Stream 2 Dumbe Fomation Repair Project Scope The 34km long Dumbe deviation is characterized by long adverse inclines, much of them at the 1:60 ruling gradient. Even though formation rehabilitation was undertaken here prior to the above mentioned study, the site visit review indicated that there were signs of failure. The formation rehabilitation in the Dumbe deviation was undertaken under the 71Mtpa expansion program, as the failure of the formation had the potential to lead to slacks and derailments in that area. The project began in March 2013 and the bulk of the work was done in May 2013 (during the 2013 Coal line shutdown). The Dumbe formation rehabilitation project required for the upper 400 mm of the formation layer works to be removed and replaced, and the ballast to be replaced. The subgrade (SSB) of the track was imported from the nearby Mahulumbe formation rehabilitation project and the ballast was imported from a quarry nearby. This had to be done prior to the coal line shutdown as part of the preparation of the work. During the shutdown, the rail was cut and removed along with the sleepers and the ballast. The top 400mm of the formation was removed; new material was brought in and compacted in 2 by 200mm layers before the placement of the new ballast bed and the installation of the skeleton track. Thereafter welding of the rails and final tamping of the ballast took place. On the last day of the 12 day shut the rehabilitated formation was commissioned. The plant that was used included HGR machines used to lift the rail off the track, TLBs, a roller compactor and excavators to remove the ballast and do the bulk earth works, front end loaders to do the layering works, AY wagon trains to place the ballast on the skeleton formation, a ballast regulator and a ballast tamping machine. The movement of all the abovementioned plant caused a significant amount of dust on the farmers’ land, thus the contractor had to provide a water lorry to spray water on the barren soil during the works Background The coal line formation (subgrade below the track superstructure) was developed during the 1970’s. During the early 1990’s, it began to show signs of failure such as cracking of the stabilized sub-ballast layers, weathering and decomposition of the layers due to issues such as cyclic loading, temperature and moisture changes, inadequate drainage and issues with the original construction. Transnet has been rehabilitating this formation at various locations along the coal line since 1995. Formation rehabilitation is a time consuming process and requires the section of track that is being worked on to be out of service for the duration of the work, which impacts the capacity of the coal Line1. It is thus in the best interest of Transnet to optimize the amount of time spent on such rehabilitation. As part of the 81Mtpa rail capacity expansion program, through which Transnet aims to increase the coal export capacity to 81million tonnes per annum and sustain it at this level, a work package for formation rehabilitation was put in place. This work package aims at limiting the formation rehabilitation to areas that show excessive signs of failure as well as in critical areas along the line, while ensuring the sustainability of the formation as a whole. Formation rehabilitation is an essential part of the 81 Mtpa program and indeed as part of previous expansion programs, because if it is not undertaken; mud holes will form in the formation, the track will sag, there will be ingress of moisture into the formation, formation drainage problems and ballast fouling will occur. These formation issues can result in potential derailments, speed restrictions and potential rail breaks which could mean high maintenance costs, reduced slot capacity due to speed restrictions, reliability issues and additional rolling stock procurement.2 A geotechnical study to investigate the railway formation along the coal line was undertaken between 1998 and 2004 and a report was compiled. In the report, areas with poor geotechnical data, possible track geometry issues, significant maintenance effort, speed restrictions and visual problems were used as a basis to determine critical areas. In order to identify the areas that require formation rehabilitation and to what extent, Formation Condition Index (FCI) data, Track Quality Index (TQI) data, information on maintenance depot-identified areas of concern , visual inspection of the track and information on speed restriction areas was obtained and reviewed. 2 The critical sections were identified, however, only some have been rehabilitated over the past ten years due to the time it takes and the extent of work that needs to be done on each section that was identified. Some of the remaining areas are being addressed as part of the 81 Mtpa program. 1 2 (Transnet Capital Projects, 2009) (Transnet Capital Projects, 2009) Status of Project Formation rehabilitation is necessary along the coal line in order for Transnet to achieve and sustain the 81 Mtpa export capacity. The above mentioned challenges, encountered during the project life, were dealt with accordingly. Unfortunately some of the challenges led to some increase in cost, but the project proved to be an overall success and completed within budget. The senior project manager was Uli Guttenbrunner, the Project Manager was Lebese Ramohlale and the Construction Manager was Daniel Kidane. A total of 60 people worked on this project at different time slots. 20 people from the civil team worked up to day 8 of the shut, 40 people from the perway team worked up to day 9 of the shut, the Overhead Track Equipment (OHTE) team was needed on day 7 and 9 to check the height and stagger, while the signals team was needed on day 93. Benefits of Project Cost Project Management Transnet Capital Projects EPCM Client Contractor Phase 1 Contractor Phase 2 fgf 3 (Transnet Capital Projects, 2013)