15 Oct Peikko’s advanced precast design elements keeps wastewater project on track
15 October 2024: Leaders in advanced precast concrete construction technology, Peikko South Africa, assisted in reducing the construction time for the development of the extensive upgrade to the City of Cape Town’s sewage and wastewater system, to just three months. The expansion of the Potsdam wastewater treatment works involved the construction of a new structure to house a membrane technology system.
Under intense time pressure, main contractor H&I Construction reached out to precast concrete specialists Cape Concrete in an effort to find a more time efficient method of constructing the column and beam structure that had to support the weight of a traveling crane.
Cape Concrete immediately contacted Peikko having worked with them on numerous projects, where Peikko’s innovative structural solutions and connection technology for precast construction techniques had proved a winner.
Winston Visser, Project Engineer at Peikko says: “When Cape Concrete contacted us requesting assistance with the precast design of the new structure, we knew the project design was ideal for our advanced technology approach.“
“The original design called for cast-in-situ column and beam construction with column heights of 15m and beams that must support a 60 ton capacity traveling crane. We responded with our initial designs with confirmation that if adopted, the precast design would not only comply with all structural and seismic specifications, but restore the main contractor’s construction schedule cutting off weeks compared with cast-in-situ construction.
“After extensive discussions between H&I Construction, Cape Concrete and the client, our design was approved, and Cape Concrete began the offsite manufacture of the precast concrete elements which incorporate Peikko’s patented connection technology,” explains Visser.
He added that as H&I Construction weren’t familiar with Peikko’s connection technology, the Peikko team spent valuable hours explaining the process and the accuracy required in placing the anchor bolts into the plant’s foundations. Furthermore, as the structure could now be effectively modular, it wasn’t necessary to execute the construction in a traditional process, which allowed other trades and subcontractors to access sections of the building earlier than was first envisaged under a cast-in-situ solution.
This was particularly valuable for the mechanical contractor who was able to schedule the installation of a myriad of pipework in a more time effective way.
“The upshot of this switch to Peikko connected precast elements instead of in situ construction resulted in H&I Construction being able to finish construction of the plant in just three months, bringing the project back onto the client’s time lines for the development of this extensive upgrade to the City’s sewage and wastewater system.
“The project elicited praise from the client for the contractor’s performance, quality of work, finish of the precast elements and minimal snags, and above all, speed of construction. All in all a job well done!” concludes Visser.
ENDS
About Peikko Group:
Peikko Group Corporation is a leading global supplier of slim floor structures, wind energy applications and connection technology for precast and cast-in-situ. Peikko’s innovative solutions offer a faster, safer, and more efficient way to design and build. Peikko has sales offices in over 30 countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North America, with manufacturing operations in eleven countries. Peikko generated a turnover of EUR 230 million in 2019. Peikko is a family-owned and managed company that employs over 1,800 professionals. Peikko was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Lahti, Finland. Further information: www.peikko.com
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