The Australian Marine Complex at Jervoise Bay, several kilometres south of the Port of Fremantle, is Australia’s largest and most modern fabrication and assembly common user facility – servicing the marine, defence, oil and gas, and resource sectors.

The design and construct contract for the on-site fabrication facility provided essential infrastructure for the overall complex, including a deep water harbour, load-out wharf, craneage and supporting services requirements, and heavy and wide load access.

BG&E provided

• Structural design of the fabrication hall, adjacent amenities and support buildings, and strip foundations for the 200 tonne gantry
• Civil design of the surrounding hard standing

The unique features of the facility include

• The fabrication hall (80 metres by 80 metres) is relocatable to eight different positions over a 160 metre span, effectively doubling the available workspace.
• At each location, the building can be locked down and a full range of services (power, potable water, fire water, sewer, and communications) is made available via flexible, quick-connect couplings.
• The building has an electronically operated eastern door comprising four leaves approximately 8 metres wide by 39 metres high. The doors are supported by tracks that move with the building.
• The building has a removable western wall, which enables completed items to be removed from the building to the designated load-out corridors.
• The 200 tonnes gantry crane, Australia’s largest (60 metre clear span and 30 metres beneath the hook), can operate over the full length of the The door tracks can be raised to provide access for the crane into the building.
• The whole area accessed by the fabrication hall includes a full range of services for fabrication and assembly purposes on a 20 metre by 20 metre grid.
• The surrounding chip and seal surface of the hard standing was selected to provide access for heavy vehicles and storage facilities and so that it could be easily repaired where construction activities cause damage to the surface.
• Site drainage utilised a single large infiltration basin instead of multiple small

The design and construct nature of the project necessitated a close working relationship between all members of the design team, including the design manager, structural and civil engineers, services engineers and the architect, together with the mechanical engineers responsible for the motive and craneage requirements of the project.

With more than 150 businesses operating in the Australian Marine Complex, the facility and its features are internationally competitive – attracting world-class projects to WA.