The proposed Durban dig-out port (DDOP) and the high-speed rail link between Johannesburg and Durban will enhance KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN’s) position as an attractive import stopover, says industrial concrete flooring experts Concrete Laser Flooring (CLF) director Lance Howarth.

The DDOP, which is expected to be Africa’s largest deep-water container terminal, will be developed in four phases. It aims to handle 9.6-million twenty-foot-equivalent units using 16 berths by 2037 and to incorporate an automotive terminal and a liquid-bulk handling facility by 2050.

Further, by 2050, the current Johannesburg–Durban rail system will carry freight volumes of 600 000 t/y, with the development of the R160-billion high-speed rail route, based on Japan’s Shinkansen rail, possibly taking volumes to between 2.5-million tons and 4.2-million tons a year.

Howarth highlights that, as a result of the proposed projects, many industrial companies have started building distribution centres, increasing the need for construction and, in turn, the demand in the KZN concrete flooring market.

He says CLF’s market share is growing rapidly in the province, owing to increased demand. Between 40% and 45% of the company’s turnover is produced in KZN.

“We are probably the biggest and only specialist concrete floor installer in KZN and, for ten years, our KZN branch has been a ground base for most contractors that require specialist concrete flooring services in the province. Further, the market is warranting growth and, as a result, we plan to acquire a second laser for our operations,” Howarth states.

He says that international competitors are bringing their expertise to South Africa and that CLF aims to ensure its continued growth amid the competition in the market on the back of its maintaining the quality of work it produces.

To support this objective, the company has introduced a new jointless flooring system, CLF PrimeComposite, which it hopes will propel the company ahead of most contractors.

The concrete composite consists of various steel fibres and is regulated in terms of the concrete mix. It will allow CLF to install bigger flooring areas faster and without joints, reducing project time.

The company also plans to buy a dry-shake spreader machine, which will automatically apply dry-shake concrete hardener to floors. It will ensure that the dry-shake hardener is applied at the correct time and in the correct dosage, increasing CLF’s productivity.

Flooring Projects
CLF completed a R1.5-million project in June for Pinetown-based automotive air-conditioning and engine-cooling components manufacturer and assembler Smiths Manufacturing.

The project, which began in May, entailed the refurbishment of an 8 000 m2 floor, with an epoxy high build of between 1 mm and 2 mm, and the construction of a 3 000 m2 floor for manufacturing machines.

Further, the company also completed the R4-million construction and installation of a 15 000 m2 floor, with dry-shake hardener, for retail company Makro in Amanzimtoti, KZN, in May.

Meanwhile, CLF says it has various projects in the pipeline for the rest of the year, including a 22 000 m2 floor for department store The Hub, in Mount Edgecombe and warehouse aisles for a KZN logistics company.