Kwena Rocla (Pty) Ltd, based in Botswana, was recently awarded a contract to design, manufacture and supply bespoke culverts to one of the world’s richest diamond mine operations in order to allow for the expansion of the open cast mine which is situated in Jwaneng, south central Botswana.
“With Komatsu 930E tippers at 530t fully loaded, we had to ensure that our culverts could withstand this loading as well as accommodate the electric shovel used, bearing in mind the fill is only 1.2m” said Philip Smith, Operations Manager/Director of Kwena Rocla.
Smith continued “We also had to meet the challenge of the culverts having to stand on double and triple base slabs due to the soil conditions experienced. We created special moulds in order to produce these slabs, and despite strict contractual milestones, the extremely tight deadlines were met and we delivered culverts of exceptional quality and strength. Our Plant Maintenance Department (PMD) excelled with the design and manufacture of the new moulds on a very tight schedule”.
Kwena Rocla was audited on a monthly basis for compliance to the set Health, Safety and Environment and Quality Assurance criteria. The company was required to submit a cashflow analysis to the client as to monitor payment milestones and to control the retention portion. Another contractual requirement was the submission of monthly progress reports.
“A dedicated production supervisor and Quality Assurer was a client requirement with every load having to have a detailed Quality Control Pack for the products on board – 171 QCP’s in total were submitted. Kwena Rocla also wrote new work methodology statements pertaining to the production and handling of the bespoke 8.2t products, and all drivers and crane operators had to be cleared and certified by the mine” added Smith.
Kwena Rocla supplied 102 units of 2000×1000 at 1.2m fill culverts, 244 units of 2000×1500 at 1.2m fill culverts, 288 units of 2000×2000 at 1.2m fill culverts. Also 217 of 2000 double bases and 72 units of 2000 triple bases to this project.
Kwena Rocla produced and delivered these bespoke culverts ahead of deadline with the attention to detail commended by the client and received client recognition for zero incidents/LTI’s on site or at the factory during the project’s entirety.
“We are extremely pleased with our capability and performance on this project, which was an extension of a previous project that we were involved in. We are very optimistic that we will be involved in similar projects going forward” Smith concluded.
The Plant Maintenance Division (PMD) is a division of Rocla that provides services to both Rocla and Technicrete plants. It manufactures and repairs anything that the plants require including the concrete moulds used in daily production runs.
Rocla is a leading South African manufacturer of precast concrete products, and recently supplied South Africa’s largest custom designed jacking culverts to a project in Pretoria. The company manufactures concrete poles, stormwater piping, pressure pipes and sanitation units for rural areas. The skill of Rocla’s design specialists in Botswana and South Africa is an important factor in the customised design of products to meet specific customer requirements.
Kwena Rocla is part of the IS Group of companies which also includes Technicrete and Rocla.
