13/2012 – Great high school seating upgrade for a new hockey field
User-friendly seating upgrade
Mid 2010, Westerford High School approached Strata Civils with a proposal of creating an Astro Turf Hockey Pitch with seating, retaining walls between the road and hockey pitch and around the seating and tennis court at the Imhoff sports ground in Newlands, Cape Town, Western Cape.
Seating arena at Cape Town high school
4×4 Multi Step blocks create seating arena
Tobie Cilliers from Strata Civils says that he frequently uses the Terraforce system for landscaping and erosion control measures: “Terraforce offers a user-friendly landscape remodelling method that is flexible, cost-effective and faster to install than off shutter concrete or bricks. The entire job can be done on site and the blocks fit in just about anywhere.”
Corner detail required precision cutting of blocks
Steps set into the seating
Construction commenced in October 2010 and involved some on site cutting of the 4×4 Multi Step blocks at an accurate, predetermined angle to create precise corners in the seating arena at the bottom end of the field. The blocks were also additionally reinforced with 3m long Y10 steel bars, and filled with concrete.
Overview of the seating arena
Another view of the corner detail
Says Georg Brand of Dassenberg Retaining Systems: “The colour of the Terraforce L12 blocks differed from that of the 4 x 4 Multi Step blocks used for the seating. The engineer was adamant that the colour match, for aesthetic reasons. Johan van Wyk of Cape Retaining Systems, Terraforce licensee in the Western Cape, agreed to manufacture a new batch of the blocks in a matching colour, which meant 3 weeks delay, but it was worth the high-quality end result.
Seating arena at high school hockey field
Access stairs to the field
“It is important that any additional epoxy mortar and grouting used to close off any open gaps in the blocks matches their colour, and it is this attention to detail that will lead to a more flawless look. Finally, the pointing was also done in a very specific way, 7mm raked out with a 10mm steel rod.”
Engineers: KFD Wilkinson Engineers
Civil Contractor: Strata Civils
Installer: Dassenberg Retaining Systems
Terraforce Manufacturer: Cape Retaining Systems