Mall of The South
Construction started in 2013
Although the prime applications for Reinforced Earth structures in Africa are in Mining and Transport, it also finds substantial application in the commercial field. The Mall of the South contract illustrates such application.
The initial tender specified alternative solutions – Reinforced Earth walls and Tensatech Block retaining walls (TW1).
Instruction to proceed with the Reinforced Earth walls was given at the end of October 2012 and construction drawings were approved in early November 2012. The total area of the 13 walls was 3 600 m2, the maximum height including copings, 6.7 m. The client wanted the Mall to be opened in time for Christmas shopping in 2013.
An advantage of Reinforced Earth walls is that they can be very rapidly constructed together with the bulk earthworks. In this case, however the tight construction time did not allow the bulk earthworks to finish before the building contractors moved onto site. The site became very busy and this slowed down the pace of the wall construction, An example of the integration of the building work with the bulk earthworks was the need for drilling of augur piles, 750mm diameter,1 m behind the facing elements and spaced at 1 m centres.
The Mall was substantially completed by the end of 2013, but only finished in early 2014.
Project details:
Consulting Engineer: Aurecon (now Zutari)
Contractor: Power Construction