Roof goes onto new mental health inpatient unit
Wednesday 10 August 2022
Recently Hervey Bay locals were fascinated by an uncommon sight, resting outside of their local hospital was a tower crane sitting proudly above the skyline.
The crane was there to undertake the next stage of construction of the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service’s (WBHHS) 22-bed acute mental health inpatient unit.
A substantial logistical project from manufacture to delivery, the under-construction Hervey Bay mental health inpatient unit recently had roofing sheets arrive from Sydney and installed by a 70.8m high crane, which stretched out to become more than 40m above the ground.
WBHHS Acting Chief Executive Michael Lewczuk said the roof installation was a significant milestone for this project, and an exciting sign that construction was progressing well.
“Our Fraser Coast mental health project will increase overall mental health beds across the region, while also helping to divert mental health presentations away from the emergency department,” Mr Lewczuk said.
“Creating new support systems and increasing existing service capabilities will provide quality mental health support for members of our community.
“Having the crane arrive and place the roof sheets onto the building is an exciting step on the journey towards completing the project.”
WBHHS Director of Infrastructure Peter Heath said the roof sheets needed to be put together in the Lysaght’s Sydney factory as it was the only operation equipped with the dies to roll and turn flat metal into the required cut lengths from a spool.
“We needed to plan quite the journey for the finished sheets from Sydney to Hervey Bay – a significant logistical challenge due to each sheet being over 27 metres long and each bundle weighing in at an excess of 800 kilograms,” Mr Heath said.
“The prepared roofing sheets were loaded onto a truck with purpose-built rear axle steering to navigate the many turns, corners and roundabouts on its journey from Sydney to Hervey Bay.
“Police coordinated across two states to enable the load to cross the border and reach its destination safely, while upon delivery traffic management was needed to unload, which meant coordinating with Fraser Coast Council to close one lane and the traffic lights near the unload point, also including permission to temporarily shut a bus stop.
“I would like to thank the New South Wales and Queensland Police, as well as Fraser Coast Regional Council and everyone involved in the transportation of the roofing sheets – it required great planning and effort from all parties.”
Weather permitting, all external roofing and cladding is anticipated to be finished in October 2022 with the plans for the facility to become operational in 2023.
