New Royal Adelaide Hospital will help to build South Australia’s future
ADELAIDE is poised for a new export manufacturing industry — construction.
As the $1.85 billion new Royal Adelaide Hospital rises above North Tce its builders say the hi-tech innovation going into the construction is putting Adelaide a decade ahead of the rest of the construction industry.
The project reached a new landmark this week with a record 1300 workers on site, working to have the planned 10-level hospital ready to open in 2016.
Consortium HYLC Joint Venture development director Chris Pratt said the project — the biggest building ever built in Australia — is revolutionising the construction industry and receiving interest from around the world during a period when Adelaide’s manufacturing sector has been rocked by the closure of Holden.
Pivotal to the innovation is the consortium’s Building Information Management (BIM) system integrating myriad computer systems and thousands of construction specifications.
This has moved designs on paper into a 3D computer system which contractors and staff can check via tablets or smartphones. The 3D system showing hundreds of thousands of building parts is updated in real time as construction progresses.
This in turn has vastly increased the ability for modules to be constructed off site — with pinpoint accuracy — then assembled on North Tce.
Mr Pratt said the BIM system, which he called “virtual construction”, has fundamentally changed the construction industry. “We now can design and build a building here in Adelaide for anywhere in the world,” he said.
“The construction business is about to go through a revolution — we are going to be manufacturers of buildings.”
Mr Pratt noted that while HYLC is building a physical hospital based on SA Health’s vision, the engineering innovation being developed can be used for any kind of infrastructure.
He likened it to the Air Warfare Destroyer project where modules are built off site then assembled at Techport.
“We have a couple of hundred signed up users who can access the 3D images rather than looking for paper drawings, and it is all updated in real time — this has not been seen in Australia before,” he said.
The 3D approach allows for prefabrication off-site, saving time and space at the construction site. The dozens of integrated models going into the master 3D model also reduces the potential for inaccuracies compared to contractors working off paper plans, according to HYLC.
The 3D designs requires each item to have a code, and means such items can easily be tracked for future reference or maintenance. The hundreds of thousands of coded items range from light fittings and furniture through to architectural fittings. It also incorporates operating manuals for each item, ending the need to hunt down booklets.
Mr Pratt said: “This can translate into other businesses, not just hospitals, for anywhere in the world, and we are doing it all right her in Adelaide. Dr Cris Birzer, Engineers Australia South Australia Division President, said the BIM has the potential to create huge cost savings not only during the construction phase of the projects, but across the entire life cycle.
“With the recent downturn in the engineering sector, major projects like the Royal Adelaide Hospital will have a significant effect on confidence across the industry,” he said.
“South Australia has about 1000 engineers directly employed in construction, when you add the 3000-plus engineers working in the consulting sector, projects like this will undoubtedly have a very positive effect on employment in the state,” he said.
WELCOME TO THE HIGH TECH RAH
FROM talking robots delivering meals to electronic tags keeping track of equipment and even patients, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital is rapidly emerging as the hi-tech hospital of the future.
While the computer wizardry behind the infrastructure makes it one of the world’s most advanced building projects, the general public will benefit in ways ranging from subtle to in-your-face.
Health Minister Jack Snelling said patients and visitors would find the new RAH much more than just a new building.
“The new Royal Adelaide Hospital is about trying to give patients one of the best hospital experiences in the world,” Mr Snelling said.
“It will be a very different experience than what most people currently associate with a trip to hospital.
“We know that people would obviously prefer not to be in hospital, but if they are we need to look at ways to make them more comfortable at the time when they are at their most vulnerable.”
Advances being incorporated into Australia’s largest building include:
AUTOMATED guide vehicles (AGVs) will carry meals, linen, waste and medical equipment through hidden corridors. These robots can talk and will stop automatically if something is in their way, but people will still serve food to patients once the AGVs arrive at meal time;
ELECTRONIC tags will allow staff to quickly check the whereabouts of equipment, both to prevent theft and cut time searching for mobile equipment such as wheelchairs. Tags will also be put on at-risk patients such as those with mental conditions, with alerts automatically sent to security guards should such a patient leave a restricted area;
THE 800 single patient rooms, each with en suite, will be like motel rooms and include day beds for visitors, a desk, opening windows for fresh air with views of the river or parklands, and be big enough for minor procedures;
BEDSIDE electronic station will allow patients to control entertainment systems and order food; Food orders for individual patients will take into account things like allergies and if the patient has to fast.
MODULAR design of the inpatient rooms means areas of the hospital can be rebuilt into “villages” of various sizes depending on demand within a matter of hours;
SELF -SERVE electronic kiosks will also give directions and print out maps for visitors, freeing up staff;
SCHEDULED patients will be given advance directions to a carpark no more than 50m from a lift bay.
THERE will be no Emergency waiting room, with arrivals immediately triaged then escorted to the appropriate area to await treatment.
THE new RAH is engineered to be effectively earthquake proof, and can continue to operate for days if completely cut off from outside services such as water and power. New Zealand officials are examining its earthquake proof design;
IT is also designed to be one of the quietest hospitals in Australia, with special glazing and facade materials to silence noise such as from retrieval helicopters and passing trains;
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