WHO’S WHO IN GEOTECHNICAL
Geotechnical partnerships that work CAPABILITIES & SERVICES
Solving the most difficult geotechnical challenges requires a combination of expertise and applied experience, and a proactive relationship with the client’s professional team. IMIESA speaks to Dawie Nell, managing director of Makarios Geotechnical Dynamics, about his company’s multifaceted solutions.
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akarios Geotechnical Dynamics was established towards the end of 2019, having acquired the business of Makarios Geotechnical Contractors (MRPI) as a going concern, along with its equipment and personnel. “As we started to ramp up operations in early 2020, Covid-19 hit, but despite this we had an exceptional year, with an excellent pipeline of new work,” says Nell, who previously served as operations manager at MRPI and is now a majority owner of Makarios Geotechnical Dynamics. “One of the main reasons for this is our historical and loyal customer base, which we retained following the MRPI buyout.” “The company's highly skilled management, staff and workforce share an accumulative
experience totalling some 158 years. This combination makes for a dynamic, ambitious team with the desire to succeed and deliver quality projects, within established timeframes,” Nell explains. Makarios Geotechnical Dynamics is a Level 3 BBBEE supplier and has programmes in place to move to Level 2 during 2022. “We pride ourselves on being a niche player in the market, providing costcompetitive and best-practice responses to found both smaller and larger structures within the private and public sector, from low-cost housing developments to building super basements, mining infrastructure, and municipal installations that include bridges and reservoirs,” he continues.
Turnkey solutions Working with external consulting engineers, the company provides a turnkey design and build solution, which includes geotechnical investigations. Core geotechnical engineering disciplines offered include compaction grouting, dynamic compaction and dynamic replacement, piling, and lateral support. The latter includes geonails, concrete soldier piles, self-drilling anchors, as well as strand anchor systems. Specific piling capabilities include mini/micro piles (from 50 mm to 300 mm diameter), 250 mm diameter CFA piles, and 450 mm to 1 200 mm diameter bored auger piles. Milestone lateral support projects include the 10 m deep super basement establishment for the Masingita Towers residential development in
• Compaction Grouting • Dynamic Compaction & Replacement • Design & Construct Turnkey Solutions • Geotechnical Investigations • Lateral Support • Piling • Micro Piling
Sandton, Gauteng, and the Morningside Clinic extension, also in Sandton. Running in parallel are a diverse range of piling projects completed. These include works at Linksfield Hospital; the Carstenhof Clinic; Brooklyn House in Brooklyn, Pretoria; Urban Quarters in Hatfield; and The Point residential development in Bedfordview.
Ground improvement leaders “We are proficient in all areas, especially in terms of ground improvement technologies, which need a specialised understanding of where and when these techniques can best be applied,” Nell explains. Alongside its grouting and guniting machines, lateral support, auger piling and micro-piling fleet, Makarios Geotechnical Contractors has a dedicated fleet of six dynamic compaction rigs, with pounders ranging from 8 t to 15 t, and capable of going up to 20 t. This enables high-energy compaction for soil depths down to 10 m. The pounder is lifted and dropped by the rig from a height of around 18 m on to presurveyed grid points to consolidate the soil mattress. The technique has successfully been used for applications that include opencast mine
