Ergon Energy Glenmore Road Depot

Bonacci Infrastructure delivered the structural and civil designs for the major development of Ergon Energy’s Glenmore Road Depot. Structural works included a new 85 x 32 metre two storey office building, 72 x 33 metre combined warehouse / workshop with a 13 metre cantilevered awning, 90 x 30 metre freestanding awning and various utility buildings. Civil works included more than 60,000 square metres of bulk earthworks, ground improvement, sitewide roads, pavements and stormwater drainage.

The office building was supported on piles, with a floating ground slab isolated from the piles to allow articulation under differential settlements and reactive soil movements. The upper level slab was designed as a post-tensioned beam and slab system.

The combined warehouse / workshop building was a braced portal frame structure, with the footings comprising a combination of high-level raft foundations and piles to resist the large tie down forces from the 13 m cantilevered awning and wall braces. The warehouse floor was designed for 6 metre high storage racking, whilst the internal floor of the workshop was designed for 5 tonne forklifts as well as Ergon Energy’s service trucks and elevated work platforms (EWPs).

The civil works were made difficult by extremely complex ground conditions, ranging from soft, saturated clays to buried foundations of a decommissioned power station and coal pit. Bonacci Infrastructure was able to minimise fill import requirements through innovative ground improvement and by borrowing material from other parts of the site.