The Civil Engineering Contractor May 2019 | Page 15

ON SITE: PROJECT 1
C
structural engineering firm, ADA
Consulting Engineers, says: “The
financial logic behind this, and
what sparked the development, was
that the new owners looked at the
situation of paying an extraordinary
amount of money for storage around
the country between farm and plant.
They realised they could finance and
build their own silos and take the
capex knock but after a fixed period,
they would be paid for and would
thereafter contribute to profit.”
Scope of work
The main contractor is Iguana Projects.
Maitre says the firm was appointed
for its competence in concrete, for
(in addition to all the concrete work)
the project involves constructing a
road network entirely in concrete.
The structural steel component is
being done by Distinctive Trading,
both firms being direct contractors
to CEOCO. The project management
and professional quantity surveying
is being undertaken by ProAfrica
Property Services.
The project consists of establishing
23 silos comprising an aggregate
storage capacity of circa 42 000
metric tons (t); road network and
concrete hardstand equivalent to
approximately 16 000m 2 ; 8.5m-deep
reinforced concrete intake pits
for soya bean and sunflower seed
offloading; concrete foundation for
the silos and boilers; a 5 000t crude
oil storage farm as well as a massive
truck stacking area capable of holding
22 articulated vehicles; and a seed
sampling and weighbridge facility.
Maitre explains the rationale for all
this infrastructure: “The sunflower
seeds and soya beans are harvested
during the short three to four
months harvest season. Processing,
nonetheless, has to continue all
year round, so substantial storage
facilities are required, both as a
buffer for production and to manage
distribution.”
The
project
will
absorb
approximately 750t of reinforcing
steel and 350t of structural steel.
CEOCO is establishing their
own boilers, which will secure the
business’s independence. At present,
CEOCO is supplied with steam by
the previous holding company on
the adjacent site. The site separation
required business autonomy, whereby
the reduced long-term cost of steam
was driven by the availability of husk,
which has a high calorific value; thus,
a biofuel ideal for steam production.
In addition, a 750m bulk water supply
and 1.1km 7.5MVA MV reticulation
has been completed by the team on
behalf of the City of Ekurhuleni as
part of the project.
At the moment, the husk from
the sunflower crude oil process is
being sold as animal feed and to
entral Edible Oil (CEOCO)
previously
leased
the
premises from the previous
holding company on the adjacent site,
but following a management decision
by CEOCO, proceeded to purchase
the real estate and subsequently
expand the operation through
considerable investment. Once
complete, CEOCO will be ready
to ramp up and centralise scattered
production and storage facilities at
its Boksburg site, and increase its
Boksburg offering with soya meal and
soya crude oil production. CEOCO
is involved in the processing of
sunflower seed, with the primarily
yield comprising crude sunflower oil,
whereby sunflower husk and meal
are by-products once the oil has been
extracted from the sunflower seed.
The meal is sold as farm feed to
industry and the husk used as biofuel
for the steam-generating boilers,
currently under construction.
The processing of soya beans, a
facility previously based in Delmas,
centres around a primary yield of
soya meal, with the soya crude oil
being a by-product in the processing
operation. Storage of soya beans was
previously located in silos across
the country near farming supply
points, but this storage is now being
centralised on the CEOCO property.
Paul Maitre, a director of the
project’s consulting civil and
Casting the reinforced concrete.
www.civilsonline.co.za
CEC May 2019 | 13