The African Business Journal: Esorfranki Esorfranki ================================================================================ admin on 14 March, 2010 11:37:00 Esorfranki CEO, Bernie Krone, says he is very proud to be involved with the work his company is doing to improve not only South African infrastructure, but the lives of South Africans. Esorfranki is a benchmark South African civil engineering and construction group. The company specialises in geotechnical construction, over land pipelines, steel welded pipelines and select civil work. “Personally,” says Krone, “I think civil engineers are the jewels of the world. We do a lot to improve living conditions and quality of life by the work we do. Unfortunately,” he laughs, “most of our work gets hidden because, being foundation construction experts, we put everything into the ground. People build on top of us and so citizens don’t really see what we do.” They may not see it, per se, but South Africans are enjoying the immense contributions made to their country and sub-Saharan Africa by Esorfranki. In 2008, the company diversified into the civil engineering construction sector which saw the company’s focus expand to include above-surface civil engineering. The company is putting the finishing touches on its Guatrain project—the single largest infrastructure contract of its kind, generating R165million in revenue. Esorfranki has been a part of the construction of the 80-kilometer mass rapid transit railway system in SA’s Gauteng Province. The train will link Johannesburg, Pretoria and the Oliver Tambo International Airport and is designed to alleviated traffic congestion in the Johannesburg-Pretoria corridor and augment the inadequate existing public transportation system. The train is expected to reduce the number of cars which travel through the corridor by as much as 20 per cent, and will accommodate the influx of tourists expected in June. Esorfranki is enjoying a partial infrastructure boom that has precipitated by the 2010 FIFA World Cup. According to Krone, the increase in engineering activity has been “very good. The Guatrain project was semi-linked to the tournament. We have also done some work with the stadiums, and with the freeway improvement projects around Johannesburg.” Civil engineering award winners Krone is being modest. The “stadium work” he is referring to happens to be the foundation for the Moses Mabhida Stadium. The massive stadium, completed in November of 2009 at a cost of R3.4 billion, will be one of the host stadiums for the World Cup and has a capacity of 70,000 spectators. Esorfranki were the recipients of the 2009 Auqatan South Africa Institution of Civil Engineering SAICE (KZN) Technical Excellence award for the special foundation work. Esorfranki had to construct a foundation that would stand the lateral movement required to mobilise sufficient passive earth pressure, and to prevent the steel arch of the stadium from buckling. The solution was a shear wall keyed into the very bedrock twenty metres below ground level, the design of which was an intricate and integral part of the project. Esorfranki was also award the Most Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement in Technical Excellence Projects for this foundation work for the arch over the stadium. Krone is decidedly proud of SA hosting the World Cup. “I think it is very important. Johannesburg is a big vibrant city; it is based on a first-world layout, but the government have let the infrastructure lap over the recent years and this kick start for 2010 has got it started again. It’s part of their macroeconomic policy to spend money on infrastructure and get this investment going.” The legacy of the games will certainly include the improvement of the city’s infrastructure which will be to the benefit of citizens long after the athletes and the games have left. “It’s very important to the whole country, not just Johannesburg,” says Krone. “SA has a good record for hosting sporting events. We have hosted rugby, cricket and soccer tournaments. These stadiums are just taking it to the next level. It will be well run, it will be fantastic.” Esorfranki is also involved with freeway improvement spurred by the games. In 2009, Esorfranki was awarded an approximately R400 million contract from the South African National Road Agency Limited (Sanral) to upgrade the R21 between the Rietfontein and Pomona Interchanges in Gauteng. Esorfranki Geotechnical is also active on a number of Sanral’s major road contracts across the province. “We are improving another section of the upgrade of the N4 between Rustenburg,” says Krone. “There is the N4 corridor that goes through to Botswana, so we are doing the first phase of an upgrade on that road to double the carriage way,” he continues. Esorfranki have been awarded a water pipeline project by Rand Water BG 3—a 3.6 m diameter water supply pipeline of 8.6km—which is a strategic water supply for the South Rand area. “Our main commercial and industrial area has been awarded a R240million contract,” says Krone. Pipelines For six years, Esorfranki has been a leader and innovator in the construction and rehabilitation of SA onshore pipelines, focusing its efforts on refurbishing, laying and welding steel pipelines for gas and petrochemical, water, stormwater and sewerage sectors. The pipelines division does work with both the public and private sector, and has expertise in working with the gamut of pipelines, including steel, glass fibre reinforced polyester (GRP) and fibre cement, to name a few. The company’s pipeline work is a major facet of the company. Esorfranki is again working with the SA government on major infrastructure projects. Last year, the pipeline division made a net profit of over R36 million. A projected R1.5 billion in April put the group in very good standings for the fiscal year, which ended in February, 2010. Krone reiterated that the government has established a commitment to the development of local infrastructure. Esorfranki is firmly positioned in this sector with all the company’s “operating entities having secured significant projects of this nature.” Economy No one would deny that the downturn in the global economy was felt across the board. Fortunately, South Africa, in relation to the U.S. and some European countries, got out from under the troubles relatively unscathed. The quick response of the government and the timely public sector infrastructure projects helped to ease the effects of the recession. In November of 2009, a study conducted by the African Infrastructure Country Diagnostic team estimated that there was R700 billion per annum worth of infrastructure work needed twenty year for the next ten years. High on the agenda in the study are improvements in electricity, water supply and road improvements, work which Esorfranki is well under way in doing. Esorfranki is evolving the geotechnical services in the South African civil engineering industry and the team continually strives to reach new goals. The work done by the company has laid the foundation for SA to grow in services and to host and welcome visitors from all over the world and create a high quality of life for people who call it home. www.esorfranki.co.za