The work also includes the construction of a new 10-storey parking garage that will provide 857 parking bays in Durban’s CBD.

Senior contracts manager Brad Wyatt reports that the piling for the new 15 000m2 parkade has been completed on schedule, pile caps for the project are well underway and the columns have commenced. The refurbishment of the ground floor arcades between Smith and West Streets and Gardiner Street and Mercury Lane has started, with the existing shops having been stripped out, in anticipation of their facelift, Wyatt states. Grinaker-LTA Building’s contract also entails the addition of a new food court area and 70 new shops to the arcades, as well as an upgrade of the existing foyer area of the Old Mutual building in Gardiner Street.

Challenges that the contractor expects to encounter during the course of this contract - which is due for completion in September 2009 – include those associated with working in the CBD, particularly traffic, public safety and delivery logistics. “Safety issues will be of paramount importance, since we’ll be working close to members of the public in an active shopping environment,” Wyatt comments. “We will also be ensuring that noise and dust pollution is kept to a minimum, for the occupants of the surrounding buildings, tenants and shoppers.”

Grinaker-LTA Building, which is part of the JSE-listed Aveng Group, is undertaking this contract for long-standing client Old Mutual Investments Group – Property Investments.