Gauteng, April 2007
Engineer: ARQ Specialist Engineers
Owner: Bombela Civils JV (Pty) Ltd
Contractor: Kalode Construction
Manufacturer: Technicrete – Olifantsfontein
Product: Enviro-Wall – grey – 275 X 300 X 136
In what is believed by engineers to be one of the few applications of its kind in South Africa, a dry-stacked retaining wall system has been successfully used during the construction of the Gauteng Rapid Rail Link to build abutment walls carrying the weight of a road bridge – and the heavy traffic loads crossing it.
Spanning busy Allandale Road which links the M1 with Midrand and East Rand towns and industrial areas, the 69m-long temporary bridge runs parallel to Viaduct 3 of the new rail route, and was built specifically to carry construction traffic during the building of the viaduct.
Technicrete’s Enviro-Wall gravity retaining wall system was selected as the preferred engineering solution for the construction of the abutment walls for the three-span steel girder road bridge, supported by two median piers, which crosses one of the busiest roads in the area.
