In the 18 months since it was established as a new division within the Raubex Group Limited’s Infrastructure division Raubex Infra has built up a significant order book that has achieved all its objectives for the financial year 2013/2014.

With the Raubex Group well entrenched in the roads construction industry, Raubex Infra was born out of a Group vision to create an infrastructure division that specialises in other types of civil construction. Raubex Infra offers multi-disciplinary solutions in predominantly four key operational areas: rail and rail related infrastructure; roads and earthworks for mining infrastructure; fibre and GSM telecommunications; and electrical and alternative energy infrastructure. The backbone of these services is the division’s specialised capabilities in civil construction and earthworks.

Dirk Lourens, managing director of Raubex Infra, says the most gratifying development in the new division’s growth has been the rapid uptake of the services offered by its renewable energy unit.

“The market is starting to recognise these specialised capabilities and we’re currently working on seven Round 1 and Round 2 projects in the renewable energy arena,” he comments. “This is a very exciting achievement, considering that we’re the new kid on the block and that we’re competing in this sector against international competition, as well as the major local construction companies. We’re now positioning ourselves to offer the complete scope of energy project services in-house, from civil and electrical to mechanical work.”

Among the renewable energy projects being implemented by Raubex Infra’s dedicated Power and Energy Infrastructure Projects unit are two contracts by Norwegian solar energy provider, Scatec Solar, to provide civils and electrical work for its two new photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants. The two plants, Linde near Hanover in the Northern Cape and Dreunberg near Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape, will generate a combined 115 MW under the second round of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Work on the projects is already underway, with the plants scheduled for completion mid-2014.

Raubex Infra is also currently involved in one major project in the mining infrastructure field, two big projects under the telecommunications banner and one significant rail infrastructure project.

“These early successes can be attributed to the amount of preparation undertaken before we opened our doors,” Lourens comments. “We did our homework thoroughly, identifying potential customers and projects, and this enabled us to hit the ground running.

“One of our biggest assets is our people, who have been hand-picked for their depth of knowledge and hands-on skills in these niche markets. We opened for business with 30 personnel and, with a steep curve of contracts awarded almost immediately, we’ve since increased this number to more than 400 people.

“Having the backing of the Raubex Group has also given us the critical mass to be very competitive in these markets. It provided a major stepping stone to make an entry at a very high level, in terms of the provision of funding.

“I also feel that our passion to deliver services that are out of the ordinary has been another success factor. We’re not a run-of-the-mill group of engineers with tunnel vision – we provide a service to the customer that is tailor-made to fit the project. We’re already becoming known for our ability to constantly shift the boundaries on niche projects with high time constraints and difficult terrain, or projects that are technically complex. Wherever possible, we prefer to become involved in a project at a very early stage to help the customer develop the project in the most efficient and cost effective way.”

Beyond its first financial year Raubex Infra intends to continue to grow its order book and capacity to improve margins. Lourens says he believes that the division’s chosen disciplines will continue to experience significant growth in the years ahead, in line with government plans and general market demand for related projects. Its core focus is on building relationships with strategic partners to successfully execute turnkey projects.

Raubex Infra is currently in the process of establishing a presence in the Northern Cape that will have a primary focus on serving the mining environment in that region by supporting existing projects and providing a local point of contact.

The division is ISO 9001:2008 certified and has started to work towards OHSAS 18001:2004 and ISO 14001:2004 certification which is expected to be achieved during the course of 2014.

RAUBEX INFRA PIC 01 :  Rail works at Minnaar Station for the Tweefontein Optimisation Project

RAUBEX INFRA PIC 02 :  Rail works at balloon loop for the Tweefontein Optimisation Project

RAUBEX INFRA PIC 03 :  OHTE works at Minnaar Station for the Tweefontein Optimisation Project

RAUBEX INFRA PIC 04 :  Earthworks for the Linde Photovoltaic Solar farm

RAUBEX INFRA PIC 05 :  Construction works for the De Aar Photovoltaic Solar farm