Sasko Mills Upgrade

Project Details:

Value: R130.3m
Date: 2014, 2013
Client: Pioneer Foods
Engineers: LMV Engineers
Awards: MBSA National Safety Competition (2013), 5th in Category F Projects R75m – R150m; MBA Boland Regional Safety Competition (2013), 2nd in Category Projects exceeding R20m

The SASKO Mill Upgrade was one of Isipani Construction’s largest civil engineering contracts to date and included the construction of eleven 40-metre-high grain silos, a new production shed, and upgrades to the client’s existing mill, administration building, workhouse and laboratories.

The project was divided into two phases: during the first phase all the site’s old buildings were demolished to prepare the foundations of the silos. Next came the construction of the silos, new buildings, upgrades to the mill and the site’s weighbridge. Overhead pedestrian bridges were installed once the silos were completed.

Once the silos’ foundations had been completed, each silo wall had to be completed within a tight schedule of seven days. The first day was allocated for preparation work, next came the silo walls. Each silo wall had to be cast continuously, 24 hours around the clock, while the sliding formwork edged incrementally upwards as each casting began to set. Technically, this was extremely challenging work with teams mixing concrete on the ground, cranes transporting wet concrete overhead, and two men on a secure platform below the casting to smooth the cement work as the sliding formwork moved upward. For workers on the scaffolding, it was equally challenging as the only access to the top of the silo and the ground was by way of a temporary staircase.

In total each silo required 70 t of steel and 450 m³ of concrete. On completion the project used 10,000 m³ of concrete – of which 5,000 m³ was mixed on site – and 1,500 t of steel.