Every structure GIWU delivers starts with civil works. Foundations, drainage and site development are where projects are most likely to be underestimated, and where a mistake is most expensive to correct later, because everything above depends on it.
Our civil team handles the full scope: site clearance and earthworks, pad and strip foundations, slabs, retaining structures, culverts and drainage systems, and the external works that make a completed site usable rather than merely built.
Because civil work sits in the same company as our steel and construction teams, the foundation design and the structural design are resolved together. The result is a foundation that matches what is actually going to be erected on it.
Civil works we deliver
Earthworks and site development
Site clearance, cut and fill, levelling, compaction and preparation of platforms for industrial buildings, yards and storage areas.
Foundations
Pad foundations, strip footings, rafts and piled solutions where ground conditions require them, designed around the structural loads of the building to be erected.
Drainage and stormwater
Surface water drainage, culverts, channels, soakaways and attenuation, sized for Ghana's rainfall intensity rather than copied from a temperate-climate detail.
Retaining structures
Retaining walls, revetments and slope stabilisation for sites with level differences or constrained boundaries.
External works and hardstanding
Yards, loading aprons, parking, kerbs, walkways and access roads, the surfaces that take the daily punishment of an operating industrial site.
Ground conditions in Ghana
Ghana's ground conditions vary sharply over short distances, coastal sands around Tema and Accra, lateritic gravels inland, soft alluvial deposits near watercourses. A foundation detail that works on one site can fail on the next.
- Ground investigation: we establish what is actually under the site before committing to a foundation solution.
- Drainage first: most foundation problems in Ghana are water problems. Managing surface and groundwater protects everything built above.
- Seasonal timing: earthworks programmes are planned around the rainy seasons, not against them.
- Realistic tolerances: slabs for racking or mezzanine bases are finished to the tolerances those systems need.
Where a project has no ground investigation yet, we will tell you, and recommend one rather than guessing at foundation depths.
Civil work integrated with the build
Appointing civil works and structural works as separate contracts is the most common source of delay and dispute on Ghanaian industrial projects. The civils team says the drawings changed; the steel team says the foundations were wrong; the client is left in the middle.
- One scope, one contract, one programme.
- Foundations designed against the structure that will actually be erected.
- Slab tolerances set by the racking and mezzanine that will sit on them.
- Drainage coordinated with the building envelope before the slab is poured.
- Single point of accountability if anything needs resolving.
Civil and infrastructure projects
- Busua: steel bridge rehabilitation and associated works.
- JC Udezor & Sons, Dawhenya: foundations and civils for an 1,800 sqm steel warehouse.
- BF Ghana, Aveyime: external civils package on a 1,200 sqm warehouse.
- Golden Tower site: site works and infrastructure for container offices.
See the wider set on our projects page.
Civil and infrastructure works
Scope & specifications
| Service | Civil construction and infrastructure |
|---|---|
| Scope | Earthworks, foundations, drainage, culverts, retaining walls, external works |
| Foundations | Pad, strip, raft and piled solutions to ground conditions |
| Drainage | Surface water, culverts, channels, attenuation, soakaways |
| Hardstanding | Yards, loading aprons, access roads, parking, kerbs |
| Integration | Coordinated with in-house steel, structural and mechanical teams |
| Location | Tema, Accra, Greater Accra and nationwide |
| Sectors | Industrial, warehousing, mining, commercial, institutional |
From enquiry to handover
- 01
Scope & site review
We take the brief, drawings or a one-line description and confirm buildability, access, ground conditions and programme.
- 02
Design coordination
Engineering, fabrication and construction input is coordinated in-house, so the drawings match what can actually be built.
- 03
Procurement
Materials and specialist equipment are sourced through our own supply chain, removing the vendor delays that stall most projects.
- 04
Fabrication
Steel and modular components are produced to specification in the workshop while site works run in parallel.
- 05
Construction & installation
Certified teams erect, install and fit out under a single point of site accountability.
- 06
Commissioning & handover
Systems are tested, snagged and handed over with documentation and maintenance guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Do you carry out ground investigations?
We assess ground conditions as part of establishing the civil scope, and where a project needs a formal geotechnical investigation we will say so rather than assume. Foundation design follows what is actually under the site.
Can you design the foundations as well as build them?
Yes. Foundation design is developed alongside the structural design, so the two are consistent. We can also build to engineer-supplied foundation drawings where the design is already done.
Do you handle drainage and stormwater?
Yes, and we treat it as a priority rather than an afterthought. Most foundation and slab problems in Ghana trace back to water, so drainage is designed at the start of the civil scope.
Can you finish a slab to racking tolerances?
Yes. If the slab will carry pallet racking or a mezzanine, we finish it to the flatness and level tolerances those systems require, which is exactly why having the racking team in the same company helps.
Do you work outside Greater Accra?
Yes. We are based in Tema and deliver nationwide, including the Volta corridor, Ashanti and the Western region.
Starting with the ground works?
Send us the site location, intended structure and any ground investigation you have. GIWU will confirm the civil scope and programme.