COROBRIK and Ekurhuleni Municipality are working together on the renewal of Tembisa’s sidewalks, creating a pedestrian environment which will benefit all of Tembisa’s nearly half a million citizens.
Corobrik supplied about one million Champagne PA clay pavers to the main contractor, White Haze Building, as well as a selection of smaller contractors from Ekurhuleni who were on a municipal mentorship programme.
Although most clay pavers can be laid in a variety of patterns, a lot of consideration was given to the laying pattern of the pavements to make it cost effective and simple for the contractors to lay.
With nearly 11 000 people per square kilometre using the sidewalks, an attractive Herringbone design in a fully interlocking pattern was decided upon. This pattern promotes even load bearing and reduces the possibility for movement of the paving system.
A key feature of the Corobrik Champagne Clay Pavers is their colour fastness, even after a hundred years of baking in the hot African sun they will retain their attractive colour.
In fact, one of the earliest forms of paving more than 5 000 years ago in ancient Iraq, relied on using baked clay bricks to construct a pavement.
Teboho Clement Mokoena of Corobrik, who liaised with the contractors on the project said: “In the Nguni language, Tembisa means ‘promise’ and Corobrik is delighted to be part of Ekurhuleni Municipality’s urban renewal programme which will see the realisation of the area’s potential.”
This rejuvenation of Tembisa is expected to take five to 10 years to implement and will see the fulfilment of previous human settlements minister, Tokyo Sexwale’s, vision when he said in 2011 that housing developments should be where “people play, stay and pray.”
