Steel, concrete and roads for mines and plants
TerraCore Projects designs the steel and concrete that keep mines and processing plants running. We visit the site, build the structure in 3D, design it to South African codes and issue the drawings it is fabricated from. We work for the mine or for the contractor building there.
Or write to info@terracoreprojects.co.za
Drag to turn the modelWhat we do
We take your structure from the site visit to the drawings and the quantities, so nothing is lost between handovers. The work runs from a new access platform to warehouses, conveyor gantries and bin structures.
Conveyor gantries and plant structures
We design conveyor gantries and trestles, access platforms and walkways, pipe bridges, bins, crawl beams and spreader beams, from the members and connections down to the base plates, anchors and foundations.
Structural integrity assessments
Many silos, platforms and plant structures have stood for years, been altered on site and lost their original calculations. We inspect them, model them as they stand, rank what we find by the consequence of failure, and design the repairs.
Foundations and concrete
We design raft foundations, equipment plinths, ground slabs, bunkers and retaining walls. Where the ground or the load is not simple, we analyse the foundation on the soil it sits on before we detail the reinforcement.
Industrial buildings and roofs
We design portal frames, roof trusses and warehouses, and check existing roofs that have to carry something new, such as a solar installation, before it goes up.
3D models and drawings
We build each structure as a 3D model first, connections included. The drawings and the quantities are taken off that model, so a change made once shows up everywhere.
Roads, earthworks and stormwater
We design access and plant roads, terraces and earthworks, stormwater and culverts. The road is laid out in 3D on the survey, so the levels and the quantities come straight off the model.
Selected work in 3D
Our engineers have designed or assessed each of these structures on operating mines and plants. Pick one and watch it go up the way it is built on site, then drag to turn it.
How we design
We check each structure against the way your plant will load it before any drawing is issued.
The whole frame
The structure is analysed as one frame, so the load is followed from the conveyor or the platform all the way down to the foundation.
Wind, belt and material together
Conveyor structures are checked with wind, belt tension and the conveyed material acting at the same time.
Foundations on the ground
A raft sits on a model of the soil, so its settlement and its bending come from the ground it is actually built on.
Plate models
Stair stringers and silo walls are meshed in plate elements where a beam model cannot show the stress.
Structures as they stand
Altered or corroded members are modelled as they are found on site, not as they were first drawn.
How we work
You deal with the engineers
The engineer who designs your job is the one you speak to.
Reviewed before it is issued
Every structural design is reviewed and certified by an independent registered Professional Engineer before it is issued.
South African codes
We design to SANS 10160 for the loads, SANS 10162-1 for steel and SANS 10100-1 for concrete, and to the mine's own engineering standards where it has them.
Site first
We visit the site before we design, and model what is there rather than what the old drawings show.
Experience across the plant
Each was designed or assessed on an operating mine or plant. Client names are withheld.
- Conveyor gantries and trestles
- A bin structure and its raft foundation
- Structural audits of storage silos
- Existing roofs checked for solar panels
- Platforms, walkways and pipe bridges on running plants
- Crawl beams and spreader beams
- A spiral stair round a tank
- Ground slabs for dewatering tubes and machines
Our engineers
Structural and civil engineers work side by side, so a structure and the ground around it are designed together.
Structural engineering
We design steel and concrete structures for mines and processing plants, from conveyor gantries and bin structures to silo audits, foundations and the connections that hold them together.
Civil and roads engineering
We lay out road geometry, corridors, terraces and terrain models in 3D, and design the structures that sit on that ground in the same model.
CVs of the engineers on your job are available on request.
Tell us about the job
Send us a drawing, a few photographs and the site's location. We will come back with our approach and a fee proposal.