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A landmark has been reached for the new Dunedin Hospital today, with the first vertical structural steel for the inpatient building being installed.
Tony Lloyd, Project Director for the inpatient building, says the work starting today is a "significant milestone" for the project as it signals the beginning of the building rising above the ground.
About 550 large truckloads of steel, totalling about 11,000 tonnes, will be transported to the site by road and sea freight as construction progresses.
“Until now, much of the work has been at ground level out of public view,” Mr Lloyd said.
“Today’s installation of the first structural steel represents the beginning of the hospital taking shape above ground and will eventually give people their first real sense of the scale of what is being built.”
The installation follows the completion of major site works on the former Cadbury site by lead contractor CPB Contractors, clearing the way for vertical construction to begin.
Much of the steel has been made in New Zealand by businesses in Christchurch and Auckland.
Mr Lloyd said an estimated 330,000 hours of work would go into fabricating the steel, and eventually, more than 15,200 key pieces would be erected as part of the build.
He said the first tower crane was already busy at work, and the second and third tower cranes were expected to be installed over the coming weeks, to lift the structural steel and major building components into place.
“The installation of the tower cranes and steel framework signals the transition into a new phase of construction. Over the coming months, people will see the building grow higher as the structure starts to take shape across the site,” Mr Lloyd says.
At 72,000sq m, the inpatient building is the largest component of the hospital project.
Construction of the neighbouring outpatient building is expected to be completed soon, and it is due to open later this year. An overhead bridge across St Andrew Street will link the two buildings.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said in a statement it was "the most significant milestone yet, marking clear, tangible progress on a major investment in the health of the Southern region and taking the new hospital from a plan on paper to a building the community can see".
"For generations to come, patients across Dunedin and the wider Otago and Southland regions will be cared for in this hospital. This government made a commitment to build it, and today that commitment is taking shape in steel."
- Allied Media