South Africa: Rail contractor completes major projects, consolidates company
13 April 2012
Creamer Media's Engineering News - 13 April 2012
Rail infrastructure contractor Racec has successfully completed major projects in the Northern Cape and Sierra Leone and has consolidated its position as a rail contractor following the disposal of its subsidiaries and its noncore loss-making manufacturing operations last year.
With its focus now solely on the rail sector, Racec recently completed the construction of a new 32 km Postmasburg rail line in the Northern Cape. The rail line links JSE-listed Kumba Iron Ore’s new Kolomela mine to the existing Sishen–Saldanha iron-ore line as part of the iron-ore miner’s plans to expand production from 40-million tons a year to 60-million tons a year.
“Racec has worked on the project with consulting engineers Hatch Mott MacDonald and Goba on behalf of State-owned rail enterprise Transnet. This is the first new line of this length and the biggest rail contract in South Africa that Transnet has undertaken in 36 years. We hired, trained and upskilled 165 local people for this project,” says CEO Gary Harrod.
Category: Transport