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One of the largest rail infrastructure projects in the world, the Gautra Project heralds a new era of safe and efficient transport for the resid South Africa. The company behind the project is the Bombela Conces

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ince the 2004 announcement of South Africa’s victorious World Cup bid, much of the global coverage relating to the Rainbow Nation was on that subject alone. Unbeknown to many, there was another mega project in the planning stages at the same time that also captures the imagination—the Gautrain Rapid Rail Project.

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Bombela Concession Company: Gautrain

Bombela Concession Company: Gautrain

DSI South Africa DSI South Africa supplied the Bombela Concession with 70,000 Double Corrosion Protection (DCP) rock bolts for the Gautrain project over a period of 30 months. The area’s geology was especially diverse along the 13km underground segment with a predominance of groundwater and sandstone deposits causing unstable ground conditions. It is in these complex engineering environments where DSI’s DCP rock bolt technology is able to meet its match. Deployed throughout the Gautrain tunnel system, these rock bolts and DSI’s patented grouting

system

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support, swift installation and safe advancement by construction teams.

Today, Gautrain is recognised as the biggest public private partnership (PPP) project in Africa and is currently one of the largest rail infrastructure projects in the world. Gautrain’s private partners are structured under the Bombela Concession Company, which holds a 20-year concession to design, build, part-finance and operate the Gautrain.

Bombela Concession Company is 66 per cent owned by local partners—Murray & Roberts Ltd, Strategic Partners Group, Absa Bank Ltd and the J&J Group—with the remaining 34 per cent held by international companies Bombardier Transportation UK and Bouygues Travaux Publics SA. Gautrain is one of several projects aimed at meeting transport demands anticipated as a result of economic and population growth. The project is one of the most ambitious undertaken by the Gauteng Provincial Government to date; and is set to connect the major cities of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.

The Gautrain system has two major corridors on the 80 kilometre alignment: South-North and West-East. The South-North route starts in the Park Station precinct in central Johannesburg and proceeds north encompassing Rosebank, Sandton Business District and on to Pretoria. The West-East route will take passengers from Sandton Station, via Marlboro, to Rhodesfield Station in Kempton Park. From there it will connect to a station built within the airport terminal complex at OR Tambo International Airport.

The 80 kilometres of rail infrastructure will consist of approximately 15 kilometres of tunnelling between Park and Marlboro Station, 10.5 kilometres of viaduct construction and 50 kilometres of surface earth works. Seventy-five per cent of the tunnelling is being done using the drill and blast technique, with the remainder using an earth-pressurised tunnel boring machine (named ‘Imbokodo’) that will excavate the approximately three kilometre tunnel route from Rosebank towards Park Station. International bridge erection technology has been imported to assemble Gautrain’s viaduct decks.

There will be 10 stations, with three underground stations (Johannesburg, Rosebank and Sandton), three elevated (OR Tambo International Airport, Centurion and Pretoria) and four will be at ground level. As well as the stations themselves, the project will encompass park and ride facilities, bus rapid transport services, and links to other forms of transport including planes, taxis, Metrorail trains and cars. The result is a multifunctional transport system that solves the problem of what is often gridlock in one of South Africa’s most bustling economic regions.

Construction of Gautrain started at the end of September 2006 and will be completed in two phases. The first phase, completed in June of this year, includes the network between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton, and includes the stations at OR Tambo, Rhodesfield, Marlboro and Sandton, together with the depot and operations control centre located south of Allandale Road in Midrand. Crucially, it opened before the start of the World Cup in order to handle the huge influx of international travellers who descended upon South Africa.

The second phase is scheduled for completion in 2011. It comprises the balance of the NorthSouth rail network and stations linking Sandton to Park Station in Johannesburg and the route from Marlboro, past the depot and on to Pretoria and Hatfield stations.

One of the major discussion points in relation to the implementation of Gautrain is the public private partnership (PPP) model that has been one of the key drivers of the project.

Alongside this is the facilitation of partnerships between broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) groups, and the experienced resourced companies. The Strategic Partners Group (SPG) is

Bombela Concession Company: Gautrain

“Gautrain is one of several projects aimed at meeting transport demands anticipated as a result of economic and population growth” the founding BEE partner and plays a vital role as a 25 per cent shareholder in the Bombela Concession Company. From the outset, SPG’s commitment has been to demonstrate that it does not intend to be a passive investor but one who seeks meaningful participation in Gautrain. Meaningful partnerships and co-operation between domestic and international stakeholders can be evidenced at every level of the project. The exploration of Bombela’s corporate structure highlights this perfectly.

Bombela’s founding shareholders (Murray & Roberts, SPG, Bombardier and Bouygues) all operate at different levels within the Bombela contractual structure. These Bombela entities consist of the Bombela Operating Company (BOC) which has been established to operate and maintain the Gautrain system. During the construction phase, BOC is responsible for reviewing Gautrain’s design and construction, as well as undertaking a testing and commissioning process while preparing for the operation and maintenance phase. A second operating group is the Bombela Turnkey Contractor which has been established to manage the delivery of the rail systems, major civil infrastructure, and the integration of the electro-mechanical works. Lastly

there is both Bombela Civils Joint Venture and Bombela Electrical and Mechanical who are jointly responsible for the design and implementation of the civil works component of Gautrain, as well as the design and implementation of railway components such as the track work and the signalling work.

The result of these highly integrated operating structures best practices is a transport system that will create great pride for South Africans, as witnessed during the World Cup. Just as the people were justifiably proud of their achievements to host such an event, you can now sense similar enthusiasm for a project that has blended South African expertise and ingenuity with the very latest international technologies.

The benefits of Gautrain have already been numerous. It is estimated that the project has created and sustained approximately 30,000 jobs; and projections for the future make equally good reading.

Gauteng is a region growing rapidly both in terms of population and economy and based on current rates of five per cent growth, some two million job creation opportunities have been forecast between now and 2025. Gautrain is a major catalyst for this and the future looks bright. www.bombela.com

BOMBELA CONCESSIONCOMPANY

www.bombela.com