Since its inception in 2006, proximity detection system (PDS) and collision prevention system (CPS) specialist Booyco Electronics has leveraged a radical research and development (R&D) regime to inform its product development. This, explains chief sales officer Graeme Jardine, has been key to addressing specific requirements for the coal mining sector.

“We have over the years made significant investments in R&D, which has truly spurred innovation, invention and progress,” he says. “Informed by changing industry requirements, we have evolved our offering from the first-generation Collision Warning System (CWS) to the new generation Booyco CXS.”

The technology has advanced from simply being a PDS solution, to incorporating several other functions such as tracking and data management. In addition to the safety capabilities, Booyco PDS and CPS solutions are now able to provide customers with the bigger operational picture, including information such as machine standing time, idling times and cycles times, among others.

“The latest generation Booyco CXS consolidates the learnings of the past 16 years, leveraging technology to achieve new levels of safety in both underground and surface mining environments. It is a best-of-breed system that provides a comprehensive and integrated response to Level 7, Level 8 and Level 9 requirements, in line with the Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT) requirements,” explains Jardine.

Due to the presence of flammable gases, collieries are susceptible to explosions. One of Booyco Electronics’ competitive edges is that all its PDS and CPS components are intrinsically safe, which makes them ideal for hazardous mining areas such as underground collieries. The common industry alternative to an intrinsically safe solution is for suppliers to offer a flameproof enclosure to house the PDS, which makes the equipment extremely expensive, heavy and difficult to maintain.

“Because our solutions are intrinsically safe, they are designed within specific system specifications to allow them to be deployed in hazardous areas. Typical benefits of this approach compared with flame-proof enclosures include cost savings in installation and maintenance of the equipment,” says Jardine.

He also highlights the importance of Booyco Electronics’ proximity to its coal mining customer base, which allows regular and detailed interaction, in line with its partnership approach to PDS installations. The company has a fully-fledged branch in Witbank to support the Mpumalanga coalfields, while the Richards Bay branch looks after the Vryheid/Newcastle coal mines. Each branch has a large aftermarket team of technically skilled and competent field staff, assisting customers to optimise uptime and productivity.

Client Focus

MSIKABA PROJECT ACHIEVES 3 MILLION LTI FREE HOURS

December 14, 2022 Coral Fraser

The Msikaba Bridge Project near Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape recorded 3 million Lost Time Injury (LTI) Free hours on 21 October 2022. This is a considerable achievement given that the bridge involves intricate construction operations of a type rarely – if ever – seen before in South Africa.

The Msikaba Bridge, which will span the 198 m deep Msikaba River gorge, forms part of the South African National Roads Agency Limited’s (SANRAL) N2 Wild Coast project and is being constructed by the CME JV, a partnership between Concor and MECSA, two 9CE 100% black owned South African companies. On completion, it will have the longest main span constructed by the cable-stay method in Africa.

Commenting on the Msikaba Project’s safety performance, Concor’s Mike Luus, HSE manager on the contract, says it has been achieved by detailed planning of the complex construction procedures required on the project. This has left absolutely nothing to chance, combined with intense training of the workforce, which has mainly been drawn from local communities.

“Msikaba lies in an undeveloped rural area which presents few work opportunities,” he says. “The result is that most of our recruits had no experience of working in the formal sector when they joined us. We have had to take them from zero knowledge of construction to the point where they could be safely deployed on what is, without question, one of the most technically advanced construction projects currently underway anywhere in the world.”

Elaborating, Luus says the challenges at Msikaba include working in deep, sometimes confined, excavations going down as much as 20 m (about six storeys deep) and working at height on the bridge’s two pylons, which will ultimately reach 127 m ( about 38 storeys high) above ground level.

“In addition, we will soon be busy with deck construction, working with two giant 160 t gantries that will place the steel deck segments, with an average weight of 83 tonnes, in position above the gorge. This will be a very involved procedure, involving multiple operations. To complicate matters, we will very likely have to contend with strong winds on occasion.”

All the training required for Msikaba, both theoretical and practical, is conducted on site. In preparation for some operations, mock-up facilities have been built. “For example, we erected a tower so that trainees can practice climbs and be exposed to a variety of scenarios that might be encountered,” Luus says.

Luus heads a team numbering 12 people, which is backed up by full-time paramedics. He is based on the south bank of the gorge so much of his management has to be done remotely although he can now cross the gorge, when required, in a few minutes using a cableway installed in 2021. Prior to this, getting to the other side of the gorge usually entailed a road journey of more than two hours.

