One of the preconditions for the approval of the greater Century City development was that a viable passenger rail connection should be created linking to the existing Cape Town, Bellville, Stellenbosch line.
The master plan envisaged a modern railway station with easy pedestrian and bus access to Century City and a convenient ‘park and ride’ facility. Continuing growth at Century City and the advent of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup accelerated the plan.
Funded and supported by PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of SA), Century City and the Department of Transport, construction on the R45-million Windermere Station started in October 2009 and was completed in May 2010.The open tender issued by PRASA for a turnkey project was awarded to KV3-Superway Consortium. Subcontractor Decorton Retaining Systems was appointed to construct the retaining walls – up to 2.0m high and 265m long – on the outside-facing sides of two new platforms. These include ramps and a staircase structure, to facilitate evacuation in case of an emergency.
Due to the extremely waterlogged conditions on site, a 700 by 250mm raft foundation of rock wrapped in filter fabric was installed below the concrete foundation of equal dimensions. From this level Decorton proceeded with the construction of a steeply inclined Terraforce L12 retaining wall. The imported backfill was placed and compacted simultaneously and the wall is reinforced with geo-grid every 420mm, securely anchored within the blocks. The top one and a half rows of blocks are filled with concrete, creating a solid and stable base for the asphalt siding platforms of the station.
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