Engineering consortia visit sites for N2 Wild Coast Road Mega-Bridges

Mthatha, Eastern Cape — SANRAL announced today that it has concluded a two-day briefing session and site visit for the Msikaba and Mtentu bridges to be constructed for the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road project.

According to Craig McLachlan, SANRAL Project Manager, the meeting took place with six pre-qualified consortia from the thirteen applications received following tender notices.

“These tender briefings are typical for all major infrastructure projects and allow potential bidders to be briefed on the tender document, to visit the site first hand to familiarise themselves with conditions on the ground and most importantly to ask questions of clarity or for additional information,” said Craig McLachlan, SANRAL Southern Region Project Manager.

The first day consisted of the tender document briefing in the morning, and a visit to the Msikaba bridge site in the afternoon. Tenderers were then taken to visit the drilled rock cores for the foundations for both bridges, and then visited the Mtentu Bridge site, the following day.

McLachlan said following the tender briefing and site visit, prequalified bidders will be required to prepare their tender proposal documents. Due to the size and complexity of the two bridges the prequalified bidders have been given an extension for their proposals.

“The size and complexity of the two bridges are beyond anything built previously in Southern Africa. Accordingly, all of the prequalified bidders are consortiums of major South African and international contractors with relevant bridge building experience. However each tender will also have contractor participation goals to ensure meaningful participation by local labour and SMMEs” he said.

In terms of international appetite on the project, McLachlan noted that “one [international contractor] is based out of Korea, and the others all from various European countries.”

The Msikaba River Bridge will be constructed on the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road and will consist of a cable-stayed 580m-long structure spanning a deep gorge, while the Mtentu River Bridge, also on the N2 Wild Coast Toll Road and around 12km to the north of Msikaba River, is expected to be a concrete structure approximately 1,130m long. It will comprise a 260m main span constructed as a balanced cantilever with main piers approximately 160m high, plus approach viaducts constructed using incremental launching methods.

SANRAL will announce the successful incumbents towards the end of the year, and construction will start early in 2017.

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