Login
iscover
The construction and engineering company has handed over a guided weapons maintenance facility for the Royal Australian Navy.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
BESIX Watpac has delivered an Integrated Weapons Facility (IWF) at Defence Establishment Orchard Hills, NSW.
The work included the construction of:
- an administration area with a mix of offices;
- a meeting room and secure communications room;
- two weapon assembly rooms with specialist workshops for the safe handling, inspection and maintenance of guided weapons; and
- four reinforced concrete test cells.
BESIX Watpac also enlisted the support of local contractors for landscaping, infrastructure and supporting services, which included integration of communications and safety systems with the existing base infrastructure.
The delivery of the new infrastructure is expected to support the Commonwealth government’s $1 billion Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise, led by Raytheon Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia, who were named as strategic partners in April.
BESIX Watpac CEO Mark Baker said the new facility would support the delivery of explosive ordnance projects for Defence.
“Our commitment to excellence, attention to detail and our social procurement processes have all contributed to the successful delivery of this facility which has been called out by [Minister for Defence Peter Dutton] as a ‘world first for its inherent safety and functionality’,” Baker said.
“This project was unique in that it combined structural, security and electrical engineering complexities typically encountered on EO projects with high efficiency controls and safety systems associated with critical test facilities.
“These challenges were met with the successful Integrated Systems Testing and Commissioning and recent opening of the facility.”
Michael Kilcar, BESIX Watpac senior project manager, said the project met targets for local procurement, Indigenous and diversity employment.
“More than 95 per cent of sub-contract work was sourced in the local industry, within 50 kilometres from site,” Kilcar said.
“We achieved more than 5.6 per cent Indigenous procurement – exceeding our original commitment for 4 per cent.
“Special measures were also introduced to protect an environmentally sensitive area called the Cumberland Woodlands – including segregation from construction works and protection of the flora and fauna.”
[Related: Long-range missile procurement fast-tracked, GWEO partners revealed ]
