Feature
Steel Awards 2015
Winner Mining and Industrial Category:
Medupi Power Station-Air Cooled Condenser
In 2007, GEA approached A. Leita and Kentz to submit a bid for the Medupi air cooling
structures, some 26 000 tons of steel. Leita teamed up with Cadcon and Boksan
Projects and formed the ABC Joint Venture with Leita leading the fabrication team
with Kentz doing the on-site work.
“And what a great business decision that was for all the players,” the judges said. “They
are one of few power station contractors which can proudly boast to being on time and
having produced a virtually problem-free, high quality product.”
According to the judges, when one visits the site, because of the enormous boiler
houses which stand close to the air cooling units, one is surprised to learn that each
unit has over 4 000 tons of steelwork. “To grasp just how big a project the air cooling
actually is, it was necessary for us to drill down into what makes these units tick,”
they said. There is an air cooling unit for each of the six boilers; the radiators sit on
a structural steel support structure; floor beams are covered with 4mm floor plates;
an A-frame structure is fabricated out of heavy H beams; and the fan bridges span
between the main girders.
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