Eastgate Phase 2 Refurbishment (2016)

Special consideration had to be given to access to the workface for the installation of most of the steelwork. The loading limitation on the rooftop carpark slab was only 2.0kPa with the maximum vehicle weight limited to 5 000kgs. The tower crane that was installed by the main contractor on the site covered only 60% of the rooftop cinema complex area and had limited load capacity at radius.A number of the internal structures were designed with plate web girders spanning in excess of fifteen metres which had to be manhandled into position and hoisted by scaffold tower and chain blocks.The major challenge was as noted above being the access to the workface for the installation of the steelwork. Loads of up to 3.5 tonnes and lengths of over 18.0 metres had to be trolleyed / manhandled through and around the cinema structure to then be hoisted to final level by building high scaffold towers over them and pulling them up with suitable capacity chain blocks, an extremely time consuming and expensive means of erection.Connection design, particularly between the numerous beams throughout the lower levels of the cinema complex and all the Bondek slab support beams was a major cost saving item from a fabrication point of view. Minimal, if any, welding was employed, rather opting for bolted connections with back to back angles bolted through the incoming beam webs to achieve all end plate connection details.Within excess of 13 000 components in the cinemas alone, many of which were added after the main supporting structure had been erected, it proved to be a hugely challenging project to erect and a one of a kind not often seen in the industry.