Franki Africa, the largest, oldest and most established specialist geotechnical contractor in sub-Saharan Africa, had to call on all its experience to meet the array of challenges for the construction of a new brewery in Mozambique for Cervejas de Moçambique (CDM), a subsidiary of the largest global beer brewer, AB InBev.

The project is the largest investment by CDM in Mozambique and is scheduled to produce its first batch of beers by the end of this year, giving its construction a very tight timeline. Other challenges include the shortage of suitable cement close by.

"Franki was entrusted to carry out geotechnical work on the project and was responsible for the installation of foundation and lateral support piling for different structures of the brewery, like the BBT Tanks and Unitanks, Raw Material Silos, Malt Intake and Mill House," explained Marta Botelho, contracts engineer at Franki Mozambique.

Timelines were exceptionally tight due to the client's plans to start operations this year. "After a delayed start, we managed to guarantee partial handover of the different areas to allow the main contractor to carry on with the works," added Botelho.

With a total of 60 people on site, including 18 subcontractors for steel fixing, Franki's project scope encompassed different piling technologies, including continuous flight auger (CFA) piles and driven cast-in-situ piles, also known as Franki Piles, with diameters ranging from 410 to 800mm.

Commenting on the choice of piles, Marta says CFA piling is a fast system with no vibration and limited noise levels. Franki Piles, on the other hand, are the most economical and reliable piling system in southern Africa and have an extensive range of pile sizes.

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