time had to be allowed at the end of each shift in order to carry out all the required cleaning and this took careful planning,” Schreuder says. In addition each shift required thorough planning due to the constraints of working on an operational runway. Emergency removal equipment had to be available on site in case of any plant breakdown during a shift. “The interface between the civil and electrical works was difficult and had to be planned before the start of each shift. The logistics to get material to site posed a challenge due to the strict security measures. The bulk of the material had to be transported to site at night as a result,” Schreuder explains. The wet and cold weather at night also played a role during the construction phase due to certain limitations as per the project specifications. “Care had to be taken not to damage any of the existing services such as runway lights while working.”

Major statistics recorded by the project included: 12 465 m3 of topsoil removal, 18 500 m3 of imported G7 gravel material, 14 000 m3 of roadbed preparation, 1 980 m3 of stabilised gravel sub base by means of 130 t of cement, 1 144 m3 of G1 base course, 2 000 m3 of asphalt milling, 7 318 ℓ of primer using inverted bituminous emulsion, 71 678 ℓ of tack coat with a 30% stable grade bitumen emulsion and 4.4 ha of landscaping and hydro seeding.

Murray & Roberts recently announced the integration of its Concor Civils and Concor Roads & Earthworks into a new single business called Murray & Roberts Infrastructure. This will entrench the cumulative and collective legacy of these businesses by enabling a more focused approach of combined services, as well as enhancing project execution and the ability to adapt to changing conditions in the marketplace. Eric Wisse, former Managing Director of Concor Roads & Earthworks, heads up the new business division.