PROJECT BACKGROUND
International providers of temporary power and temperature control solutions, Aggreko PLC were awarded a multi-million US-dollar contract for the provision of a 50MW temporary power station for the Ugandan Electricity Transmission Company Ltd in the town of Mutundwe, near Kampala, Uganda.
In preparation for the receipt of electricity generating equipment, this split level site required two temporary, retaining structures that would need to be in situ for the duration of the contract. One section measured 9 metres high x 92 metres long and the other, 7 metres high x 55 metres long.
Aggreko’s specialist project team based in the Middle East approached Enviromesh to provide a ‘full and complete’ design proposal package to cover both structures. This would need to take into account the supply of materials and related transportation logistics as well as on-site supervision during the early stages of construction. The team of technical experts from Enviromesh would be an integral part of the project, providing the necessary backup and knowledge to ensure the gabions were installed and correctly assembled in accordance with the design proposal specifications.
THE CHALLENGE
There were three critical aspects to the project in Uganda:
• Speed of design to ensure that the walls were designed without delay whilst satisfying the stability criteria of the site and taking account of freely available gabion boxes from stock.
• The rapid despatch of materials and delivery to site. Aggreko made it clear that the walls were on the critical project path and delivery was crucial to the success of the site and its ultimate project commencement of producing electricity.
• Oversee the initial site installation of the gabion wall using local labour.