The FIFA 2010 Football World Cup staged in Cape Town not only ignited the construction industry over the past few years, but also offered tremendous growth opportunities to, amongst others, specialist engineering companies throughout South Africa. 

Cape Town-based Allweld Marine & Industrial, a recognised specialist welding company, has been operating throughout South Africa for over 45 years.  The awarding of this multi-million Rand contract, in late 2008, to install struts and braces between 72 pylons around the Cape Town Stadium by the joint venture group of Birdair Inc. (the leading specialty contractor for long-span tensile structures) and Pfeifer (the market leaders in fixing systems and infrastructure technology), afforded Allweld the opportunity to prove their welding and engineering capabilities to these international customers. 

The project required highly specialised on-site welding and rigging to be performed since not only were the braces installed at a height of 48 metres, but additional work entailed the installation of 92 horizontal steel struts, 112 tension rods, 28 intersecting plates, 296 gussets with 12mm fillet welds in position and 1776 stiffener plates with full penetration butt welds.  Overall, 110 tonnes of steel was rigged and welded on the project by a team of 36 qualified personnel – all successfully completed by Allweld safely, within budget and on time.

The initial three-and-a-half month timeframe was subsequently extended due to additional work being secured from other on-site contractors, with Operations Director Wessel le Roux managing the initial project plus all the ancillary work.  This project has propelled Allweld to new levels of expertise, safety and quality standards and now positions the company well for future growth.