The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2019 | Page 22

ON SITE
TECHNOLOGY
planters, restaurants spilling out into the
street — and, of course, no vehicles.”
Challenges
“Any redevelopment has its challenges
b ecause you are not dealing with
a blank canvas,” says Pautz. “You’re
working with something pre-existing
and you have to design around what
you have. There is existing concrete
in the base where we are working
on Block 6. Other complexities are
that we are sitting in the heart of the
CBD, so traffic, access, working times,
delivery of materials once the main
contractor is on site — all of these have
to be considered, because we don’t
want to add to the congestion of the
area. But none of these issues are out of
the ordinary for a project such as this.
“There is not much lateral support
required, as we are working shallow,
and consequently this also isn’t a major
earthworks site. Being a developed site,
all buildings have existing connections,
while Block 6 has all its rights, so
it is a matter of putting in revised
service connections for what we plan
on building. There is water on site
through the council’s existing metered
connections and we are simply paying
for it. On the pedestrianisation, we
have the full cooperation of JRA and
the City. Everybody in the City is fully
behind this project.”
Kleynhans adds: “There are no
challenges on this site that are unusual
compared to any other development
— it is just the normal approvals to
be dealt with. In addition, the City is
incredibly supportive of the project
through the approvals process.”
In conclusion
“This area has come a long way over
the past 10 years — Maboneng has
undergone a dramatic transformation.
Fox Street is a tree-lined location
with highly rated restaurants and is
listed as a major tourist attraction
in Johannesburg, being listed on the
Forbes 100 Coolest Neighbourhoods in
the World,” says Kleynhans. However,
being a high-density location,
illegal dumping of litter means
Pikitup cannot cope, and DiverCity
has consequently involved itself in
assisting the local City Improvement
District with supplementary cleaning
and security services.
“While the area has come a long
way, it has a lot further to go,
and we believe Jewel City will be
catalytic in taking it to the next
level. We envisage Jewel City being
almost the Times Square of this area
— the focal point around which
everything else revolves.
The name Jewel City is a historical
remnant of the time when the Jewel
Regulator and all the diamond traders
had their offices here. The Jewel
Regulator is the lone vestige of that
time, but will similarly vacate the
area in 2020. “For this reason, the
six blocks were like an island —
always closed off and secure from the
surrounding area,” says Pautz. nn
Professional team
Client: DiverCity Urban
Property Fund
Developer: Atterbury
Properties
Earthworks: Bamboo Rock
Demolitions: Phoenician
Main contractor: Wilson Bayly
Holmes
Architect: GASS
Civil engineer: EDS
Earthworks professionals:
EDS
Quantity surveyor: Matla
Geotechnical and piling:
Out to tender
Daryn Searle, site manager at Bamboo Rock.
20 | CEC February 2019
www.civilsonline.co.za