The CMV JV HSE team from the back left are Hilton Duma (HSE Practitioner), Sipho Sinama (Junior SECO), Bayanda Sonamzi (Junior SECO), Laurence Savage (Project Director), Funeka Galada (HSE Administrator), Seth Mashegoana (HSE Co-ordinator), Johan Bosch (Lead SECO), Azaard Razak (HSE Co-ordinator), Russel Malepe (HSE Co-ordinator) and Mike Luus (HSE Manager). In the front from left are Precious Nojila (HSE Student), Busisiwe Ngcobo (HSE Student), Zukiswa Mlamla (HSE Student) and Zola Juqula (HSE Student).

Interestingly, Luus’s duties even extend to ensuring that there are no snake bites. “We encounter around 30 snakes – most of them venomous vine snakes, boomslang and night adders – every summer and these have to be safely removed from the site,” he says. “We have even come across these snakes high up in our scaffolding!”

He also has to ensure that the local community-based sub-contractors – there are about 40 in all – working on the project adhere to the same safety standards that apply to the JV. “We give them training and mentoring as necessary and these efforts have been very successful,” he says.

Luus says Msikaba’s excellent safety record owes much to Concor’s unremitting focus on safety, expressed in its philosophy of ‘Stop, Think. Act’ and its care values – ‘Care for one another, Care for yourself and take Care in the environment you are working in’. “I’ve had excellent support from our management in Johannesburg and also, of course, from our project director, Laurence Savage, project manager, Jaco Verreynne and indeed all senior managers on site.”

The safety of the Msikaba site is audited on a monthly basis by SANRAL, the client on the project, and the JV’s audit score is routinely at 97 or 98 % each month. “This is an excellent score and we’ll be doing our level best to maintain it right through to the completion of the project,” says Luus.

Client Focus

PUMP RENTAL OFFERS BENEFITS THAT ARE HARD TO BEAT

December 6, 2022 Coral Fraser

While there is sometimes a case for buying dewatering pumps and associated equipment outright, renting offers so many advantages that it should always be given close consideration. This is the view of Lee Vine, managing director of dewatering and dredge pump rental specialist IPR.

He says that IPR is seeing a strong shift towards the rental model. “We started up just seven years ago and, since then, we’ve had to continuously add pumps to our fleet to meet ever growing demand from a range of industries, most especially mining and construction,” he states.

“We now have more than 200 pumps in our rental fleet, able to handle almost any pumping task. Our line-up includes submersible drainage and dewatering pumps, slurry and sludge pumps and diesel-driven pumps. We also offer dredging systems and hydro mining solutions.”

Vine believes that one of the prime advantages of renting is that it eliminates the need for upfront capital expenditure, which – depending on the type of equipment that is required – can be considerable. “Many companies – particularly if they are start-ups or are experiencing tough trading conditions – simply cannot afford to make this type of financial commitment,” he says. “If this is the case, rental is the ideal solution.”

He points out that purchasing does not make business sense if the equipment required is only used on an intermittent basis. “If you’re going to buy pumps, for example, then you need to get the maximum utilisation out of them. If you only have an occasional need for pumping, then I would strongly recommend renting. It is madness to buy expensive equipment and then leave it standing for long periods.”

Ownership also brings with it the problems of maintenance. “Pumps need to be maintained and this normally means that people with the required competence need to be permanently employed to undertake this task,” he says. “When you rent from IPR, we provide this service. Our skilled and experienced technicians undertake all servicing and maintenance on site on a 24/7 basis. We also, of course, ensure that machines are in tip-top condition before being sent out to customers.”

When it comes to pumping, there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ and Vine says this is another compelling reason to rent rather than buy. “IPR can draw from its extremely wide range of pumps and other equipment to provide solutions that are exactly tailored to the customer’s needs. By contrast, we often notice that companies that elect to purchase their own equipment end up using pumps that are totally unsuited to the task at hand. They are using them because that is all they have available.”

By renting from IPR, customers also get the benefit of the latest technology. “Obviously, not every unit in our fleet will be the very latest model but, generally, our inventory consists of new or relatively new machines offering – amongst other things – excellent fuel efficiency,” says Vine. “Customers can rest assured that we will never supply out-of-date equipment that is no longer fit for purpose.”

While rental is the backbone of IPR’s business, the company also sells pumps and other equipment. It is the sole agent in southern Africa for the well-established Atlas Copco diesel-driven pump sets as well as the Atlas Copco range of submersible pumps.

As Vine comments, “We’re certainly not saying that customers should always rent. Under the right circumstances, direct ownership of assets such as pumps can be the best route to follow. We recognise this, which is why we are geared to either rent or sell.”

IPR is based in modern premises in Jet Park, Johannesburg, where it has a well-equipped engineering workshop which allows it to provide fully customised pumping and dredging solutions to ISO 9001 standards.