Traffic Signals – Midway Mall, Newlands
The Rolkon team spent the better part of this drill pounding through the rock-hard surface of the ground in order to find soil conditions conducive to pulling duts for the traffic signals outside Midway Mall in Newlands.
The drill was a first for our new client the eThekweni Transport Authority (ETA) and although the drill took longer thanks expected, all the crossings were completed as planned.
The length of the drill was 75m, with 2 x 110mm ducts pulled to ensure the effective function of the new traffic signals.
Water Main – Mt Frere
It definitely felt like winter on a recent job in Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape where the team installed a 40m water main for client Kara SA who is working on a project to make water more accessible for the local community.
The 450mm pipe was installed under the main highway running through the town, but using trenchless technology there was no disruption to the traffic. A relatively straightforward job, the biggest challenge was the sub-zero overnight temperatures and the hard, compact soil conditions.
Water Main – Empuluzi
It was a tough project for the Rolkon team in Empuluzi near the Swaziland border. Working for BLOC Contractors this project involved the installation of several water main sleeves in a number of different locations.
The pipes were all different lengths and they had to be installed at different depths based on the surrounding landscape.
Site conditions ranged from hard and dry to soft and muddy and as the rain and snow of the weekend drew in, the job had to be put the job on hold. But the team returned to site to finish the installation adding another successful project to their list of experiences.
Water Main – Mandini
Like many of our projects in urban and peri-urban areas, space was limited with houses all around the trench site and a constant flow of pedestrians who walk in and on the edge of the road given the lack of pavements in the area. This meant we had to pay a lot of attention to our surroundings, in particular, to ensure the safety of the people and animals and to keep the avoid any damage to properties.
The 200mm pipe for this water main could not be pulled in as traditionally done so it was pushed the length of the 18m drill with very little difficulty and the water main was delivered as per our client’s expectations on time and within budget!
High-Pressure Water Main – Dube Trade Port
The team was called back for a second job at Dube Trade Port for Stefanutti Stocks, this time in Trade Zone 1 for the installation of a 250mm PN 16 high-pressure water main.
The 78m dig took place under a traffic circle roundabout that had an array of services running underneath it. This meant great care in the planning of the drill route and a slow and steady drill to ensure no services were damaged. On this project, the choice of trenchless construction resulted in significant time and budget savings as the client didn’t have to dig up the roadway. It also meant that access to Dube Trade Port and the Air traffic control centre was unaffected throughout the project.
Netronix Fibre Installation – Hillcrest
On a recent fibre installation project for Netronix, the Rolkon team had to pay careful attention to safety and accuracy on a site with very little space to manoeuver.
The drill was 31m in length and 110mm in diameter and took place under the very busy Old Main Rd in Hillcrest from a site located between Christians Village Mall and Hillcrest Corner Shopping Mall. “The drill started at the entrance of the shopping mall and terminated at the exit pit on the adjacent verge, so we had to be even more accurate and careful with our drill line,” said Rolkon operations manager Derick Nel.
More learnings from this site as Rolkon completes another successful trenchless construction project.
King Shaka International Airport Dube Trade Port Sewer
This was our second project for Stefanutti Stocks at King Shaka International Airport, this time in Dube Trade Port Tradezone 2 where our team drilled for the installation of a sewer main.
With a drill length of 66m, this project required the installation of a 315mm diameter sewer main under a road 45m in length.
The piloting took about 3 days to complete because of the rocky soil conditions, and the team had to drill from a property adjacent to the installation site, where space was limited and we had to take care not to interrupt the operations of the surrounding businesses.
The project was extremely technical in that it had to be drilled to specific levels to allow for optimal sewage flow, and the pressure was on because if not successfully installed, over 2km of sewer line would have had to be relayed.
Preparation and design was the focus of this project, and thanks to the safe working chamber provided by Bloc, the collective team were able to successfully complete the project.
King Shaka International Airport Water Main
The Durban sun baked down on the Rolkon team as they completed the installation of a water main at King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) for Stefanutti Stocks .
An unplanned but urgent job, the Rolkon team were called in to install an 18m long, 315mm diameter UPVC water main under the road at the airport. A little trick on this job was that the main had to be pushed and not pulled through the drill hole, which took some extra focus in terms of guiding.
A quick turnaround time on this project and another site successfully resolved!
Sizela Sewer Sleeve
What a way to test horizontal drilling technology and the skills of the Rolkon team!
In our first big project of 2022, Rolkon put in the hard yards to install a 400mm sewer sleeve for the new sewer line being built in Sizela by Bloc Contractors.
During this 30m drill, we had to cross the main road and navigate around and below a playground and a wetland area. In addition, we faced really soft ground conditions, with the clay soil making the progress slow going. But as is the Rolkon way, the drill was completed successfully and once again, trenchless construction came out on top!
Driveway Tunnel For Fry Foods
Quick and efficient was the name of the game as we took on a recent job for Bloc Contractors, pulling 3 x 110 diameter pipes and 1 x 160 diameter pipes a short distance under the concrete entranceway of the Fry Foods factory.
This doesn’t mean it was an easy job, not when our rig was hanging over the edge of a retained hill with little to no wriggle room!
Fibre Tunnelling Under the R102 – Verulam
In a fibre installation project for MTelecoms, the Rolkon team focused on length and location as they drilled under the R102 in Verulam.
Given the tight location on the edge of the busy R102 and the 67m drill under the road, the focus was on getting the set-up and navigation scanning just right. The steady focus resulted in a 2-hour pilot drill, with another hour required to pull the pipe back.
Fibre Tunnelling For MTelecoms – New Germany
What a job this has been! 3 months of drilling and moling for MTelecoms who is laying fibre in a residential area in New Germany.
1100 metres drilled and 1800 metres of moling as we passed 450 houses with some tricky tunnelling and site conditions.
Part of our approach to resolving each site is ensuring we foster long-term relationships with our clients and thanks to the Rolkon team for extending working hours to get this job done, we will soon be starting a new project with MTelecoms that we are excited to get working on.
Edendale Sewer Sleeve – Pietermaritzburg
Railway lines, vegetable gardens and tight community living Rolkon faced a tricky drill site during a 2-day project in Edendale in PMB for Bloc Construction.
Before the new sewer sleeve could be installed the live line had to be decommissioned and securely blocked off, after which the pilot drill of 50m was done making sure the grade was appropriate for the sewer flow. Once the 12m sleeve was installed the sewer line was recommissioned.
As is the Rolkon way – the site was successfully resolved, with cabbages and railway line left undisturbed!
Anton Lembede Aqueduct – Durban Inner City
This job in the inner city of Durban involved horizontal drilling under an existing stormwater culvert in order to pull an 800mm sleeve with a product pipe weighing 11 tonnes in total.
The site situation required that the pilot be drilled from 80m away with the hole 4m below ground. At this depth, the hole was below sea level which meant managing the tidal water flow into the hole. The pipe was pulled a total of 18m and the project took 2 days to complete.
M13 Fields Hill Crossing – Durban
This roadside project required us to horizontally drill under the M13 highway without causing any disruption to traffic. A difficult site to access for both machinery and the technical team, we had to target drill because the high traffic volumes did not allow us to navigate across the road.
A job turned down by another drilling company, difficult soil conditions and the length of the drill itself added to the challenges. But as we do at Rolkon, we got the job done, living up to our promise of leaving no site unresolved!
