Designed like a typical Italian village, the Montecasino leisure complex in Fourways, Johannesburg is an impressive feature of architectural design housing a casino, two theatres, cinemas and a mall. However, when it comes to periodic maintenance of difficult-to-reach areas of the roof, the only answer is to call in rope-access specialist Skyriders to make short shrift of any repair work.

While Montecasino has its own maintenance team and specialised contractors, it sometimes encounters specific issues that require work-at-height and confined-space experience, which is where Skyriders’ expertise is best put to use, highlights Marketing Manager Mike Zinn.

“Wind and weather play a major role in the upkeep of the exterior of such a leisure complex. Especially in the event of a major storm, we will often be requested to dispatch a three- to four-person team to assess parts of the roof where loose or damaged tiles are suspected,” explains Zinn. The client supplies all of the replacement materials, allowing Skyriders to carry out any repairs quickly and efficiently.

The most recent work undertaken at Montecasino was to replace an anchor system on a bell tower used to suspend advertising banners. Due to wear-and-tear, some of the anchors had started to come loose and the whole system therefore had to be inspected for safety reasons and to mitigate any risk. Rope access meant that this could be done simply without the need for any extensive scaffolding.

Skyriders is also able to keep its rope-access teams to a bare minimum, which is ideal to comply with all Covid-19 regulations and keep workers safe at all times. “This is the sort of specialised service that we are able to offer to all shopping centres, hotels, entertainment venues and other commercial facilities,” highlights Zinn.

“The common issue here is ease of access, which is difficult to achieve with scaffolding, while using long ladders is not the safest option either. These traditional methods also often require an exclusion zone around the working area for safety purposes, which adds to the logistical complexity. Rope access is simply the most cost-efficient and effective solution,” concludes Zinn.