Solid foundations lay the ground work for ongoing expansion of roads, municipal infrastructure and plant hire.

KwaZulu-Natal based multi-disciplinary group, Aqua Transport & Plant Hire continues its national expansion strategy in the construction sector, adding to its extensive plant holding with the recent acquisition of a fleet of new Cat 140K motor graders, supplied and supported by Southern African Cat dealer, Barloworld Equipment.

These units join Aqua’s extensive and diversified plant holding of over 1 000 units in support of the company’s Plant Hire division and rapidly growing Civil Contracting arm. Aqua’s Plant Hire division is one of the largest in the country, serving a broad range of industrial, construction, civil engineering and quarrying clients, many of whom have been customers since Aqua’s inception in 1986.

A privately owned company and a BBBEE contributor, Aqua has an 8 CE PE grading from the Construction Industry Development Board, with plans in place to position the group for a move into the 9 CEP bracket soon. This will provide unlimited scope for project activity nationally.

“Historically, the group started out as a plant hire business with a focus on bulk water tankers for downstream delivery to industry and communities, hence the name ‘Aqua’, Latin for water, in our company name,” explains Kevin Naicker, CEO of Aqua Transport & Plant Hire. “Today this remains an important business activity.”

“Alongside our other business activities, Aqua has built a solid reputation in the civils industry based on our ability to successfully complete end-to-end projects,” adds Naicker.

The civils project scope includes bulk earthworks, road construction, municipal storm and wastewater, and structural concrete works such as bridges, reservoirs and water treatment plants.

“Our ongoing capital equipment modernisation programme keeps pace with our capacity to tender on new projects,” says Naicker.

In its home base of KwaZulu-Natal, Aqua has been involved in creating new road infrastructure, as well as maintaining and repairing surfaces for major municipalities for many years.

Work in progress includes a major rehabilitation and upgrade contract awarded in November 2011 by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) on a section of the N11, in joint venture with Stefanutti Stocks; while work on the John Ross Highway in Richards Bay for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport is at an advanced stage of completion. Aqua has also recently been awarded the N2/KwaMashu Interchange project by SANRAL.

Growth in the roads business was further strengthened in 2010 following Aqua’s acquisition of Sanyati’s asphalt road surfacing business. The amalgamation of these technical skills and plant assets within the Aqua Group, together with a comprehensive equipment modernisation programme, has subsequently led to the formation of an asphalt manufacturing and surfacing entity branded as the Aqua Road Rehabilitation Division.

Aqua’s Asphalt Division provides a turnkey black top surfacing solution, from asphalt manufacturing to truck delivery, laying and finishing, backed by the company’s milling, recycling and paving fleet. Current capacity is around 1 200 t of asphalt daily.

Supporting Aqua’s market growth, Naicker says that the Cat 140K was determined as the optimum grader choice for its construction and plant hire businesses.

“The Cat 140K builds on the excellent track record of the previous generation 140H model with noticeable improvements in terms of overall operator productivity,” comments Naicker. “This is a machine that’s designed to keep on delivering, providing a good return on investment.”

Compared to the 140H’s Cat 3306 engine, the 140K’s C7 ACERT power plant provides a torque increase of 8 to 10% depending on the application. Additionally, customised torque curves increase peak torque for improved lugging performance and responsiveness.

“The torque rise on the Cat 140K is around 47% in contrast to 33% on the previous generation H-Series,” points out Barloworld Equipment Cat sales professional, Sanjeev Rampersadh, based at the Durban branch.

“Standard on all K-Series models, the variable horsepower feature increases machine productivity by matching power to ground speeds,” Rampersadh continues, highlighting key features. “For example, in the lower gears where the machine is traction-limited, engine horsepower is automatically reduced, and this helps to lower fuel consumption while minimising tyre slippage.”

These features help to keep owning and operating costs down, which are important considerations from both contracting and plant hire perspectives.

Aqua’s Plant Hire division plays a key role in major South African infrastructure projects, which in the recent past included the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link development and the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. For the Gautrain project, for example, Aqua supplied more than 60 items of plant, including 14 readymix trucks. Longer-term plant hire contracts were also recently completed for various consortium contractors at Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile power station developments.

“Going forward, we continue to refine our capabilities in civil construction, plant hire, as well as the supply of asphalt products, ensuring that we have the expertise and technologies in place to meet current and future project requirements,” concludes Naicker.