New development zone in Cape Town

AMDEC Property Development has developed a nautically-inspired commercial and residential space in the Roggebaai Canal Tourism Precinct, in Cape Town, called the Yacht Club.

The company explains that the property is located near the Cape Town International Convention Centre and directly south of the new cruise liner terminal.

The Yacht Club is a multiuse development, which is destined to become one of Cape Town’s sought-after destinations and will add to AMDEC and civil engineering company Franki Africa’s partnership.

“From a geotechnical perspective, it is evident that the Cape Town Foreshore is not the easiest area in which to operate. The varying ground conditions with old rock-filled docks and piers and the high water table present a significant challenge,” says Franki Africa retired divisional director Rod Schultz.

The company points out that special attention had to be paid to an existing subsurface canal running from the south to the north that intersects the eastern portion of the site with both the lateral support and piled foundation design modified to accommodate and maintain the integrity of the structure.

“Our previous experience on Harbour Bridge and Canal Quays gave us a thorough under-standing of the prevailing ground conditions in the area, enabling us to offer our client the most cost-effective solution,” he says.

Franki Africa’s work included the design and installation of the lateral support and foundation piling to the multistoreyed, double-basement project, the excavation and disposal of 65 000 m³ of bulk earthworks, 508 m of lateral support and 271 foundation piles.

Schultz says that the foundation piles were designed to be flexible to meet the varying and sometimes unpredictable ground conditions. Three pile types were used, the Franki Africa-driven cast-in-situ piles, temporary cased augers and oscillator piles, with individual load bearing capacities from 2 300 kN to 10 000 kN.

AMDEC required a phased handover to the main building contractor so that the critical-path tower cores and basement sections could be started while Franki Africa were still busy on site.

We started operations during the latter half of 2016 and completed everything on time and within budget by mid-March,” says Schultz.