The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in Australia, providing extensive primary health care and 24-hour emergency service to people, specialising in remote areas.
The new $13 million Adelaide base heralds the start of a new era for the Royal Flying Doctor Service as it delivers 24/7 emergency retrieval services, inter-hospital transfers and primary health care services to all South Australians.
The new aeromedical base was made possible by fundraising, bequests, corporate and public donations to enable the RFDS to provide the finest care for all South Australians for decades to come.
McMahon Services were engaged on the project by Sarah Constructions – the lead contractor on the project, to undertake all roofing and cladding subcontract packages on the new state-of-the-art facilities.
The new facilities, situated at the Adelaide Airport – adjacent to the main runway, features space for six aircraft along with parking for an additional nine aircraft on the tarmac. It also features an impressive 2,230m2 corporate office, including a medical and patient transfer facility.
The transfer facility incorporates a streamlined system, which hosts patient care bays with resuscitation equipment and other necessities providing a truly modern and safe workplace for staff and health service delivery partners.
The McMahon Services roofing and cladding project team installed 4,500m2 of roof sheeting and safety mesh, 550m2 of stainless steel perforated wall cladding, 2,500m2 of heavy duty insulation blanket to roof areas, 1,000 lineal metres of insulation purlin spacers, 1,250m2 of insulated wall panels and 80m2 of Anthra VM zinc cladding to the featured board room.
McMahon Services had a team of eight full-time construction workers on this project utilising in-house plant and equipment such as our 60 and 100 tonne cranes, 51ft elevated work platforms and 45ft knuckle boom lifts to successfully complete the project.
Extensive planning was required to ensure long lead time items were procured ahead of time to meet the strict overall project schedule. McMahon Services executed industry leading temporary safety systems to allow the installation of all roof and wall cladding at height. This included temporary anchors, static lines and handrail systems that were installed and re-positioned throughout the project.
The zinc cladding of the boardroom was a standout architectural feature of the project. McMahon Services erected internal scaffolding to allow the installation of interlocking VM zinc cladding that wrapped around the four corners of the boardroom and wide glass windows. The boardroom is situated on the first floor and overlooks the ground floor, providing an eye catching feature when you first enter the premises.
